Nyctophobia
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Nyctophobia (from Greek νυκτός - nuktos, genitive of νύξ - nux, "night"[1] and φόβος - phobos, "fear"[2]) is a phobia characterized by a severe fear of the darkness. It is triggered by the brain’s disfigured perception of what would or could happen when in a dark environment.
Despite its pervasive nature, there has been a lack of etiological research on the subject. The fear of darkness (nyctophobia) is a psychologically-impacted feeling of being disposed from comfort to a fear-evoking state. The fear of darkness or night has several non-clinical terminologies—lygophobia, scotophobia and achluophobia. Nyctophobia is a phobia generally related to children but, according to J. Adrian Williams’ article titled, Indirect Hypnotic Therapy of Nyctophobia: A Case Report, many clinics with pediatric patients have a great chance of having adults who have nyctophobia. The same article states that “the phobia has been known to be extremely disruptive to adult patients and… incapacitating”.[3]
