i am afraid of the dark.
[{"role": "system", "content": "Fear of the dark is a common fear or phobia among children and, to a varying degree, adults. Fear of the dark is usually not a fear of darkness itself, but a fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by darkness. Some degree of fear of the dark is natural, especially as a phase of child development. Most observers report that fear of the dark seldom appears before the age of 2 years. When fear of the dark reaches a degree that is severe enough to be considered pathological, it is sometimes called scotophobia (from \u03c3\u03ba\u03cc\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u2013 \"darkness\"), or lygophobia (from \u03bb\u03c5\u03b3\u03ae \u2013 \"twilight\"). Some researchers, beginning with Sigmund Freud, consider the fear of the dark to be a manifestation of separation anxiety disorder. An alternate theory was posited in the 1960s, when scientists conducted experiments in a search for molecules responsible for memory. In one experiment, rats, normally nocturnal animals, were conditioned to fear the dark and a substance called \"scotophobin\" was supposedly extracted from the rats' brains; this substance was claimed to be responsible for remembering this fear. These findings were subsequently debunked. Nyctophobia is a phobia characterized by a severe fear of the dark.\n"}, {"role": "user", "content": "Do you known any adults with a fear of the dark?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "I have a fear of the dark! Well, not by the actual dark but fear of the dangers concealed by darkness."}, {"role": "user", "content": "I'm sorry! Tell me more. I think my husband does too, he just won't admit it"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "Some degree of fear of the dark is actually normal and natural."}, {"role": "user", "content": "He sleeps with a TV on and something with noise. Personally, I have ADHD, so any noise just add to my thoughts and I'm up visiting the fridge instead of sleeping lol. So I have learned to sleep with ear plugs"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "Fear of the dark rarely occurs before age 2, interestingly."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Oh how sad, do you know how to help it?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "I would imagine therapy, or most kids grow out of it."}]