i am afraid of the dark

[finalf72]

hello. this is hard for me to admit being a 17 year old. please dont laugh at me. im so scared of the dark. when im in the dark, it feels as if something will creep out of a corner and atack me, or im afriad if there is something else in the room and im not alone. and im afraid if theres something outside my window, staring into my room at me.

 

how can i overcome this?

[DerangedAngel]

If it's disrupting your life, maybe you could get evaluated by a trained Mental Health Professional?

 

-Deranged

[finalf72]

is there any way to overcome this without profesional help? its not effecting my life or anything, it just makes sleeping a scary experience

[bluetuesday]

i'm 32 and i'm a bit scared of the dark.

 

and i'm scared of clowns.

 

i sleep with the radio on low. it helps.

 

unless they're talking about clowns.

[Sparkley]

I'm 19 years old and I'm scared of many things I shouldn't be:

 

1. Driving

2. Being Home alone

3. Walking down the road, to the mail box, etc.

4. The Dark

5. Spiders

 

...and so much more...everyone has their fears so don't feel weird about being scared of the dark...if people find that absolutely stupid tell them to f off.. they have fears too..they just can't admit them!

 

~sparkley

[femme]

finalf72, you're not alone. I'm 25 years old, and I still suffer from that. Watching a horror movie for me totally out of question. Even if I catch a glimpse or two, I start getting the freakiest ideas in my mind when I'm alone.

 

What I do is, before it gets dark, I close all the blinds/curtains. If I'm by myself, I turn the tv on or put some music on, or just talk on the phone. Before falling asleep, I try to distract myself by thinking about my day or something particular that happened, etc. These are just a few suggestions that help me. You can try them, as well. Good luck!

[loveregardless]

I am terrified of the dark. And especially if I watch a scary movie...jeez...I'll be having nightmares for weeks! I think the main reason people are so scared of the dark, myself included, is that our entire lives we have been bombarded with information suggesting that the "dark" is "evil" and where "evil" lurks. That seems a pretty terrifying concept no matter how old or young you are. I don't know how to overcome it, but if you tell yourself that it's just something you have been convinced holds scary terrifying possibilities your whole life, maybe it would be easier to deal with. I am pretty sure I will always be scared of the dark, no matter how enlightenened I become. It does no good to say "evil" isn't real or "monsters" aren't real...because for me, the dark will always produce images of scary nightmarish creatures chasing after me. Too many scary movies is my take on it. but don't feel so bad...it's very common!

[Nocturnalkitee]

finalf72

 

As someone suggested try sleeping with the radio on, and try using a night light.

[Naive]

I am not necessarily scared of the dark, but if I watch a scary movie I do not get scared of the dark. If you have a television in your room put it on sleep timer and fall asleep, it will turn off by itself.

[bluechocolate]

BOO

 

 

it feels as if something will creep out of a corner and atack me,

 

To date has anything ever creeped out of the corner & attacked you? It's not going to happen. If you can't believe that then I don't think there's any shame in getting a night light.

[Adunaphel]

I used to have the same problem as you (well, I'm still afraid of the dark, but *not* as much as I used to be at 17).

 

A few tricks helped me until eventually my fear of the dark diminished by itself.

 

They are:

 

keeping the light turned on at night can help, but it might interfere with your sleep.

 

Make sure there is always a light switch at hand.

 

Watch horror flicks only in the daylight. Same with scary books.

 

Keep in your bed anything that gives you a sense of protection. I tried with plush animals, lucky charms, sharp items.

 

Sleeping with an hunting knife worked best of all...... it even helped me with my creepy crawling monstrousities nightmares...at a point in my nightmares I actually started to *defend* myself instead of yelling and getting killed by the monsters.

Not that I recommend taking a knife in your bed.....well, it helped me overcome my fear of the dark, but if you do the same make sure the knife has a sheat.

 

Are you afraid of creatures crawling out from under your bed? Well, start piling boxes of your stuff under the bed so the creepy things have no more room! Fill every square centimeter of room under your bed-the crawlers will have to move out! Same with your cupboards.

 

Clear the corners as much as you can-no hanging coats that look like shadows of cereal killers(=the ones that beat you tyo death with corn-flakes).

No items with menacing shapes in your corners.

Remove anything that might look like eyes in the dark.

 

(Please anyone who reads this, don't make fun of me - it was very very embarassing to write such personal things )

[dreaming4ever]

Don't worry a lot of people have this problem. I'm 24 and I, too, am afraid of the dark. Whenever I get into my car on my way home from my bf's house at night I always think there's someone in the backseat about to pull a knife on me or something, I get so scared. Plus, sometimes when I'm in my room in the dark I think that hands are going to come out of under my bed. These are all irrational fears but I think it's just the result of an overactive imagination. Believe me, I wish I didn't have these fears either!!

 

I sometimes watch scary movies too but if it's ESPECIALLY scary I have nightmares, sometimes for a week. Like I saw "The Grudge" a couple weeks ago and there's a certain noise the bad guy made that STILL freaks me out. It's horrible! Good luck with this, if you find a solution let me know...

 

Signed,

 

Tired of being scared