Fright is a natural reaction of the body to certain situations, including darkness in a room at night. Fear is the cause of fear, and fear is part of the "fight or flight" response that helps us know if we are in danger or not. The danger can be physical or psychological. It often throws us off balance and causes anxiety. Problems begin when this natural response begins to affect your daily life, including sleep. If you are afraid of the dark, you will sleep worse and your quality of life will decrease (this applies to both children and adults).
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Helping an Adult Deal with Anxiety
Step 1. Do not sleep during the day
If you go to bed late, you can't get enough sleep and rest, so by lunchtime you will start to feel sleepy. However, having lunch at night can negatively affect your night's sleep - making it harder for you to fall asleep. Plus, if you’re tired in the evening, you’ll have less energy to think about how scared you are.
If you feel like you can't work without getting some sleep during the day, take a nap before lunch. 15-20 minutes of sleep can energize you and improve motor skills. These are the breaks that people who lack energy during the day need
Step 2. Try taking deep breaths
Concentrating on your breathing is one way to relax and deal with stress. With deep breathing, the lungs and abdomen are switched on, due to which the blood is saturated with oxygen, and the process of complete oxygen exchange is accelerated (replacing carbon dioxide with oxygen). Deep breathing slows your heart rate and normalizes blood pressure.
Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Take 1-2 regular breaths to get comfortable. Take a deep breath for five counts. Hold your breath for 5 counts. Then exhale, releasing all the air from your lungs, in five counts. Repeat everything from the beginning until you feel calmer
Step 3. Meditate
Meditation will help you relax. Some people like to do this towards the end of the day better because it helps calm their minds after strenuous work. Meditation will help you better feel your surroundings and achieve inner peace. You should meditate for an hour before bed.
- You can meditate anywhere you like for as long as you like. This will allow you to achieve serenity, no matter what is happening around you.
- Sit in a comfortable position. Concentrate on your breathing. Concentrate on the sensations in the body, relax, begin to follow the breath. Letting go of any negative or disturbing thoughts is perhaps the hardest part. If you notice that your thoughts jump from one object to another, start counting in and out.
- Some people find it easier to focus on an object in the room (like a candle) or collect their energy and focus on sound (like "ohm").
Step 4. Keep a diary
A diary can help you better understand and deal with your emotions and fears. There is no single correct way to keep a journal. You can make lists or describe your feelings and emotions at specific points in time. In general, seeing your thoughts on paper will make it easier for you to recognize repetitive scenarios, and this will allow you to learn how to deal with them.
- Try to write whatever comes to your mind for 10-20 minutes a day. Don't worry about spelling and punctuation. Just write whatever you want.
- Ask yourself a few basic questions to help you understand the cause of your fears. What fears torment you at night? How do you feel at night or when you go to bed? Are you trying to avoid certain places or activities in the evening?
- Making lists is also helpful, especially if you find that you are having trouble falling asleep because of anxiety. Make a to-do list for tomorrow, a list of all the good things that happened during the day, or a list of what you look forward to from the new day.
Step 5. Take a warm bath
After a bath, a person falls asleep better, because in water the body temperature rises, and after a bath, it decreases. Lowering the temperature helps you fall asleep faster.
- You should take a bath two hours before bed, as it takes time for your body temperature to rise and fall.
- To enhance the effect, try using essential oils or fragrances to help you relax. Pour lavender-scented lather or soap into the bathtub. Studies have found that inhaling lavender scent can relax and calm the body.
Step 6. Watch what you eat and drink at night
Avoid large meals before bed. Don't drink coffee, smoke, or consume sugar or alcohol at least 4 hours before bed. Stimulants keep your brain awake, making it harder for you to stop worrying before bed.
However, a small snack two hours before bed may even be beneficial. It is best to eat a banana, a handful of almonds, and drink some low-fat milk
Step 7. Leave the night light
Nightlights aren't just for kids. You can leave the light in the bathroom or hallway rather than in the room so that it doesn't interfere with your sleep. Light can interfere with natural sleep patterns, making it harder for your body clock to prepare for sleep and sleep well through the night.
Leaving a light on in your home will help you see better what is going on around you, and this will eliminate the possible fear of the dark
Step 8. Create white noise
White noise (such as the sound of a fan or nature) and instrumental music can be soothing and drown out other sounds that provoke fear.
You can even buy a special machine that plays a variety of sounds. In addition, there are dedicated smartphone apps with relaxing sounds or white noise
Step 9. Make sure your home is safe
If your fears are due to security concerns (for example, fear of someone breaking into your home), make your home more secure.
- Secure the windows with locks.
- Hang curtains so you can't see anything from the street.
- Keep something near your bed that you can protect yourself with if it calms you down. You should not use things that can accidentally harm yourself or another person in the house (for example, a knife). Better to choose some heavy object - a book or paperweight. The proximity of such an object will help you feel safe and not increase the risk of injury.
Step 10. Assess the temperature in the house
Temperature can affect how well and how long you sleep. During sleep, the body temperature decreases, so in a cooler room it will be easier for the body to fall asleep and sleep well all night. If the room is too cold or pathetic, it will be more difficult for you to fall asleep and you will wake up more often. Although there is no consensus as to what temperature is best to fall asleep, since what one likes does not suit another, the recommended temperature for a bedroom can be considered 18-22 degrees Celsius.
Step 11. Distract yourself
This is a great way to deal with your fears without overdoing it. Overdoing refers to an extremely strong fascination with any factor that can overexcite the nervous system before bed.
- Read a book. Avoid books with a tense plot and horror. Read something you can dive into. This will allow you to focus on the story rather than your fear.
- Watch a movie on your computer, tablet or smartphone. There is a slight contradiction here. As a result of recent research, it has been found that using high-tech appliances at night disrupts sleep. If you want to distract yourself with technology a few hours before bed, this method will work. Remember to turn off all appliances an hour or two before bed.
- Listen to soothing music. Music should relax you and make you feel good.
- Count it. Count in normal or reverse order to distract your consciousness until you feel like you are falling asleep.
Step 12. Pray
For many people, praying before bed helps to relax and get rid of worries and fears.
Step 13. Think in a positive and logical way
Before going to bed, think about something good: family, friends, your favorite hobbies. Remember all the good things in your life and all the people you love and who love you. Think about the fact that you are surrounded by love and care.
It can also be helpful to stop and think logically. For example, if you live in an apartment, all the sounds you hear are most likely caused by other people. Creaking floors, muffled voices, knocking doors - all this indicates not that something terrible is about to happen to you, but that you live surrounded by other people and that you are not alone
Step 14. Get support
Don't be afraid to ask for help. Sometimes the feeling of isolation only intensifies the fear.
- If you've never been alone for the night before because you've just moved into a private room, dorm, or new apartment, you can ask a friend or family member to spend the first night with you in a new location.
- Arrange with a friend who is staying up late that you can call him if you wake up from a nightmare, cannot sleep, and want to talk to someone.
Method 2 of 2: How to help your child stop being afraid
Step 1. Talk to your child about their fears
Ask him to tell what he is afraid of in the dark, but do not pressure him if he is not ready to speak. Remember that fears can be different at different ages. For example, young children find it difficult to understand the difference between real and fictional.
- Never call your child's fears stupid or ridiculous. Accept these fears and start helping your child overcome them. Remember, you were a kid too, and you must have had a lot of stupid fears too!
- Try talking about fears during the day when the child is not afraid. Talk about what you can do that he was not so scared of going to bed. Work to build your child's confidence throughout the day. Praise him for his bravery. It is important that he feels confident during the day, and then it will be easier for him at night.
Step 2. Don't reinforce the child's fears or evoke new ones
When you understand what is the cause of the fears, do not increase them even unintentionally. Don't acknowledge the existence of threats. For example, if your child is afraid of monsters, do not use the monster spray or check under the bed for them. So the child will decide that if you approached the problem so seriously, then the monsters really exist.
- Better talk to your child about what distinguishes fiction from reality. For example, a child may be afraid of monsters because they have watched the cartoon "Monsters, Inc." Tell him that cartoons are fiction, there are no cartoon characters in real life. If you talk about this several times, the child will be able to start thinking differently and will try to find a logical explanation for everything.
- Remind your child constantly that they are safe. Deliver this information to him regularly.
Step 3. Watch what your child is watching and what he sees
Don't let him watch creepy TV shows or play violent video games. They can increase the child's fear.
It should limit the time watching TV and playing games before bedtime, as this will prevent the baby from falling asleep peacefully. Better read something to him (but that's okay!) Or read it together. Research has found that bedtime stories improve a child's learning ability and promote rapid development. In addition, they help strengthen the bond between the child and the parent
Step 4. Give your baby a warm bath before bed
After a bath, a person falls asleep better, because in water the body temperature rises, and after a bath, it decreases. Lowering the temperature helps you fall asleep faster.
You should take a bath two hours before bed, as it takes time for your body temperature to rise and fall
Step 5. Make your child's room comfortable to sleep in
Tidy up before bed and remove all things that are out of place. When the room is dark, the child's imagination can run wild. If everything is in place, the child will stop seeing something that is not really there. In addition, keeping your child's bed neat and comfortable will make it easier for him to fall asleep quickly.
Step 6. Add cute touches to the decor of the room
Place lots of pillows around your baby to help them feel safe. Leave an item next to the bed that the child cherishes: a special blanket, a stuffed toy, or a photo of the family. So the child will not only be more comfortable - he will feel safe, because he will be surrounded by the things that he loves.
Step 7. Leave the night light
A night light can calm a child down before bed because many children are afraid of the dark. You can buy bedside lamps in different shapes and sizes. Try going to the store and choosing a night light with your child, and then explain to him why he is needed. Let the child play an active role in dealing with their fears.
- If the light interferes with your child's sleep and sleep without waking up, remove the night light. Dim light is recommended only if it does not disturb the child's sleep.
- You can leave the door to the child's room open or ajar. This will help you deal with the fears of being separated from your parents at night.
Step 8. Leave your pet in the room
Touching your pets helps you calm down. A cat sleeping at its feet, a dog on the floor, or even the placating splash of water in an aquarium or the sound of a wheel being turned by a hamster will come in handy at night.
Step 9. Stay with your child for a while
If your child is very scared and cannot be alone in the room, you can sit with him until he falls asleep. This should be done occasionally. If the child gets used to this (and this can happen already for two evenings in a row), it is quite possible that he will not be able to fall asleep anymore without you.
If the child is afraid of being alone, tell him that you will visit him. First come in after 5 minutes, then after 10, after 15, and so on, until he falls asleep. Just look into the room - do not linger there, otherwise the child will become dependent on your presence
Step 10. Leave the baby to sleep in his bed
If he wakes up at night and is afraid to go to bed again, calm him down and tell him that everything will be fine. If the child comes to you at night, take him back and calm him down again. It is important not to let him sleep in your bed. He must remember that his bed is a safe place and nothing can happen there.
Allowing your child to sleep in his bed will not help him cope with the fear - it will only reinforce the fear and the child will not learn to overcome it
Step 11. If the fears persist, show the child to a child psychologist
If you have tried everything, but nothing helps, and night fears prevent your child from living a full life, take him to the doctor. There you will receive all the necessary recommendations and directions.