In our childhood, when we can act more fearlessly, don’t care about anything, unlike adults. do not be afraid of the Dark We have had a sleep period, the light in the hallway on. After all, all monsters come out of their hiding places at nightfall, or at least in our childhood minds we thought they did. This fear had better remain only in childhood: darkness, even as we grow into adults; It keeps bringing wolves into us in a way we can’t understand why.

So why? As with any fear, the fear of the dark has a psychological explanation. world famous metal band iron virgin“Sometimes you’re afraid to even look into the corner of the room. You can feel that something is watching you all the time,” the legendary song read. Afraid of the darkLet’s look at the fear of the dark he wrote for.

A journey from the color of death to the color of grace

When you see someone dressed all in black, it can be hard to tell if they’re going to a funeral, a business meeting, a fashion show, or just a walk. After all, all these events can be dressed entirely in black.

Pantone Color Institute‘s colorist and executive director Leatrice EisemanAccording to , the color black has changed a lot over the past 50-100 years. “Today is black; beyond funerals, sorrows and weeping widows, color is a kind’sense of power“Has a weight that gives,” Eiseman says. mourning and deathceases to be a color associated with nobility and refinement It has evolved into the first color that comes to mind when it is said. Now people prefer to wear black as a symbol of expensive clothes, to look slim, to radiate self-confidence.

But black color gloom and unknownHis association with the witch still exists in some cultures in the form of demonic images such as a witch’s clothing or the Grim Reaper’s cloak. In fact, these and similar fictional images are also part of the evolution of fear of the dark.

Fear of the dark is actually a legacy of our ancestors.

Suppose you are alone at home and watch a movie set on your couch in your beautifully lit living room. Dry tree branches, moved by the wind blowing out, rub against your glass. A classic autumn evening; there’s nothing to doubt your safety, right?

Until suddenly the lights go out and leave you alone in the dark. In such a situation, an irrational fear immediately begins to take over most people.

Professor of Psychology at the Ryerson University of Toronto and The Anti-Anxiety Workbook the author of the book Martin Anthony“Fear is like a feeling of pain. It only exists to protect us from a potential danger,” he says. †

No electricity or even fire; In prehistoric times, about which we have ‘darkness’ as it were and about which we have little knowledge, people were more likely to be attacked by predators when it got dark. Using ever-evolving technology, humanity settled at the top of the food chain over time, and we began to create fictional monsters to fill the void left by these extinct predators. This is why good horror movies don’t show the monster directly: our imagination already creates the scariest monster possible for us. That is, we fear the “unknown” rather than the scary-looking monster.

However, in this long evolutionary process, our need to protect ourselves, namely the ‘fear of the dark’, is so entrenched that it has remained with us to this day. On the subject, Antony said, “We rely on our visual system to protect ourselves from danger. In the dark, this visual sense becomes ineffective and we cannot identify what or who is around us,” he says. “Fear of the dark is a prepared fear.”

In Eiseman, people instinctively “suggest” because the color black makes certain shapes and potential threats invisible.unknownagrees with the idea that he associates it with ”The color of night and darkness. The color that covers everything. identifies as “.

In the words of Eiseman, “How we see colors in nature has a significant influence on human psychology. We also all know that black is the color of the night and that it is the color that can hide any evil action that can under the guise of darkness.”, and this notion begins to dawn on us when we are young children. Today, thanks to technology, we can turn on the light and continue to have fun even in the darkest hour of the day; but some of us never get over this fear.

But what if this fear starts to affect our daily activities?

Antony said fear is a natural and necessary life-saving response; however, he also stresses that it can be a cause for concern in cases where it is excessive. After all, too much of anything is bad, isn’t it?

Anthoy states that the fear we feel when we are alone at night is natural in parts of the city that we know are not very haunted, Anthoy says it is not normal for us to feel the same when we are alone at night be our own room.

An overwhelming sense of fear in the dark can have a variety of causes, from a negative experience such as being attacked in a dark place to something as simple as watching a horror movie.

If this fear doesn’t go away on its own over time, it can seriously affect our relationships, work, and things we would normally do easily. nicophobia It can evolve into a phobia known as: According to Antony, it is no longer an ordinary fear, but a phobia when the person has reached the point where they cannot leave their house at night.

In such cases, the person who partially illuminates our view, such as night lighting or leaving the door ajar, may be enough to let in light,safety signal:‘ can apply for so-called aid. A dim light or the presence of a friend makes us feel more secure and cling to reality.

According to Anthony; state of fear gradual There are also treatments such as exposure. In these treatments, professionals ask their patients to list and number the situations they fear and then expose themselves to those situations until they no longer feel fear. “For example, if a patient can now sleep with only the presence of a nightlight, we can ask them to buy a new nightlight that is dimmer or adjustable,” explains Antony.

Black color can also be a symbol of self confidence for some.

But just like a coin has two different sides, so does the color black. two different faces there is.

While the color black makes many people anxious and anxious and keeps them up at night, it also makes others feel more confident and secure than usual, especially when it comes to fashion.

“I think a lot of people see black as a color that conveys a certain amount of security, a color that they can wrap themselves in and get lost in the shadows in,” Eiseman says. It is entirely up to the individual to fear or become one with what lurks in the dark.”

Moreover, when I think about it, the most powerful fictional characters are usually depicted in black or at least dark shades. This is also true in reality: imagine very powerful business people. Aren’t we used to seeing them all in dark suits? In this case, we think it wouldn’t be wrong to say that accepting and becoming one with the dark side can help us overcome this fear.

This was our article exploring the psychology behind the fear of the dark. If there are any of you readers who suffer from the same phobia, remember that the fear of the dark is just a small gift left to us by our ancestors who were always wary of protecting themselves. Trying to accept it instead of fearing it’s healthier for everyone with this phobia. With the help of a small night light, of course.