Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Nyctophobia
Introduction
Background
Nyctophobia (from Greek νυξ nic-to-pho-bi-a: “night” and phobia, also called scotophobia, from σκότος – “darkness”, lygophobia, from lyge – “twilight”, or noctiphobia) is a pathological fear of the dark.
Sufferers have an abnormal and persistent dread of the dark and experience anxiety even though they may rationally understand that the dark does not pose such a great threat. Treatment options are typical for any of specific phobias.
Nyctophobia is most often associated with children.
Nyctophobia is the pinnacle in the plot of the short story “Nightfall” by Isaac Asimov.
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]