How can i get over my fear of the dark in my house? ?

Question

Im very much affraid of the dark in my home or anyone elses home. And im 19 almost 20!

Heres what happens if i need the toilet in the night.. my bedroom is upstairs.. i turn the light on in my room and open the bedroom door fully so the light can shine out i then speed to the light and turn the downstairs light on.. I then spped up the stairs and quickly shut the toliet door behind me. Then i ok.. I now open the bathroom door slowly glace boths way the run down the stairs.. turn the light off and slam my bedroom door behind me! Wired hey? :O the whole time my heart is pumping!!!

Is there away to get over this?? Im ok in the dark outside on the street!

I have no repressing thoughts that i can think would make me do this unless it was done by nightmares or shadows i saw when i was very young.. but i really dont know!

And its actrually treferring sometimes i cant even manage to go upstairs!

sometimes i cant make it upostairs.. well sometimes i cant make it out of my room.. its not just upstairs it the hallway the kitchen.. everything in a house scares me when its doors.. i think theres going to be a monster.. but oviouslly i kno there not really!

If this helps i used to be scared of my reflection in mirrors.. so when i went to the bathroom and had a bath i woul open the door before i pulled the bath plug so i wernt trapped in there!

could it be OCD? as i did used to count everything i saw in 2's not that long ago i got rid of this habit!

Answer 1

I used to be afraid of the dark and I'm almost 23! So don't feel bad - no matter what you think there are others out there like you.

What I did is basically take it one step at a time. Such as, for sleeping I would leave the light on in the connecting bathroom and leaving the door wide open , then the next night slowly close it just a little bit more - until finally ... the door was completely shut with the light still on - so in my bedroom I could only see the light under the door. .

Then when it got to the point where I was comfortable to turn off the light - I simply opened the blinds from the window to let light shine in  - and slowly but surely started closing the blinds.

Now I have to sleep in complete and utter darkness in order to sleep. haha. Crazy huh.

I used to feel what you felt - heart pumping - straight scared and honestly I was tired of it. Just like you rid yourself of counting in 2's you can rid yourself of this.

Baby steps - thats all  - baby steps.

Also, I'm not a Dr. so I can't say if this is OCD.

Good luck . .. . =)

Answer 2

no its not ocd, ive got ocd and let me tell you its not ocd! what you need to do is break out of your phobia bit by bit- i had a phobia of my toilet too believe it or not, i was convinced that after a sleepover with my friends where we played bloody mary, that queen mary was in my bathroom and wanted to kill me!- so its not you being pathetic!

the way i got over this was to stand in the house during the day and have a d**n good look around it, look at it in the light and really look at it, then when it comes to the dark allow yourself to switch one light on and one light only and then think of what it was like during the day. as you feel easier, switch the light off untill this becomes habbit

you just need to convince yourself that there is nothing in your house that could potentiallyharm you just because it was the night- im now 19 and still get a bit jittery when going to the toilet but im no where near as bad!

or you could try what i did with my brother who is petrified of the dark- take a spray bottle of something or another and fill it with water- then when it gets dark, take the spray bottle with you and if you see anything that frightens you- pretend that the bottle is filled with acid and that it will destroy your phobia and do a few squirts- it worked a treat with my brother and he no longer has a phobia

Answer 3

Visit your physiologist he will have answers not some inexperienced people in Yahoo Answers who may give you false information or mislead you. Its not OCD by the way.