Many children have a fantasy in the evenings, and they see monsters under the bed - but fears of the dark and others turn into a real problem in children who do not know how to fall asleep on their own. What should you do if you are the parent of such a child and are forced to sit by his bed every evening, holding the baby’s hand?
As evening approached, six-year-old Zora became restless and annoying. She put off the time for evening bathing and brushing her teeth as best she could. She demanded more and more books to read aloud, although it was long time to go to bed, and agreed to fall asleep only holding her mother’s hand. Even if her mother was sitting right next to her bed and holding her hand, Zora would declare that the sticker animals were “looking at her from the wall” or that the noise from the street was bothering her. Her stomach either hurt, or her legs felt strange, although before she went to bed, both her stomach and her legs were fine. A lot of time passed before Zora’s mother realized that her daughter simply did not know how to fall asleep on her own, and therefore she was seized with fear in the evenings.
Babies often behave the same way as Zora if they do not know how to fall asleep on their own. They have to invent all sorts of fears and complaints because they really need adults to stay with them until they fall asleep. For that matter, you yourself - unintentionally, of course - have taught your baby to be anxious in the evenings, because this is the only way he can prevent you from leaving, especially if you are not sure whether he can fall asleep alone, without your help.
The five-step plan is designed to help your little one feel comfortable and calm before bed. This plan can reduce children's anxiety in several ways. It includes:
- a light snack so that the child does not get hungry at night;
- takes time to read and cuddle;
- gives the baby a charm, a toy or a book that will help him relax until sleep comes;
- and two “sleeping tickets” for small requests and matters for which he did not have enough time before.
Finally, this plan doesn't deprive your son or daughter of your presence while they practice their sleep skills.
Causes of the disease
Most often, hypnophobia occurs in childhood.
Children have a very mobile psyche, they are emotional and receptive to new sensations. Watching a scary movie, reading a horror book, or hearing a story can leave a deep imprint on a child's mind. He will be afraid to go to bed, expecting the realization of all the bad things he has learned. He is overcome by a series of nightmares, which only cements the horror in the subconscious. Usually, childhood fear tends to pass over the years, but you still need to keep it under control so that it does not develop into an adult phobia. With the advent of cinema, the theme of nightmares became very popular. In films, scary monsters come at night, maniacs appear who wait for the onset of darkness. All these episodes can affect impressionable people. After such shots, they are afraid to go to bed, peer into the darkness, and cannot leave their body without control. They are overcome by fear, the heart is seized with anxiety before going to bed, which gradually develops into a panic disorder.
- thoughts of helplessness during sleep;
- fear of dying at night.
- increased sweating;
- cardiopalmus;
- headache;
- insomnia;
- dry mouth;
All these symptoms complement each other, causing severe discomfort in a person. Many people try to relieve symptoms with medications. For example, they use sleeping pills or sedatives to get rid of anxiety and fall asleep. But this method only dulls the manifestation of the disease, blurring the whole picture. When making a diagnosis, this can greatly hinder the specialist, so you should not use medications without a diagnosis.
First of all, hypnophobia is dangerous because of its consequences. At night, the body recovers from everyday work and accumulates strength for new tasks. If sleep is interrupted, then its quantity and quality are reduced, which does not have the best effect on a person. Hypnophobes look tired and exhausted, and they are prone to aggression. But who could control himself and control his body when sleep lasts several hours with interruptions of anxious thoughts and fears?
This is why hypnophobia must be treated as quickly as possible. Emotional devastation and physical weakness can lead a person to more serious mental disorders - depression and neurosis. In addition, lack of sleep has a detrimental effect on physical health: vision can deteriorate, muscle weakness can cause cramps, and breathing difficulties can lead to panic attacks. Forced insomnia can provoke hallucinations.
Considering all the consequences, it’s scary to imagine what a hypnophobe experiences. Therefore, if you or your loved ones are gripped by this fear, try to contact a specialist as soon as possible.
Advice from psychologists
Recommendations from psychologists are aimed at creating a comfortable emotional environment for going to bed and overcoming fear, which is provoked by the child’s wild imagination.
Make friends with fears and monsters from dreams
Let him draw the monsters that live under his crib. Or make figures from plasticine. Play, give them names. But come up with entertainment where the monsters have positive roles.
Create a bedtime ritual
It could be a book, a lullaby or 100 kisses on the cheeks. The ritual may take a long time, but at this moment the child will receive maximum attention from you. You cannot skip the discussed method of going to bed for a single day. If the little one fell asleep in bed and came into the parent’s bedroom at night, you need to return the baby to the nursery and repeat the ritual.
Create a positive image for the night
Explain that he must sleep in a separate bed, because magic awaits him, a night fairy with a gift. In the morning, place a small surprise under your pillow.
Discuss tomorrow before going to bed
The child should fall asleep sooner so that morning comes faster. Talk about how you have a busy day tomorrow: going to the cinema, visiting, going to the playground, tasting ice cream. But in the morning, don’t give up on your plans, you need to keep your promises.
Appoint a night guard
A child's sleep near the bed can be protected by a teddy bear, soldiers, or a doll. Place the toy in the bed or next to the door. Discuss the story with your preschooler, and let him nominate his own defenders every night.
Change your child's interests in games and cartoons
You can’t just ban viewing or entertainment; you need to offer more interesting entertainment options that are safe for the psyche.
On a note! For sound sleep, the temperature in the bedroom is very important. Air heated to 18–22°C is considered comfortable. In winter, ventilate the room before going to bed, and in summer, turn on the air conditioner.
Diagnosis of a phobia
The main method of diagnosis is a personal conversation with restoration of the full picture of the disease. It is necessary to tell a psychiatrist or psychotherapist how you feel before going to bed, describe your physical well-being and emotions. If the fear is caused by nightmares, it can be very difficult to reconstruct its root cause. Therefore, the doctor will look for any traumatic moments that are, in one way or another, related to sleep.
Many experts believe that yoga and meditation are good additions to therapy. A person learns to control his body and relax. Accompanied by aromatherapy and pleasant music, this method has a strong relaxing effect. Any hobby can be the key to getting rid of fear. Thoughts are busy with some interesting thing, attention is concentrated on a new object, there is less and less room for worry and anxiety. Long walks and physical exercise in the fresh air have a good effect on both physical health and emotional background, which has a beneficial effect on a hypnophobe.
And, of course, as with any mental disorder, personal attitude plays a huge role in getting rid of a phobia. You need to look to the future with optimism, believe in your own strengths and capabilities, then any fear will remain in the past.
vseostresse.ru
Why do panic attacks happen at night?
At night, we are left alone with our fears. It is easier to escape from worries and unpleasant thoughts during the day than at night. If a person is prone to anxiety and has a number of accumulated problems, or is experiencing stress, then the likelihood of nighttime panic attacks increases.
In this state, our brain is in “defense mode,” constantly monitoring for threats, including any changes it senses in the body. So if you go to bed feeling tense, when your body begins to relax, it may perceive it as something dangerous and trigger a stress response. Panic attacks are your body's way of protecting you.
Fear of sleeping alone is a phobia
July 25, 2022, 5:20 pm
Good day everyone. My name is Alina, I’m already 22 years old, and as for such fear, I’m already old enough to be so afraid of the dark, namely, to stay at home alone in this very darkness. it all started 6 years ago. I stayed at home with my stepfather (I didn’t see him as a defender, since he beat me, thank God he and my mother didn’t live together for a long time) and then at 3 o’clock in the morning. I remember well. it was 3.05. it’s hard to write. I hear a noise (something fell in the kitchen), I react very quickly to noise, and my stepfather was fast asleep in the next room. I turned on the light and went to the kitchen, but something inside didn’t let me in, I didn’t open the door there, she returned to her stepfather and in a trembling voice said that there was noise there, we went there, we went in, and there was a window that was open, the tulle and curtains were moved to one side. Sorry for my Russian, my native Ukrainian. He went out into the street with a lantern, but there was no one there. Since then, I often wake up at night and I’m scared to look at the clock; I sleep when I’m alone, with the clock on. light, but when I turn it off, it starts to become a little clearer. I’m very afraid. Help
July 25, 2022, 5:43 pm
I’m 25. Nothing bad has ever happened to me in my life, but after I turned 20 or a little later, I’m afraid to spend the night alone. Before this age, I often spent entire weekends alone, I had never encountered anything like this. Now, when it’s getting dark and there’s no one in the house, I turn on the TV in the next room, music, and don’t let the cat out of the room, just so as not to feel alone in a dark apartment. When I need to go to bed, the worst thing is, I turn off the light, jump into bed on the run and cover my head. God forbid I want to drink or go to the toilet at night - I won’t even be able to get up - it can take me 30 minutes to decide. This is how I live. What is there to do?? Since there are no prerequisites for such fear, I don’t think that a psychologist or anyone else can help me. In general, after I turned 20, I began to be afraid of anything; before that I was a daredevil.
July 25, 2022, 5:49 pm
I'm 34 and this also started recently. I imagine that they will climb in and kill me. but I guess where the legs grow from. Throughout my childhood, my drunken father would come at two in the morning and I was afraid that there would be another scandal, he would go wild and kill us.
I’m also afraid if I sleep alone at home with only the lights on and the TV on))) I’m not ashamed. I just accepted the fact that I am very impressionable. Author, if you believe in God, place the icon near the bed, cross the bed and the room before going to bed, and sprinkle it with holy water.
Pfft, I’m 31 and I’m so fucking afraid of being alone, I went alone to the dacha to spend the night, it didn’t help, the fear only intensified.
July 25, 2022, 5:51 pm
sounds like anxiety neurosis author. I advise you to contact a psychotherapist to solve this problem. For reference, neuroses take years to mature, and the incident you described could have become a catalyst for the development of a phobia. But most likely this is not the reason. Contact a psychotherapist, analyze and solve all your phobias and fears, obvious and hidden.
July 25, 2022, 6:02 pm
on the first floor, install bars. You can have a cat or a dog, they will hear first. There are more pots on the windowsill, and basins under them. Sleep with the stun gun on.
July 25, 2022, 6:07 pm
on the first floor, install bars. You can have a cat or a dog, they will hear first. There are more pots on the windowsill, and basins under them. Sleep with the stun gun on.
That time there was a dog, but she didn’t react, at night she doesn’t even react to my friends, at whom she barks during the day. And the cat slept with me then like dead. I need to save light)) and get rid of fears.
m.woman.ru
Advice from pediatricians
Sleep disturbances and anxiety in the baby in the evening are easily explained by mental, emotional and physical overexcitement. Small children do not notice that they are tired, they resist going to bed, but in fact they have been in need of rest for a long time. As a result, the baby becomes capricious, demands his mother in his bed, and going to bed turns into a scandal.
To avoid conflicts and hysterics, pediatricians recommend the following:
- Monitor bedtime and playtime in young children.
- Spend active time 1-2 hours before bedtime.
- Follow a daily routine on weekdays and weekends. You can discuss bedtime with school-age children.
- If your child is hyperactive, enroll him in a sports section, but do not attend training 1 hour before bedtime.
Question from parents! Is it necessary to treat a child if he is afraid to fall asleep alone? Children need medical help if anxiety and phobias plague the child night and day for a long time. Seek advice from a psychiatrist, pediatrician or neurologist.
Autophobia (fear of loneliness) - symptoms, treatment, advice
Autophobia is a fairly common mental disorder. It is based on a person's fear of being alone. Also, the fear of loneliness may be called monophobia or isolophobia. Timely identification of a problem can save a person’s life, because in addition to constant anxiety, there is a danger of committing suicide . the largest number of suicides are recorded annually .
Causes
The causes of such a disorder can be obvious factors, as well as sometimes the most unexpected events in life. The disease can develop in early childhood. Many adults tell kids: “Calm down, otherwise I’ll leave you here and go away.” It seems like a harmless phrase that can stop a child’s hysteria. But it is precisely this that can become the first building block in the formation of that very fear of abandonment. At an older age, the impetus for the development of a phobia can be a breakup of a relationship or the death of loved ones.
It is very difficult to clearly determine why a person began to fear loneliness. But we can still identify the most common reasons:
How to cope with the fear of the dark on your own as an adult
Experts offer What to know about nyctophobia / Medical News Today several options.
Practice muscle relaxation
In the 1920s, American scientist and physician Edmund Jacobson developed the What is Jacobson's relaxation technique? / Healthline progressive muscle relaxation to help manage anxiety, depression, stress and phobias. Jacobson found that to achieve deep relaxation, you need to consistently tense your muscles and then relax them.
You can start with your hands, then move to your face, from there to your neck, back and chest, and finally to your legs. In this case, it is recommended to strongly tense the muscles of the part of the body on which you are currently focused for 5-10 seconds, and then relax and focus on this sensation for 15-20 seconds. And then move on to the next area until the whole body relaxes and the panic subsides.
Try it
