Nyctophobia
What is Nyctophobia?
Nyctophobia is an extreme fear of night or darkness that can cause intense symptoms of anxiety and depression. A fear becomes a phobia when it’s excessive, irrational, or impacts your day-to-day life.
Being afraid of the dark often starts in childhood and is viewed as a normal part of development. While some fear is normal, when it starts to impact daily life and sleep patterns, it may be time to visit your doctor.
Different phobias share similar symptoms. These signs may be either physical or emotional. With nyctophobia, symptoms may be triggered by being in the dark or even thinking about situations where you’d find yourself in the dark. Physical symptoms include: trouble breathing, racing heart rate,
chest tightness or pain, shaking, trembling, or tingling sensations, light-headedness or dizziness, upset stomach, hot or cold flashes, sweating
Emotional symptoms include: overwhelming feelings of anxiety or panic, an intense need to escape the situation, detachment from self or feeling “unreal”, losing control or feeling crazy, feeling like you may die or lose consciousness, feeling powerless over your fear
Virtual Reality Therapy for Nyctophobia and Astraphobia
Nyctophobia or Scopophobia environments engage in evaluations and interventions related to the fear of the dark or storms (Astraphobia). Designed for both children and adults, our environments can be modified to best suit individual's need whether that involves weather conditions or levels of light.
VR Environments that help
Fear of the dark and of storms - The night-time virtual environment allows the individual to walk around a house with 5 rooms, all of which carry different levels of darkness that can be adjusted.
VR Therapy involves gradually introducing the person to the environment and helping them confront the situation and adapt to it by and making necessary changes. It may involve just a few sessions of therapy, after which the end goal is the person confronting their fears and be confident in such environments
Get in touch with our professionals today.
