Fear of the Dark Explained in Some Kids

Give Them Flashlights, Better Bedroom Lighting

The boogey man, monsters under the bed. Fear of the dark is pretty common among young children. But is it just a ploy to get attention? In fact, some kids truly can't see at all in the dark.

"A child with no visual problem obvious to the parents and who can see normally in well lit conditions can present as being unable to see at all in the dark even after a period for adaptation," writes Sikander S. Sidiki, a researcher at the Garnavel General Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland.

In the current British Medical Journal, Sidiki presents two case reports of what's known as stationary night blindness.

One three-year-old girl had been frightened of the dark from an early age, he writes. She had complained to her parents of not being able to see when the bedroom lights were turned off, prompting the natural response, "Wait until your eyes adjust." She had profound problems getting to sleep and would not leave her bedroom in the dark, although she would move from her dark bedroom into the lit hallway. She also refused to enter her parents' darkened bedroom.

A visit to the ophthalmologist revealed that she had stationary night blindness. After an intensity-adjustable night light was installed in the young girl's bedroom, "she was more confident and sleeping through the night," writes Sidiki. The doctor also suggested that the girl carry a flashlight when going out at night. The doctor also suggested that her parents should close the curtains before dusk, since she also had a fear of darkness beyond the windows.

Sidiki then describes a two-year-old girl who had been tripping over and bumping into objects in the dark. Her parents reported that when she woke at night, she would cry but would not go to her parents' bedroom and was very frightened. She also had a fear of darkness beyond the windows. While tests revealed that she had normal vision -- although she was a bit far-sighted -- they also showed she had congenital stationary night blindness. The solutions: a bright hall light that shines into her bedroom and a flashlight that she carries outside at night.

Congenital stationary night blindness is a rare, inherited disorder that affects the perception of light at night. . It may also cause a mild impairment in daytime vision, he notes. Parents can help their children cope by giving the child control of lighting conditions at home. Researchers also recommend manuals that discuss directed strategies for helping a child deal with fear of the dark. They suggest genetic counseling for parents who have a child with the disorder.

The researcher write that the key to diagnosis is listening carefully to the history of what has happened and asking questions family history of visual problems. The diagnosis is made with an electroretinography that maps out the electrical activity of the retina.