Negative Effects Of Nyctophobia

Nyctophobia, also known as the extreme or irrational fear of the dark, is a phobia that presents the prevalent fear present in children of all ages. For most this irrational fear goes away with age, but for some it persists into adolescents and even into adulthood. A phobia is a persistent, often unreasonable, fear of an object, event, or situation. People who have phobias become afraid if they even think about the object or event they fear. They usually remain calm and comfortable when they avoid that object or any thoughts about it. There are certain phobias that are categorized as specific phobias, these are those in which a persistent fear of a specific object or situation occur (Comer, 2015). People experiencing these specific phobias usually experience immediate fear when around or thinking of the object or event they fear. The impact these phobias have on a person’s life depends largely on what activated the fear (Comer, 2015). With nyctophobia, the impact is often quite large because there are many different incidences where one may have to encounter the dark. This often leads to individuals avoiding activities that occur in the dark or during the night leading to impaired social development, especially in children. The focus of this study is to consider the

One such theory is the behavioral-evolutionary explanation theory. This theory proposes that human beings have a predisposition to develop certain fears. That they are, theoretically, “prepared” to acquire some phobias and not others (Comer, 2015). According to this theory the predispositions have been passed on genetically through an evolutionary process. That they’re passed down through ancestors who were more readily acquiring fears of things like animals, darkness, and heights so they were more likely to survive long enough to reproduce and pass their fears onto their children (Comer,