Fear of darkness in a child and the reasons for its occurrence. The article will provide recommendations for eliminating this phobia with the most gentle ways to resolve the existing problem. Fear of the dark in children is a condition experienced by many concerned parents. The whims of a baby very often have good reasons for that when it comes to serious disturbances in the emotional perception of the world around the child. It is necessary to find out the origins of the formation of such mental anxiety, which disrupt the process of "sleep-wakefulness" in children.
Causes of the child's fear of the dark
A small personality that has not yet formed is most susceptible to the formation of all kinds of phobias in her. The reasons for the fear of the dark in children usually arise in the following life situations provoking them:
- Emotional shock … Any imbalance that has arisen in the general condition of a baby or an older child can have an extremely negative effect on his internal state. At the same time, darkness will be perceived as an additional threat, because it harbors something unknown and frightening for a person who has not yet taken place. In daylight, such children are no different from their peers, but with the last rays of the setting sun, they literally turn into driven animals.
- Stress after viewing information sources … Television sometimes does not skimp on bloody details of events taking place in the world. Some parents are comfortable with the fact that their children watch the scenes of violence unfolding on the screen. As a result of such a kind of cultural leisure, a baby or teenager may develop a complex of fear of darkness, which in the future will bring many problems to both the child and his father and mother.
- Watching horror movies … Not only contemplation of stories about road accidents and terrorist acts can frighten overly impressionable children. The modern film industry periodically supplies specific products to those who love to tickle their nerves. Sagas about vampires, werewolves and other evil spirits have already become familiar to the common man in the street. However, with the onset of darkness, the baby ceases to perceive the information he sees as an entertaining film, and all kinds of nightmares and horrors begin to appear in the cover of the night.
- Family conflicts … If the child's nervous system is under constant stress, then with the arrival of darkness, it begins to give additional alarming signals to the little man. He cannot fall asleep on his own in a separate room and asks to go to bed with adults in order to calm down and at least take a nap.
- Fear provoking by adults … How many times have they told the world that in no case should you develop all kinds of phobias in your child? However, broadcasting in a tragic whisper about Babayk and other evil spirits does not leave the lips of zealous parents who consider themselves specialists in pedagogy. Thus, they achieve obedience from their offspring, and as a result, they raise neurasthenics out of them.
- Obsessive images … Some children are initially taught that night time is a time to watch out for. Adults are in no hurry to explain the reason for such an association, but an overly emotional child willingly believes in the "information" provided to him. In addition, some overly harsh dads and mothers punish their fidgets by locking them in a room at a fairly late time. To further increase the punishment, in addition, turn off the light. As a result, the scheme “guilty - darkness - scary” begins to work in their minds.
- Fear of death … In this case, we are talking about a rather serious psychological imbalance in children. Individuals who have not yet been formed cannot initially give a clear explanation for the arrival of a new person into this world and his further departure into another world. Consequently, the fear of the dark on the basis of the voiced reason is a reason for an urgent appeal to a psychologist, because after the death of a family member close to the child, he developed a similar phobia.
- Moving from an apartment to a private house … Even for adults, such a radical change of place of residence does not just happen. The kid reacts more strongly to the absence of neighbors, moving from “height” to “land”. And if during the day a child frolics in the yard and enjoys changes, then at night he can play out a fantasy in which they climb through the windows, attack, etc.
In most of the described causes of fear of the dark, it is adults who are to blame. Instead of protecting their offspring from developing all kinds of phobias, they themselves contribute to their progression. The child's psyche is so unstable that it lends itself to any correction on the part of the older generation of the family, which very often has a negative impact on its descendants.
Risk group for fear of the dark in children
A child at any age can be susceptible to a voiced phobia, because it sometimes arises out of nowhere. However, experts have made a clear age distinction of this problem, which looks like this:
- 1-3 years … With this initial personality development, the baby is not yet fully aware of his fears at nightfall. Coming out of infancy, he is weaned from his mother's breast and in most cases acquires his own personal apartments. Not every child is ready for such a first step into an independent life, therefore, the fear of the dark is often accompanied by his tantrums and the desire to sleep in his parents' bed.
- 4-5 years old … At this age, children are very sensitive to the changes in their lives. They are already physically and psychologically able to share their fear of the dark with their parents in a form that is accessible to their development. However, not all adults are able to understand the cries for help from their children, which in the future threatens to aggravate their fear of the dark.
- 5-6 years old … At this stage of development, the child is already able to project his fears onto clearly formed danger factors for him. For him, a dark room is no longer an abstract object, but a place in which fantastic creatures live from information received from outside.
- The first time in first class … This period of development of children is the time of a closer acquaintance of a small person with society. However, this factor sometimes provokes the development of new phobias in a first grader, because he will be provided with a new portion of "horror stories" from his new friends.
- 8-10 years old … If parents were skeptical about the problem of their child throughout the entire time of alarm signals from him, then the fear of the dark becomes the norm for their child. Children with this phobia cannot fall asleep in the dark unless adults and those close to them are nearby. As a result, everything ends with the need to contact a psychologist who specializes in this area.
- Adolescence … Experts note a greater fear of the dark in girls than in boys during this period of personality maturation. Their instinct of self-preservation is more triggered, which signals them about the probable danger from all frightening factors. Fears in adolescents of this kind are a common phenomenon that often arises from adults' inattention to emotional problems in their children.
Ways to deal with the child's fear of the dark
If the problem concerns a beloved child, then it is necessary to treat with the utmost responsibility the family disorder that has arisen. In this case, it is best to heed the advice of experts on how to overcome the child's fear of the dark. The most important thing is to prevent the development of the phobia.
Helping Parents to Treat Fear of the Dark
Every dad and mom always want the best for their child, so that he becomes a full-fledged person over time. Nymphobia (fear of the dark) can be eliminated at the initial stage of its development with the help of the following actions on the part of adults interested in solving the problem:
- Intimate talk … Children are always ready to make contact with parents who are able to adequately assess their fears and concerns. A kid under the age of three will always hear an affectionate word from dad or mom, if at the same time he categorically does not want to be alone in a dark room. You should tell your offspring with complete frankness about the inexpediency of his fears, citing as an example your past fears from childhood.
- Buying a pet … In some cases, you can afford to have the same kitten when the child has a vividly developed problem of nymphobia. If a son or daughter is not allergic to animal hair, then they will sleep peacefully when their new friend is purring and fingering nearby. If such an acquisition is impossible, you can get the same aquarium fish. Their mere presence in the child's room will show that he is not alone, and will allow him to fall asleep in a calm environment.
- Pajama get-togethers … If the children have reached a fairly conscious age, then you can from time to time allow them to invite their friends home. You should not abuse such activities, but sometimes they have a very fruitful effect on eliminating the child's fear of the dark.
- Rearrangement of furniture … Some components of a headset in a children's room can cause a depression in a child. Even in daylight, children feel uncomfortable with some of the delights of adults in terms of equipping their home. Parents should optimize the resting island for their offspring as much as possible, so that when darkness approaches, they do not feel like animals driven into a cage.
- Purchase of an interesting new thing … Lamps of a peculiar shape are the main enemy of darkness and children's phobias, which it provokes. Parents who are seriously concerned about the problem of nyphobia in their child should organize their child's sleeping room with maximum comfort. It is necessary to place only things of a relaxation nature in it, without the slightest reason to frighten the baby.
Almost 80% of the success of the proposed event depends on the behavior of the parents of children with a similar problem. It is solely in their interests to do everything possible to rid their beloved child of a rather serious problem in the form of nytophobia.
Psychological advice for treating fear of the dark in children
In some cases, even efforts on the part of the parents are not enough to rid the child of the described panic fear. In this critical situation, psychotherapists advise using the following means of dealing with the problem that has arisen:
- Play therapy … This technique has a fairly large number of its varieties. If the conversation is about a child under 5 years old, then you can play hide and seek with him. At the same time, experts advise to hide the most favorite game attributes of the baby in a dark room. For a child in an older age, you can offer a game of spies, the main development of which is located in a mysterious, but rather dark place.
- Reception "anti-fairy tale" … The introduction of the expression "knock out a wedge by a wedge" into life will become a rather useful exercise in the voiced method of combating nytophobia. Since childhood, many children are accustomed to listening to tales about evil monsters and all kinds of fiends, because these concepts are generously supplied by television and the Internet. At the same time, psychologists are introducing a radically opposite technique, in which evil will always be defeated by good through a well-presented fairy tale in a new way.
- Drawing with a specialist … Children themselves love to depict their worries and experiences on a piece of paper. A competent psychotherapist will be able to coordinate the thoughts of the ward in joint artistic activities. During such joint leisure, the child and the specialist can find the causes of the fear of the dark, which will be a decisive step in the future for the subsequent therapy of the little patient.
How to deal with the child's fear of the dark - watch the video:
When parents ask how to get rid of the fear of the dark in children, psychologists usually give an unambiguous and categorical answer. They recommend monitoring any changes in the behavior of your beloved child, so as not to reap the benefits of a reckless attitude towards raising your younger generation in the future.
