Many children and even adults experience unpleasant emotions while in a dark room. This is one of those phobias that are inherent in people at the genetic level. That is why the fear of the dark, or nihophobia, is almost impossible to defeat. However, it can be learned to control, and over time, it will almost completely get rid of the fear of the dark.
Instruction manual
one
To begin with, try to recall from which case your fear began. Most likely, this happened in childhood. If you can’t remember, simulate a traumatic situation. Lie down and take a comfortable position. Play a real or imagined situation in your head so that it ends positively. For example, imagine that when you were a child, you once woke up in a dark apartment alone, but immediately your parents came and turned on the light. Do these exercises until new positive emotions displace old negative ones.
2
It often happens that the enemy becomes his own imagination. Go towards your fear - go and look at an object whose outlines scared you, walk around a dark apartment. Let the mind take over your feelings.
3
However, if any rational reasoning that no one is in the dark recedes when you are left alone, try to avoid being alone. Buy a big toy that will "sleep" with you, leave some source of light or sound on - a night lamp, a radio or a TV. Before going to bed, watch only good, good films or listen to calm music. Do not eat or drink late in the evening - if you have to get up at night, this will cause a new attack of fear. Get yourself a pet - it will fill the feeling of emptiness, and you will not be alone.
4
You should act in a similar way if your child suddenly begins to show signs of nihophobia. In this case, the main thing is not to give fear a foothold. If the child was frightened at night - get up, turn on the light and show him that the “monster” in the closet is just a coat, and the “evil eye” is the buckle on the bag glistening in the light of night lamps. Subsequently, before going to bed, close the cabinets and remove any objects that could scare the child at night. Remember that at the age of three, your baby's imagination begins to work and there is no need to provoke him to develop fear. Be sure to install a night lamp near the crib so that the baby can turn it on at any time. And, of course, never scare him with creatures living in the dark, and do not tell terrible tales at night.