fear of dark
Childhood bedtime terror
Fear of dark is an irrational or excessive dread of darkness or nighttime, formally called nyctophobia.
Common in children, it typically diminishes with age but can persist into adulthood.
The fear usually centers not on darkness itself but on what might be concealed within it: Her fear of the dark kept her from camping.
- nyctophobiaMorbid dread of darkness
- pitch blackTotal absence of light
- shadowsDark areas from blocked light
- nighttimeDark hours between dusk and dawn
- phobiaPersistent irrational dread
monsters · imaginary monsters · under the bed · closet · bedtime · lights out · anxiety · creeping · lurking · unknown · dread · nightmare · night terrors · flashlight · nightlight · boogeyman · terror · blackness
- child distressanxiety, nervousness, nightmares, panic, school anxiety
- phobiasphobia, claustrophobia, agoraphobia, bibliophobia, acrophobia
- fearsspiders, snakes, falling, heights, death
- toddler behaviorstantrums, thumb sucking, crying, clinging, saying no
fear, fears, feared, fearing, fearful, fearfully, fearfulness, fearless, fearlessly