Fear of the Dark

Fear of the dark is a common fear among toddlers, children, and to a varying degree adults, though it does not always concern darkness itself so much as a fear of the possible or imagined dangers concealed by it. Most toddlers and children outgrow it, but for some it persists into a phobia or anxiety, and when it reaches a degree severe enough to be considered pathological it is sometimes called scotophobia or lygophobia. Some researchers, beginning with Sigmund Freud, consider fear of the dark a manifestation of separation anxiety disorder; fear of the dark rarely appears before age two and roughly peaks around age four.