fear of night time / darkness

[minxlaura]

i am 33 .. this fear should stop surely by this age!?
but yeh i have noticed my anxiety gets worse at night. laying in bed.. i start panicking n thinking and its horrible :(
i worry bout all sorts.. horrible things happening.. dying in my sleep.. bad dreams.. worrying i am ill .. its weird like at night the world seems a scarier place... anyone else get this??
i have to sleep with a night lamp on like a kid!! lol sounds silly but its how i feel.
when my boyfriend stays here with me i am fine and sleep well and calm.. but alone in my bed i just freak out.
i try n tire myself with reading etc.. but nahhh still awake n nervous :(

[Bekzie]

I have problems at night times too! I find it hard to get to sleep and almost every night I panic when I think of going to bed (like right now)
I have to sleep with my tv on so don't worry you are not alone. Things always seem worse at night!

I have been told by a few people that you can get some really good relaxation apps on android that help but haven't tried them yet.

Hope you feel better soon

[minxlaura]

yeh i go on you tube listen to relaxing sounds etc helps a bit. aww it sucks

[Bekzie]

Yes I saw your other post, I will look into it :)

[Anxious_gal]

Heh I think it's normal to be more alert in the dark.
Like back in the times where people needed to be due to animals and threats.

There's just something about the darkness that puts me on edge. I guess it's because of the fact we can't see " danger" as well.

I can't sleep in total darkness, waking up and not being able to see anything! No thanks :)
I can sleep if there's a street light outside shining through the curtains, or I'll have a hallway light on.

I'm not embarrassed about this fear so I'm open about it and no one has ever thought I was silly :)

[minxlaura]

yeah i am the same.. complete darkness.. noooooo way!! lol i have to have curtains open n sometimes my night lamp. its true.. i think its coz u can see less... n maybe because you are my tired in the body at night.
i slept RUBBISH last night... am sooooo tired now :( and gotta go to work.. so cofffffeeeeeneeded!! lol

[Edie]

I think this is a common fear. When you can't see, your brain can make things up. Most people are distracted from sleeping by having a light on, but if it distracts you from your thoughts then it's a good way to deal with it.

[minxlaura]

omg soooooo true.. as my brain makes things up more... it imagines things in the dark like ghosts and stuff.. i dunno its weird.. i just know its the dark scaring me.. !!!

[paul_]

hey :~) I think we all get this sometimes, its a natural thing, kind of in built, I leave the radio on through the night, works for me, just background noise, it helps if im feeling lonely too, sometimes it even makes me chuckle to myself when I here something from back in the day 'chaka chan' :P

[old fred]

one of my big fears am in my sixties and have to sleep with landing light on take ages to go to sleep then wake up every half hour or so to make sure light still on really freak out in power cuts you are not alone with this fear take care