To still believe in monsters?

[GarlicBreadStan]

I'm 27 and very gullible.

When I was in year 7, someone told me that the Paranormal Activity films were real footage. I believed them.

From the age of 12 until about the age of 25, I had an intense fear of zombies and I was convinced that COVID was going to turn into a zombie virus. I rarely left my house because of how convinced of this I was.

I can't sleep without my bedroom light on. Night lights don't work to reduce my fear. If I have my bedroom door open, I can cope with sleeping with the landing light on.

I don't know why I'm so convinced that monsters are real, but last night I tried sleeping with my light off and nearly had an anxiety attack because I swear I saw shadows near my door.

I feel absolutely ridiculous for still being scared of monsters and for still believing in them, and I feel unreasonable because I'm 27 and surely I should be over this by now?

Please don't be mean, I already feel stupid enough for still having these fears 😅

What you said does sound more severe than your initial post OP and it does seem like a manifestation of an anxiety disorder and/or possibly intrusive thoughts? I think a chat with the GP about it is a good idea, remember that often our minds fix on scary things like nuclear war, or zombies or spiders or whatever because they are scary, but if they are interfering with life, then that's not good and it's wise to get help and support with this.

Yeah I have anxiety and intrusive thoughts. I also catastrophise and I'm on the waiting list for an autism assessment 😅 I've been to therapy for my catastrophisation but it didn't work 🫠

I don't think you are being silly at all! I am early 60s and terrified of the dark!if DH goes out need all lights on at night. Ghosts are my fear.i have a fairly not too dark room.and DH and I share a massive bed .Halloween is scary as well.i still have my Teddy. He helps .but if I forget him .I can't sleep. 3 nights at my cousin on my own awake for hours!

My mummy say's there's no such thing as monsters, but there are, aren't there?
They mostly only come out at night, mostly.

Also

Love that video 😅

There are monsters, but they aren't zombies, vampires or aliens. Just living, breathing human beings.

You just need practice at sleeping in the dark. You know there's no such thing as monsters.

I've tried practicing that. I end up having panic attacks.

There is no requirement in life that says you have to have the light off! Just do whatever you have to do to get some rest as getting no sleep affects your abilities and your judgement (including about intrusive thoughts) the next day. It sounds like you have had some therapy already- but have they tackled this as an anxiety/intrusive thoughts issue and not just as a phobia. You don't sound phobic, you sound highly anxious and without that treated by therapy/drugs/self-care, it will be hard to get on top of this. If you sleep best with the light on, I'd do that for starters and then seek help from that point outwards.

I don't think you're gullible. You actually know full well that monsters don't exist. You have an OCD/anxiety/phobic mental health condition, which isn't the same as being gullible at all.

There's a famous saying (which was probably first said in the 18th century): "I don't believe in ghosts... but I am afraid of them." It's perfectly possible to fear something while also knowing it doesn't exist.

Similarly, millions of people are utterly terrified of things like spiders, worms etc despite knowing they're completely harmless. It's irrational, and the sufferers know it's irrational, but the fear is still intense and can be all-consuming.

I suspect your condition is treatable but I appreciate it's really hard to get the right support on the NHS for it.

Being afraid of the dark is a natural human response. We are modern humans with primeval instincts. The dark for early man must have been terrifying. Every time you went to sleep you never knew if a sabre toothed tiger was going to pounce, or whether another species of human would massacre the inhabitants of your cave. The world would have been full of weird and wonderful sounds too, most of which probably meant a horrible death. I'm 68 and still scared of the dark.

This was me until my 30s and then all of a sudden it just stopped. I have no idea why. Now the only monsters Im scared of are human ones.

Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water. 🤿🦈

(Tbf I don’t think there are any man eating sharks in Lake Huron)

The only monsters out there are MEN. Not all but a lot.