Scared of the Dark

I have horrible anxiety problems at night. They started when I was about 13 and have just gotten worse over the past ten years. It happens like this: I climb into bed, turn off the lights, get all comfy-cozy, start to drift off, my mind whispers "Hey, you're gonna die someday," and I dive right into a panic attack. Sometimes these attacks are mild, only causing me to jolt up and turn on the light. Sometimes they're a little more aggressive and I'll cry out. And then there are times where they get so bad, I scream, jump out of bed, and run right out of my bedroom.

I've never been able to figure out where this intense fear comes from. I know that it's not unusual to be afraid of death; in fact I think most people are. I just don't know what causes me to have this kind of a reaction. I'm 23 years old and I'm still afraid of the dark.

I've tried listening to calming music before bed. I've tried yoga, and teas, and melatonin. I've tried meditation. I've tried looking at pictures of cute animals before sleep. None of it seems to calm my mind enough for it to not happen.

I know that I could go to a psychiatrist and have them write me a prescription for Xanax or Valium, but I feel like that would only treat the symptoms and not the actual problem.

Anyone have any ideas?

Hey Aisling!

I think that it is important to recognize thoughts like that, the mind is constantly telling us things, some of them are good and some of them are not so good.. you can come to terms with this one easily by remembering that having the positive and negative thoughts are what make us balanced and whole.

That being said, if "Our Mind" is telling "Us" something, then we aren't our mind are we? We are observing our thoughts and actions, and as the observer, with experience we can change everything that we are thinking, and eventually change our entire experience.

A good book that I am reading now is called "The Power of Know" by Eckart Tolle, he talks about experiencing the present by observing your thoughts. Then you can inject positive thoughts into your thoughts stream also, such as "I love myself" "The Universe love me and wants me here" "God loves me" etc

Maybe your mind is telling you things that you have not yet come to terms with, yes, one day your physical body will die, but the good works that you do, each time you smiled at someone, your life, the energy that makes up who you are, will never go away.

Fears are emotions triggered by your subconscious mind in order to protect you from danger. the subconscious mind was designed for survival as a basic priority and that's why it makes you afraid .

To deal with this fear you can use cognitive behaviour therapy . As the emotions are triggered by thoughts and since thoughts result from beliefs therefore changing certain beliefs can prevent certain emotions from being triggered.