to be an adult and be scared of the dark

[zerominuszero]

Not so much AIBU and more like 'am I completely mental'. I'm in my late twenties and lead a reasonable normal life - good job, happily married etc (no kids yet). But there is one thing about me and I'm slightly worried that it means I am totally bonkers - I am scared of the dark. Or rather, I get scared when I am left in the flat on my own in the evening and find it extremely difficult to get to sleep on my own (which is thankfully a rare occurrance). Sometimes even when my partner is around I can even feel a bit wimpish getting up in the night to use the bathroom. The thing that scares me is that I imagine (and bear in mind that this is going to sound very strange) that there are ghosts lurking behind every corner. I know, it's crazy, but I've had this my entire life. I suspect it might be something to do with growing up in a big family and virtually never being left alone until I was a teenager.

My partner is the only person I have ever confided in and they can barely even believe that I really have this, so weird it is. I just wonder if there is anyone out there in the universe who can empathise at all. Or am I completely on my own on this one?

thanks for your thoughts

Ninive 'And the small children with the gas masks? Brrrrr.'

LOL! Terrifying! When my DH wants to scare me he says' Are you my mummy?'. Gives me goosebumps. That episode was SO scary.

A friend described a bit of the Ring, where she's coming down the stairs. I didn't need to see it, that gave me nightmares.

Though I can sleep on my own in the house so doing better than 14hours........that makes me feel better! Thanks.

Being afraid of the dark is a normal feeling for many people.. and think it makes sense really because you can't see that you are safe..

I know a person who is afraid of sponges..and yes that is unreasonable

I have a friend who is terrified of humans in animal costumes - she once ran hell for leather when there was a bloke dressed as a giant rabbit in a shopping centre. He was only handing out leaflets.

When she was ten, as a 'surprise' her grandmother paid for her and brother to have two weeks at Disneyland. Nearly tipped her over the edge

I am 38 have two DD's and when my DH travels I make them sleep in my room with the door locked and a golf club under the bed. All phones are in the room, mobile and landline just in case someone cuts the line and I even take water and calpol just in case the kids get sick in the middle of the night. Luckily, we have an en-suite so toilet is not a problem with unlocking door for that. I also have a mirror phobia and whilst I can get up to go to the loo in the middle of the night in the dark I can't at any point look in the mirror when washing my hands!!

Im 28 and im scared of the dark. Im happy to admit that to anyone though lol Im not botherd what people think of me!

Also scared of zombies, but thats another thread

yep
big fraidy cat here too
have always been scared of the dark
am better now that I am older ,I am 48 and was much worse in my 20's

Hi, welcome to Scaredy Cats Anonymous. I'm a 33 yr old mother of two...and I'm scared of the dark.

There, I said it!

me too me too!

I hate being in the dark on my own - especially going to the loo at night. Have to turn lights on, sometimes the radio too. And I am not good with mirrors at night either (though I've never seen the ring, I think it might come from some vampire thing I read as a child).

I can't watch supernatural films at all, they scare the hell out of me and keep me freaked out for days. Makes no sense - I am much more scared by ghosts, monsters etc than by things that actually exist like robbers and fire.

LOL - I did a thread about this a few months back - you are so not alone.

I'm 50 and a scaredy cat.

Have lights on when DH does night and DS is out.

Listen to all the funny wee noises and convince myself it's creeping steps or breathing

Gonna stop now - scaring meself again!!

Have scared myself so much today. Watched Paranormal Activity by fast forwading through it and hid my face at the end. My DD wanted me to tell her a 'spooky' story on our walk tonight so told her 'the monkey's paw' then came home and did a search for ghosts and there are some really scary stories on here and now am too scared to go upstairs and to bed. What a plonker God help me if I need a wee in the middle of the night. Or rather God help my DH as he is either coming with me or sleeping on a wet mattress ;)

Daft isn't it?

We can rationalise in the daylight and I don't even feel scared when I'm still up and going about. It's only when I try to settle down to sleep that my imagination runs riot.

I (somehow) got my hands on the book The Exorist when I was 13 (it was not long out) and read it in secret.
Scared the bleeding living daylights out of me for months afterwards.
That may have been what started it all in fact

I thought it was just me. I got over it as when I was pregnant I was weeing all the time, all night and I couldn't cope with abuse from DH, but before I was pregnant, until I was 38, I couldn't go to the loo on my own at night. Some people hate spiders, I hate the dark. That's life. BTW, DH has a poo phobia, he cannot get near poo. That's a much more useful phobia as it means he could not change nappies and cannot walk the dog. Hmm.