nyctophobia

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American Heritage Dictionary:

nyc·to·pho·bi·a

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(nĭk'tə-fō'bē-ə) pronunciation
n.
An abnormal fear of the night or darkness. Also called scotophobia.

[Greek nux, nukt-, night; see nyctalopia + -PHOBIA.]


(nĭk'tə-fō'bē-ə)
n.

An abnormal fear of night or of the dark. Also called scotophobia.

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Fear of the dark or of night.

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'nyctophobia'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to nyctophobia, see:
  • Phobias - nyctophobia: fear of night or darkness


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Nyctophobia (from Greek νυκτός - nuktos, genitive of νύξ - nux, "night"[1] and φόβος - phobos, "fear"[2]) is a phobia characterized by a severe fear of the darkness. It is triggered by the brain’s disfigured perception of what would or could happen when in a dark environment.

Despite its pervasive nature, there has been a lack of etiological research on the subject. The fear of darkness (nyctophobia) is a psychologically-impacted feeling of being disposed from comfort to a fear-evoking state. The fear of darkness or night has several non-clinical terminologies—lygophobia, scotophobia and achluophobia. Nyctophobia is a phobia generally related to children but, according to J. Adrian Williams’ article titled, Indirect Hypnotic Therapy of Nyctophobia: A Case Report, many clinics with pediatric patients have a great chance of having adults who have nyctophobia. The same article states that “the phobia has been known to be extremely disruptive to adult patients and… incapacitating”.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ νύξ, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  2. ^ φόβος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  3. ^ Mikulas, William L. "Behavioral Bibliotherapy and Games for Treating Fear of the Dark." Child & Family Behavior Therapy 7.3 (1985): 1-7.

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