Fear is a natural response in certain situations, such as being in a dark place at night. Fear stems from a feeling of dread within us, which is our body's natural response to “fight or flee” (“fight or flee”), which helps us to know that we are in danger. These dangers can take the form of physical or psychological threats, and are often cornered and cause anxiety. The problem is when this natural fear response begins to affect our daily lives, including our sleep patterns. Fear at night can negatively affect sleep patterns and overall quality of life, in both children and adults.
Step
Dealing with Anxiety at Night
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Avoid naps. When you go to bed too late, you will wake up feeling tired, unrefreshed, and in the middle of the day, wanting to take a nap. However, napping too long during the day can make it difficult to sleep at night. Also, if you feel tired at night and want to sleep, you will have less time and energy to think about your fears.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 12 If you feel like you need to take a nap because you're too tired to continue with the day's activities, try a quick “nap” before lunch. This kind of nap lasts for about 15-20 minutes, and can provide you with some amazing benefits, including increasing your energy and awareness as well as your motor performance. These short naps are what most people need to overcome drowsiness and get the energy they need to continue the day's activities
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Try deep breathing techniques. Focusing on deep breaths is a form of relaxation for dealing with stress. Breathing deeply, i.e. expanding the lungs and abdominal area, will encourage a full exchange of oxygen, as well as a change from carbon dioxide to fresh oxygen that enters. Breathing deeply slows the heart rate and stabilizes blood pressure.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 13 Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Take one or two breaths to calm yourself down. Inhale deeply for a count of 5. Hold for 5 counts. Then, exhale, letting all the air out, for a count of 5. Repeat several times until you feel calmer
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Try meditating. Meditation is a way to help you feel more relaxed. Some people find meditation ultimately helpful to help the mind become focused and calm after a busy day. Meditation is a way to make you more aware of your surroundings and reach a higher level of awareness and calm. That is why, it is recommended that you meditate for an hour before going to bed.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 14 - You can meditate anywhere you like and for as long as you want. Basically, meditation helps you to be calm and peaceful, regardless of whatever is happening around you.
- Sit in a comfortable position. Focus on your breathing. Focus on your being and rest your body, then pay attention to your every breath. Try to clear your mind of any negativity or thoughts that are stressing you out, although this can be the most difficult part of the process. If you feel like your mind is wandering all over the place, continue to focus on your breathing.
- Some people find that focusing on one particular object in the room is a useful technique, for example on a candle. Another technique that is also useful is to focus energy and focus on a specific sound that is heard, such as the sound "hm".
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Keep a diary. Keeping a diary can help you better understand and deal with emotions and fears at night. There is no right or wrong diary; You can make a list or write a narrative that describes your feelings and emotions at that moment. In general, looking back at the contents of your thoughts reflected on paper can help you identify some important patterns, which you can later learn to overcome or relieve your fears.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 15 - Try writing a daily 10-20 minute diary of whatever is on your mind. Don't worry about spelling or grammar. Allow yourself to process whatever you need on paper.
- Ask yourself some key questions to find out what makes you feel afraid, for example: What fears do you have in mind about the night? What feelings come at night or when you are trying to sleep? Do you avoid certain places or certain activities at night?
- Making lists can also be a helpful part of the diary process, especially if you find that worrying is the cause of your sleeplessness. Make a list of things you have to do for tomorrow, make a list of all the positive things that day, or make a list of things you look forward to tomorrow.
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Take a bath with warm water. Bathing helps you sleep because your body temperature rises when you shower and drops after you shower. Lower body temperature helps you to sleep.
- Take a shower two hours before you go to bed, as it takes time to first raise your body temperature and then lower it back down, so you can fall asleep more easily.
- To increase the feeling of calm during a warm bath, try adding some bath oils as needed or scents that provide a relaxing effect. Consider using a lather or lavender-scented soap. Research shows that inhaling the scent of lavender can produce a calm, cool, and “relieved” effect.
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Watch what you eat or drink before bed. Avoid heavy meals before you go to bed. Also, avoid all stimulant drinks, such as coffee, nicotine, alcohol, and sugar, within four hours of your bedtime. Stimulants keep your brain active, which can make it harder for you to stop worrying and calm your mind before bed.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 17 On the other hand, having a small snack two hours before bed can help. Good snacks to help with sleep include a banana and low-fat milk, or a handful of almonds
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Turn on the night light. Night lights aren't just for kids. However, night lights are recommended in the hallway or in the bathroom, not in your bedroom, as the light in the bedroom can distract you. Lights can have an impact on natural sleep patterns, making it difficult to fall asleep and lowering the quality of your sleep.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 18 Turning on the lights in your home will also make you more aware of your surroundings and help ease your fear of the dark
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Take advantage of white noise (white noise). White noise, such as the sound of a fan or other static, nature and ocean sounds, or instrumental music, can be soothing and help mask other sounds that may provoke your fear.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 19 You can actually buy a machine that makes a specially designed white noise with a different set of sounds to help you sleep well. In addition, there are many applications that can be installed on smartphones, which help a person to sleep with relaxing sounds and/or white noise
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Make your home feel safe. If your fear of the night is due to a security issue, such as a fear of burglars breaking into your home, take steps to make your home safer, for example:
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 20 - Lock your windows.
- Cover the windows with curtains so you have some privacy.
- If there is an object that makes you feel safe, place it near your bed so that it can be used to protect yourself. However, do not place an object that poses a risk of causing an accident near you or others, such as a gun or knife. Instead, choose a heavy object, such as a book or paperweight. Placing these items near you will help you "feel" more secure, as well as reduce any risk or danger in your home.
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Pay attention to the air temperature in your room. Air temperature can have an impact on how well and how long you sleep. Your body temperature will drop during sleep and become slightly cooler, not warmer. Room temperature can aid this process and help you sleep easier and more soundly. But if the room is too cold (or too warm), you'll have a harder time falling asleep and waking up more often. However, researchers cannot say what the ideal temperature is because a temperature that is comfortable for one person is not always comfortable for another, so the usual recommendation is to make sure your room is 18-22 degrees Celsius.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 21 -
Divert your attention. A healthy portion of distraction is a good way to deal with fears. A “healthy portion” means enough distraction to grab your attention and emotions but not so much that it makes you feel overly excited or excited and unable to calm down before bed.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 22 - Try reading a book. While reading, avoid any topics that are overly excited or scary. Read something that interests you and can get you hooked. This will keep you focused on the story and/or topic, and not on your fears.
- Try watching television or using a computer, “tablet” computer or smartphone. Evidence for the impact of using this technology on your activity patterns before bed varies. Recent research suggests that watching television or using technology before bed actually hinders healthy sleep patterns. However, if you want to use technology to distract yourself a few hours "before" you go to bed, it can help distract you from your fear. Just make sure that you "unplug" your mind from the spectacle for an hour or two before you really want to sleep.
- Listen to soothing music. Music should make you relaxed, comfortable, and happy.
- Try counting. Counting forward or backward as much as you can keep your mind focused on something other than your fear, until you fall asleep.
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Pray. Some people find that praying before bed can relax them and help relieve worries and fears.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 23 -
Think positive and logical things. Think of “something fun” before you go to sleep, such as your family, your friends, your favorite activity, and so on. Remember all the good things in your life and all the people you love and who love you, and realize again that you are surrounded by love and protection.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 24 It can also be helpful to pause and use your logical mind. For example, if you live in an apartment, most of the scary sounds may just be the voices of the people in your building. The sound of the floor creaking, the sound of talking, the sound of a door closing, etc., are not signs that something bad is going to happen to you. These are all signs that you live surrounded by these people, and you are not alone
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Ask for support. Don't be afraid to ask for support. Sometimes feeling isolated from the world at night makes you even more scared.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 25 - If you're just starting to experience loneliness because you've just moved into a new room, new dorm, or new apartment, maybe support like a friend or relative who stayed overnight with you will help.
- You can also save the phone number of a friend who usually stays up late at night who you can call when you wake up from a bad dream or can't sleep and need to talk to someone.
Helping Children Cope With Scary Nightmares
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Talk to your child about his or her fears. Let your child tell you what he fears at night. However, don't force your child to tell him if he's not ready. Always keep in mind that a child's fears may vary depending on a particular stage of development. For example, younger children have a harder time distinguishing real situations from only imaginative ones.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 1 - Don't respond by calling your child's fears "unreasonable" or "stupid." Instead, acknowledge your child's fears and work with them to overcome them. Remember that you were also a child and had lots of irrational fears too!
- Try talking about your child's fears during the day, when they are not. Discuss ways he can reduce his fears at bedtime. Also, build your child's confidence during the day. Make positive comments about his “boldness” and how “mature” he is. The goal is that if he feels safe and confident during the day, this can help him at night.
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Don't approve or build on your child's fears. Once you know things that scare your child, don't support those fears, even unintentionally, with actions that seem to admit them. For example, if your child is afraid of monsters, don't pretend to throw out some monster repellent spray or check the room to see if the monster is hiding in a certain corner. Such actions show your child that you also believe in the existence of monsters.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 2 - Instead, consider talking to your child about the difference between imagination and the real world. For example, if he is afraid of monsters under his bed because he watched the movie Monsters, Inc., tell your child that the movie is made up and not real. You may need to talk about this many times, while your child's mental maturity capacity is in the process of forming in terms of logic and the concept of cause and effect.
- Constantly reassure your child that he is safe. Communicate these thoughts about security over and over again.
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Pay attention to what your child is witnessing/seeing. Don't allow your child to watch scary television shows or play scary games or violent video games. This will increase the fear in your child before he goes to sleep.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 3 In general, you should start to limit your child from the influence of television and other electronic media before bedtime, as this will make it difficult for him to fall asleep. Instead, try reading him a story (again, not a scary one!) or reading together. Research shows that bedtime stories can improve children's learning and developmental abilities, and help build a close bond between children and their parents
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Bathe your child with warm water. The purpose of bathing is to help him sleep because the body temperature rises during a bath and then drops after a bath. Low body temperature helps us to sleep.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 4 Bathing should be done about two hours before bedtime, because it takes time to first raise and then lower the body temperature
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Make the child's room comfortable for sleeping. Make sure that the room is tidy before your child goes to bed and arrange scattered objects where they belong. When the room is dark, a child's gaze can deceive itself. Putting things where they belong will help your child avoid seeing strange things that they don't really need to see. A tidy bed before your child starts climbing into it can also help him have a regular bedtime routine.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 5 -
Add a touch that gives a sense of comfort to the room. Place lots of pillows around the child, so that he feels safe and comfortable. Place objects that your child likes near the bed, such as a favorite blanket, cute stuffed animal or family photo near the bed. Not only will these items make him or her more comfortable, but they can also help your child feel more secure because he or she is surrounded by the things he likes.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 6 -
Turn on the night light. A night light can be used to give your child a sense of calm while he is sleeping, as many children are afraid of the dark. You can buy night lights in fun shapes and sizes. Consider taking your child with you when choosing a night light and explaining its use. Give him the opportunity to play an active role in overcoming his fear.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 7 - If the lamp makes it difficult for your child to sleep and interferes with the quality of his sleep, you should get rid of the lamp. A dim light is recommended, as long as it doesn't interfere with your child's sleep pattern.
- You can also leave your child's bedroom door open slightly or wide. Leaving the door open helps ease the fear of being separated from your parents at night.
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Bring pets into the room. Cuddling with pets will make people feel more comfortable. A cat sneaking between your legs, a dog relaxing on the floor, or even the soothing sound of an aquarium water filter or the sound of a hamster's wheels can provide comfort at night.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 8 -
Be with your child for a while. If your child is afraid and doesn't dare to be alone in his room, it's a good idea to accompany him by his bedside until he falls asleep. However, only do this once in a while. If it becomes part of a bedtime routine, it will create a bad habit and your child may become unable to sleep without you.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 9 If your child is afraid to be alone, let him know that you will visit him. Start visiting your child after 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, and so on, until he falls asleep. Make short visits only, don't stay there, because your child will depend on your presence
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Keep your child in bed. If your child wakes up in the middle of the night and is afraid to go back to sleep because he is scared, make sure and let him know that he is safe and okay. If your child comes into your bedroom at night, take him back to his bedroom and reassure him once again. It is important not to let him sleep in your bed. Your child needs to know that his bed is safe and that nothing bad will happen to him.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 10 Leaving your child in your bed will not relieve his fear but support it, and your child will not learn to overcome his fear
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Consult your doctor if your child has persistent fear. If your child's fear at night persists even after trying all of the above methods, or if the fear is starting to have an impact on his daily life, consider taking him to the doctor, so you can get a recommendation based on a proper psychological assessment.
Avoid Being Scared at Night Step 11
Warning
Trauma, anxiety, phobias, and other forms of mental disorders are more than just fear, and are often so deep-rooted that they are difficult to overcome without expert support. If you feel that your condition is more than a normal fear of the night and you are unable to cope or sleep properly, you should consult a mental health professional who can help you diagnose your fear and provide appropriate treatment or treatment
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