Sleeping at night

Sooo... for about 2 years now I've slept with a light source on (except when I'm accompanied by someone)... what is wrong with me. I feel anxious and scared to sleep in the pitch black. I read on-line that if you sleep with the light on, your more likely to get cancer...I'm sooo scared for this to happen but i get anxiety every time i go to turn the light off... HELP! ;(

 

Honestly I don't think it that serious to be honest generally people feel more comfortable in the light. So I would just slowly start to work yourself off of having to have it on until you feel comfortable enough to completely remove it.

 

or maybe get a dimmer switch and casualy let the room get darker day by day

 

I've had the fear of sleeping in the dark since I was a child, the pitch black messed around with my eyes all the time and I'd see green lights and weird shapes so it freaked me out. Apparently I just needed to let my eyes adjust to the dark and it'd go away but I still slept with my lava lamp on till I was about fourteen.

I found this on the internet and I have to agree with what she stated.

 

Apparently everything gives you cancer these days, I wouldn't worry about that part of it

Perhaps get a specialised night lamp/bulb, they're enough to not be pitch black but it wont hurt your eyes or give you headaches like sleeping under a bright light. If you're scared of the dark you're scared of the dark. Either go to therapy, continue using a light only dimmer or face your fears and just go for it.

 

What is it about pitch dark that causes your anxiety?

 

Yess!! your exactly like me, i put on streams and sleep to it (unlimited internet ftw), but its still bad.. its best to sleep with no electronics around you i heard...

 

"So I just made a choice. I'd let the fear in, let it take over, let it do its thing, but only for five seconds, that's all I was going to give it. So I started to count: one, two, three, four, five. Then it was gone."

 

That isn't true, heck they say hotdogs get you cancer now, so really, what doesn't cause cancer?

To answer your question, there's nothing to be afraid of. We watch too many horror movies and therefor its been programmed to our heads that these things actually exist, maybe they do, but just believe that they don't.

I sleep with a nightlight too, nothing's wrong about it. Keep doing what you're doing and you shoul be fine

 

A simple fix would be having your computers' screen on, but not actually doing anything, such as a screen saver that makes various lights that will brighten the room.
Or, you can get LED mouse and plug it into your computer, and presto its not dark. Being afraid of the dark is natural to every human at first, some overcome it, some cope, some are in your position.

Most of the fear you have sounds like, you won't know what will happen in the dark, which is reasonable. Hopefully, you'll know that if you keep your shit locked up, nothing will get to you.

Btw, I have 3 laptops in my room, a xbox 360, a flat screen tv, 2 stereos, 1 desktop computer, an ipod dock, various wires, lamps and heat pads for my snakes' cages, and there is nothing wrong. Electronics won't hurt you when your sleeping.

If they don't hurt you when your awake, why would it hurt you when your sleeping?

 

I would buy a solar nightlight - I have a few around my house and offer some lighting, and you never have to turn them on or off! I also used to sleep with a TV on a sleep timer, but now I sleep with a radio with soft classical/jazz music near me. Take care and hope you sleep a little better tonight!

 

Its kind of embarrassing but up until recently I've been kind of the same, its not that I'm especially "afraid of the dark" or that I get "incredibly anxious" but it makes me slightly uneasy when I can't see whats around me.

What I do is set my laptop to dim after 15 minutes then the screen turn off after 30 and then usually I'm asleep by the time that happens.

edit: oh and duality the only problem with listening to music before bed is you get used to that routine and when you're away from home it'll be harder to get to sleep :/

 

No problem with using a night light lol. But honestly, i dont know what you're scared of, ghosts aren't real

 

What I do is...turn on the TV and put it on mute with a 30 minute timer, sleep and the TV will turn itself off.

 

Nothing wrong with sleeping with a night light. I would suggest turning on a light outside your room and leaving your door slightly open so it's not completely dark. Eventually you will get used to sleeping in the dark.

 

It's not necessarily a problem, plenty of people sleep with some sort of ambient light. The 'cancer' thing is just preposterous.

 

I need a bf to keep me company!!!

 

if it makes you feel any better i can't sleep without a sound. tv, music, fan, etc.
if i dont have a source of sound i can't sleep.
we all have our own little things its about accepting it not fixing it.

 

Indeed, Dragon clawz. Same here. I used to have a hardtime falling asleep but ever since I decided not to turn off my loud pc, that chaged. I reckon this might help the OP too. Just set your pc or tv to turn off in 30 min, lie on your bed and don't think of anything. If that doesn't work, play a rain sound video from youtube, anything that gets you to relax.

 

I'm the same, I HAVE to sleep with a movie on or some sort of light from the tv. I live with my girlfriend and still I have someone next to me at night and cant sleep in full darkness. Its not really a problem as such if its what you do then so be it, I really don't think its going to effect you're health in any way, Just my two cents.