Some Sleep Problems Caused By Fear Of The Dark

Insomniacs could be afraid of the dark and that this was a contributing factor to insomnia that adults found difficult to admit

A pilot study from Ryerson University Sleep & Depression Lab posed the question, "Are people with insomnia afraid of the dark?". They conducted a small study on Toronto college students and found nearly half of the students who were poor sleepers were afraid of the dark.

The study's lead author, Taryn Moss said that the poor sleepers were more easily startled in the dark compared with good sleepers and she said that they were wondering how many people were in fact suffering from an untreated and active phobia of the dark and were not just too tense to go to sleep.

Colleen Carney, the principal investigator said that although current insomnia treatments were very effective, new approaches may be warranted which would include the treatment of this phobia of the dark. She also said that a lot more research was needed, but this finding would help insomnia treatments meet the needs for some poor sleepers that were not previously being met.