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Feb 15, 2016 · Being afraid of the dark is, in essence, a fear of the unknown. We can't see what's out there and it freaks us out because our imagination fills in the worst possible thing. For ancient humans, it was lions and other predators, and in today's big, predator-free cities, it's monsters. We create monsters because they fill that predator void.
Afraid of the Dark: Go back to a time before the invention of artificial light and experience a world petrified in the pitch of darkness...when fear ruled the night.
- (10)
- Documentary, History, War
- TV-14
- 2010-07
May 18, 2023 · Research has shown that humans are naturally afraid of the dark, and this fear is deeply rooted in our evolutionary history. One of the primary reasons we fear the dark is the fear of the unknown ...
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- Lack of Light
- Vulnerability
- Faced with Your Own Demons
The darkness impairs our vision, first and foremost, which is a huge part of our ability to understand and manage our surroundings. Darkness blinds one of our most important senses, and leaves us with a lack of control and vulnerability. Frostrup writes that compared to nocturnal creatures that developed ways to cope with the dark, “humans…despite ...
Researchers believe that fear of darkness stems from genetic encoding that hardwired us to avoid predators at night. One study, published in PLoS ONE, notes that lion attacks in Tanzania are 60 percent more likely to occur after 6 p.m. than during the day. (Interestingly, the study also found that the lions are more likely to attack and hunt humans...
But in the modern day and age, especially in developed countries, we don’t have to worry about lion attacks in the jungle or warring tribes pillaging our villages in the middle of the night, catching us unaware in our tents. Instead, nowadays, darkness poses another threat to us: a mental one. As we lay in bed trying to go to sleep, the work day ov...
People with an extreme fear of the dark experience intense fear or anxiety when they’re in the dark or think about darkness. Children may avoid going to bed or refuse to turn the lights out at bedtime. Signs of nyctophobia include: Difficulty swallowing ( dysphagia) and dry mouth. Dizziness and headaches. Excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis).
Oct 26, 2016 · Fear of darkness, which in extreme forms is known as nyctophobia or achluophobia, falls into that latter category. The reason: It’s not the darkness itself that’s frightening. It’s the fear of what the darkness masks. The dark leaves us vulnerable and exposed, unable to spot any threats that may be lurking nearby.
Fear of the dark. Artistic depiction of a child afraid of the dark and frightened by their shadow. ( Linocut by the artist Ethel Spowers (1927).) Fear of the dark is a common fear or phobia among children and, to a varying degree, adults. A fear of the dark does not always concern darkness itself; it can also be a fear of possible or imagined ...
