Are you afraid of the dark?

Piste

Because I know I am! That's why I'm up at half four in the morning, shattered tired but unable to sleep cos I get very uneasy with the lights out yet I can't sleep if there's light! It's very horrible, I freak out at the slightest sound (not a great thing when there are creaking pipes in the wall behind my head) I know it's childish and irrational but I wont even go downstairs to get a glass of water if there are no lights on!

So anyone else here embarrassingly afraid of the dark?

Ruu_Old

Don't like it myself, probably because I still haven't gotten used to my new house. My mind is too active and I am always listening out for noises even though the neighbourhood is nearly always quiet.
I am trying to settle down my mind with some nice music (pure moods) before sleeping and then some reading. It has been stormy lately with thunder and lightning which allows me to sleep better somehow.

Vikings

Not afraid of the dark no, I find it hard to sleep when there is a light on at night but I work at night and find it easy enough to sleep during the day when its bright outside..weird! Suppose tiredness kicks in.

That being said, if I was to wake up during the night and want to go toiled/downstairs the first thing I usually look for is a light...bit of an over active imagination when I was younger still holding on a bit I fear :S

Piste

Speaking of childish fears; does anyone still do the thing where they flush the toilet and then have to race into bed as fast as possible before the flushing stops or else monsters will get them?


Sometimes I wish I were small enough to scamper into my parents' bed and curl up there when I'm scared

admiralofthefleet

some nights i am and some im not, it just depends on what frame of mind im in. saying that, i need absolute darkness to sleep

Duiske

I used to be afraid of the dark. My mum reckons it was because of a wasp in the room one night when i was a nipper. I don't remember it myself. I'm ok in the dark now, but freak out a bit if hear, or think I think i hear a buzzzing sound.

Saint_Mel

Piste wrote:

Speaking of childish fears; does anyone still do the thing where they flush the toilet and then have to race into bed as fast as possible before the flushing stops or else monsters will get them?

Jebus, totally forgot I used to do that ... or in my case it was the noise of the
flushing would alert whatever evil was lurking around the house that someone
was up, so I'd race back up the stairs and into bed before they could find me!

Wouldn't be a great fan of the dark meself

Black Swan

Piste wrote:

So anyone else here embarrassingly afraid of the dark?

No. I like the night. When alone, it's quiet, peaceful, and cool. Plus, a lot of fun things can happen after sundown, especially when there's a full moon.;)

aoife2k

In my room i must have the side light on to sleep, if it's off i freak out!

I've had a few bad experiences in my room wheather it was lucid dreaming or paranormal(!!) i don't know but i have to have the light on. But strangely enough i could sleep in any other house without the light, ther's just such a feel of unease in my own room......weird!!!

Cheese Princess

I'm a little bit scared of the dark but more so when I'm on my own in the apartment. When my boyfriend is there it doesn't bother me but if I'm alone my imagination goes crazy. Any little sound freaks me out.

Some houses are scarier than others though. I've moved a lot in the last few years and one particular apartment always seemed especially scary at night. I had a lot of nightmares there so maybe that was it.

Black Swan

Cheese Princess wrote:

When my boyfriend is there it doesn't bother me

Sounds like a nice solution.;)

Time Magazine

Not afraid of the dark. Over here I'm much more afraid of light - it attracts the fecking mosquitoes.

goldielocks05

i use to be afraid of the dark but i started to put my tele on a timer 4 around an hour so i'd fall asleep while the tele was on so that could cover up the noise of the pipes and give u light aswell... or leave one of yr curtains open because it starts to get bright really early now so the light would shine in about 4 anyway

Smegball

As a child I was extremely scared of the dark, always had to have a light of such in the room, did anybody else wake up in the middle of the night and freak out in the dark and forget what room you were in. Then you would be completely shocked and desperately grab for walls to guide your way towards a door or lightswitch?

Tar.Aldarion

I'm not afraid of the dark, no. It's kind of different, I love it actually.
It's rally cool moving around not being seen or heard.

Hal1

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

I'm not afraid of the dark, no. It's kind of different, I love it actually.
It's rally cool moving around not being seen or heard.

Stalker! , I had a bad experience when I was about 5 or 6. I was sleep walking and suddenly awoke not knowing where or what was going on and panicked looking for a light switch until my parents heard me crying lol.

Smegball

Hal1 wrote:

Stalker! , I had a bad experience when I was about 5 or 6. I was sleep walking and suddenly awoke not knowing where or what was going on and panicked looking for a light switch until my parents heard me crying lol.

That happened to me quite a few times actually

Andrewf20

I was amazed how alot of adults can suffer from this including myself a little (in my 20's). I have no probs sleeping in the dark at home, however I remember staying in a old 3 storey Georgian styled house in Bandon a few years ago and had to leave the landing light on. If I have been watching Most Haunted on TV, I feel a little uneasy afterwards with the lights out, so I usually put on the radio or open a window to let some outside noise drain in to kill the night time silence.

smdweb

I used to have problems with the dark when I was younger - caused by 7 years of recurring nightmares (from 6years to about 13) ... I had dreams each night about a ghostly presence who hid in a room in my house and when he caught me he used push his thumb into and through my back.

Needless to say, I never liked entering the room in question, and I am curious to know if the people in the house now feel anything in the rooms in question, as I always feld uneasy. (probably due to the dreams)

Anyway, we moved away in the early 90's, and in 2005 there was a person murdered in the drive way and then the house went on fire about 4 months later ! ... any coinsidence to the dreams ? I was certainly spooked by those 2 things !

Jesus Wept

No.

littlebug

Yes I've always been afriad of the dark. There was a street light right outside my bedroom window as a child and I've never been able to sleep in total darkness. I'm sure to have nightmares or half wake up and think I can see things, creatures usually massive insects but sometimes strange people creatures (very strange considering I can't see a bloomin' thing in daylight without my glasses ). For me to relax enough to sleep I must have some light in the room, either outside light through the window or hall light and the door open and I MUST be able to reach a light or lamp switch without getting out of bed. When hubby is away I sleep with the bedside lamp on all night and even when he's there if I'm a bit jumpy it stays on all night I did warn him when I met him that I can be a bit weird at night but he still loves me anyway (though I do occasionally get sent to the spare room )

unreggd

Sometime

Sometimes I get nights where I think of paranormal stuff that freaks me out, so hear strange noises n cant sleep


I have light curtains, and a lampost seen from my room, so my night vision kicks in after a few mins and I'm grand

Also, usually get scared after a very graphic nightmare, or one of them paralysis dreams!!!


OP, Do u have them "windows" above your bedroom door? If so, you could leave an outside light on, or if you dont, leave your door open a bit

Piste

Nope I don't, but my hall light shines through sometimes and then i have to turn it off, it's a paradox, I can't sleep with light in the room but I get frightened in the dark...

challengemaster

Ruu wrote:

Don't like it myself, probably because I still haven't gotten used to my new house. My mind is too active and I am always listening out for noises even though the neighbourhood is nearly always quiet.

same here.. I'll pick up on any little noise, try identify what it was, etc etc.. its not really the dark that bothers me, but rather whats in it..

apart from that, i really like darkness.

Blue_Lagoon wrote:

No. I like the night. When alone, it's quiet, peaceful, and cool.

exactly. the only thing thats nicer, is raining when its dark

hepek

This may help you defeat your fears.From the dawn of time,humans feared the unknown.Hell,that fear led to a fall of whole civilizations(Aztecs,for example).And what could be more unknown than the dark.It is a perfectly normal fear.I however do not fear it as i know that there is nothing to hurt me(except for serial killers).And if you fear the boggyman then bariccade your closet and sleep on the floor.
P.S.Go party.Sleep is for the weak.

challengemaster

hepek wrote:

From the dawn of time,humans feared the unknown.

and we've seen quite noticable examples in our own time, too. old people/technology | coming to terms with sexuality.. etc etc, all examples of what has been unknown, and certainly feared and hated due to this.

Hell,that fear led to a fall of whole civilizations(Aztecs,for example).And what could be more unknown than the dark.It is a perfectly normal fear.

a weird thing for me though, i will pretty much, always embrace the unknown. Its just the unknown of whats in the darkness (there's always sounds!!! damn my apt hearing) that gets to me.. of course its normally a case of me assessing what /could/ be there, and coming to the worst possible conclusion of such. maybe someone could care to shed some light as to why i do it? anyway..

I however do not fear it as i know that there is nothing to hurt me(except for serial killers).And if you fear the boggyman then bariccade your closet and sleep on the floor.

hehehe

P.S.Go party.Sleep is for the weak.

Indeed. but cant beat a good sleep!

Zillah

Actually we're afraid of the dark because for millions of years animals were getting eaten by bigger animals who would jump out of the dark at them. A fear of the dark is a fear of tigers, essentially. Our ancestors survived because fear stopped them from wandering into the dark jungle where they'd have been eaten. And the Aztecs were destroyed by the Spanish invasion, not fear of the unknown...




I used to be quite afraid of the dark as a kid, but I very slowly grew out of it and now its completely normal for me, I have no problem with it at all.

pretty-in-pink

only if I've had a nightmare, and I'm alone, I imagine a malevolent presence in the room and freak out.

that said i turn out the light and darn near leap onto the bed in case a clown gets me