“Fear of Dark” is not only the title of an Iron Maiden song, but it is a phobic disorder that can cause great discomfort to the person who suffers it. It is also known as escotophobia, although it is often associated with fear of the night or nictophobia .

In this article we review the main characteristics of this phenomenon and go into its causes, symptoms and treatment.

What is an irrational fear of the dark

Scotophobia is the irrational and extreme fear of darkness. As a phobia, belongs to the group of anxiety disorders, and its main symptoms are extreme anxiety and irrational fear of phobic stimuli . It involves avoiding situations and places where it is dark, and the person may experience the discomfort just by thinking about it. Dark and unlit spaces are situations that can create a certain level of alertness or activation in the person, but do not necessarily create terror. Some people suffer panic attacks in these contexts, so they tend to avoid any situation like this.

It is common to see children afraid of the dark, in large part because of the images that can be seen in the movies, since at night and in the dark, ghosts or monsters often appear in the fantasy stories. However, in the case of adults, this fear is not so frequent, and when it occurs, it must be treated by a specialist .

This pathology can have a great impact on the daily life of the person who suffers it, mainly because the individual tends to be depressed, anxious or very nervous all the time. Every day of our lives gets dark, so the discomfort manifests itself over and over again. Those affected often refuse to leave their home when it gets dark or are unable to sleep alone despite their age if they suffer from escotophobia.

What causes this phobia

The main cause of this phobia lies in irrational beliefs about darkness, and as I have already said, fed by the fantasy stories that often appear in books or films, but also by popular beliefs.

However, most phobias usually develop due to a traumatic experience in childhood , and occur because of a type of associative learning called classical conditioning. This type of conditioning was first studied by the American psychologist John Watson, who managed to get a young boy, named Albert, to learn to be afraid of a white rat that he once adored.

You can view this experiment in the video below:

Phobias can also develop for other reasons. One of them is by vicarious conditioning, which is a type of learning by observation. We explain this in our article: “Vocational conditioning: how does this type of learning work?

Some authors also claim that people are biologically predisposed to suffer from this kind of fear, since this emotion has an adaptive function that has allowed the human species to survive the passage of centuries. For this reason, irrational fear is complex and sometimes difficult to overcome, as it does not respond to logical arguments. It is a primitive and non-cognitive association.

Symptoms of Scotophobia

This phobia causes a range of symptoms that can be cognitive, behavioral, or physical and physiological.

Cognitive symptoms include fear, distress, anxiety, confusion, irrational beliefs or inattention . As far as behavioural symptoms are concerned, the person tends to avoid phobic stimulation in an attempt to reduce the discomfort.

Physical and physiological symptoms include

  • Dry mouth
  • Muscle tension

    • “Fear of Dark” is not only the title of an Iron Maiden song, but it is a phobic disorder that can cause great discomfort to the person who suffers it.
    It is also known as escotophobia, although it is often associated with fear of the night or nictophobia .

    In this article we review the main characteristics of this phenomenon and go into its causes, symptoms and treatment.

    What is an irrational fear of the dark

    Scotophobia is the irrational and extreme fear of darkness.
    As a phobia, belongs to the group of anxiety disorders, and its main symptoms are extreme anxiety and irrational fear of phobic stimuli .
    It involves avoiding situations and places where it is dark, and the person may experience the discomfort just by thinking about it.
    Dark and unlit spaces are situations that can create a certain level of alertness or activation in the person, but do not necessarily create terror.
    Some people suffer panic attacks in these contexts, so they tend to avoid any situation like this.

    It is common to see children afraid of the dark, in large part because of the images that can be seen in the movies, since at night and in the dark, ghosts or monsters often appear in the fantasy stories.
    However, in the case of adults, this fear is not so frequent, and when it occurs, it must be treated by a specialist .

    This pathology can have a great impact on the daily life of the person who suffers it, mainly because the individual tends to be depressed, anxious or very nervous all the time.
    Every day of our lives gets dark, so the discomfort manifests itself over and over again. Those affected often refuse to leave their home when it gets dark or are unable to sleep alone despite their age if they suffer from escotophobia.

    What causes this phobia

    The main cause of this phobia lies in irrational beliefs about darkness, and as I have already said, fed by the fantasy stories that often appear in books or films, but also by popular beliefs.

    However, most phobias usually develop due to a traumatic experience in childhood , and occur because of a type of associative learning called classical conditioning.
    This type of conditioning was first studied by the American psychologist John Watson, who managed to get a young boy, named Albert, to learn to be afraid of a white rat that he once adored.

    You can view this experiment in the video below:

    Phobias can also develop for other reasons. One of them is by vicarious conditioning, which is a type of learning by observation.
    We explain this in our article: “Vocational conditioning: how does this type of learning work?

    Some authors also claim that people are biologically predisposed to suffer from this kind of fear, since this emotion has an adaptive function that has allowed the human species to survive the passage of centuries. For this reason, irrational fear is complex and sometimes difficult to overcome, as it does not respond to logical arguments. It is a primitive and non-cognitive association.

    Symptoms of Scotophobia

    This phobia causes a range of symptoms that can be cognitive, behavioral, or physical and physiological.

    Cognitive symptoms include fear, distress, anxiety, confusion, irrational beliefs or inattention .