Are you afraid of the dark?

By: Daniela C.

Are you still afraid of the dark? If not, you would likely be really astonished at how many adults experience fear of the dark. Fears are a natural stage of the individual development and the fear of the dark is the most common also among adults, both male and female.

In the dark, shadows turn alive and can turn into the tremendous monsters which during daylight we succeed to keep concealed.

But this fear is not born with us and kids do not have it until after 2 years. At this age they acquire already scholarly a lot about their surroundings and are experiencing autonomy and new abilities with an rising frequency. At the same time, children are slowly emotionally separating by their mother as a rsubsequent result of their freshly conquered independence, but this process can result in anxieties which are expressed by the many fears characteristic of this age.

Children believe the monsters invisible in the dark as real, because they still cannot distinguish imagination from reality and thus we should never underestimate their conduct and consider it as a mere tantrum or even be very strict forcing them to behave normally thus probably causing the issue to increase and last for years.

There isn't any magic recipe to help your children overcoming their fears, mostly because every person has a different sensitivity and different reactions to the same situation, so that we cannot create a general procedure.

Probably the best approach is to tranquilize them, not turning though into overprotective. Then we should consider what they watch in tv which, even though appropriate for their age, can sometimes create anxiety and stress. Check also their toys because sometimes plush we consider very cute or funny can upset them. Moreover, toys' shadows in the dark can be extremely scary!

Never try to make fun of their anxiety even though only to minimize the problem, but be supportive. Turn on a night light and remain with them a for a while after they get into bed, until their eyes get used to the low night light. You can make them feel veryl happy singing them a lullaby or reading a brief, delicate fairy-tale or a nice story. Leave their bedroom before they get asleep (if they aren't too afraid this will help them develop their personality because with your assistance they will understand they can face their fear...) but leave the night light on the whole night (night lights have a low power consumption) so that they will not be afraid if they wake up before morning.

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Daniela deals with items for a better life and a better home: decorative night lights at www.decorativenightlights.net, massage chairs at www.mastermassagechair.com and inflatable water slides at www.inflatableslidehouse.com

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