In: Psychology
seven year old kevin is afraid of the dark. nothing bad has ever happened to him when it was dark, and no one has ever told him to be afraid of the dark, yet his fear persists. how might an evolutionary psychologist explain this phenomenon
NYCTOPHOBIA:
High degree of fear about night or darkness can cause intense symptoms of anxiety and depression.
In darkness we can't see anything in our surroundings. This lack of visual stimuli causes fear. Because eventhough we have visual system we loss that support in darkness. This sudden loss of visual system support generates anxiety and fear. This is starts at childhood and grewup with the child as a normal part.
In kevin case also this is what exactly happened. Failure of visual system in darkness generated fear 7 year old kevin and that is grewup as a part of kevin.
SYMPTOMS:
1.Distress
2.Interfere daily activities
3.Trouble breathing
4.Racing heart rate
5.Sweating
6.Feeling powerless
7.Losing control
8.Over whelming feelings
RISK FACTORS:
It is starts at the age of 3 to 6. At this age it is common to fear about ghosts, monsters, and sleeping alone. Anxious care givers, overprotective care givers,Stressful events and Genetics are also comes under risk factors.