Anyone Have A Sudden Fear Of The Dark?

[hodge]

When I was a kid, pre-trauma, I was so afraid of the dark, I would sleep with the covers over my head. I would see things in the dark that disturbed me. That didn't leave me till after some years of having PTSD. For some period I wasn't afraid of the dark as all those other horrible things overshadowed it. Yet now I am having it again. My psych says this is very normal for people with PTSD, to really only feel comfortable sleeping when it's light outside.

 

[James McGregor]

I had a traumatic event happen in November. Since then, I've been leaving a nightlight on as well...

yes in recent years ive went from only being able to sleep in pitch black with no noise to only being able to sleep with a light and the tv on - not too sure why it changed

 

[MoriMermaid]

@Will86 That's very sad about your grandmother. I don't have words because that's never happened to me. My only close friend is terminally ill so that's my traumatic experience. Not from Quebec, but I do love a bit of French. :)
@hodge I was never afraid of the dark as a kid and was only afraid when I couldn't sleep for some time and started seeing scary things; however, my history of trauma covers when I was little, too. This is connected to the recent trauma, I'm thinking.
@James McGregor It was gradual for me, but the lack of falling asleep has been present since November.

 

[Will86]

I'm always confused on what to say in that kind of moment.. There are no words that can make someone in your situation feel better. I keep repeating myself that a bit of time and love will fix me and I hope that love and time will fix you too. So for now, I'm just gonna say something in french (if you love it) hopefully, it will make you smile for a bit :

Prends soin de toi et prends soin de ton ami, il ou elle a de la chance de t'avoir a ses côtés.

My thoughts go to you in this particular moment.

Bisous

 

[MoriMermaid]

@Will86 I find that sitting with him helps, even if I can't say anything. He's that type of person. Thanks for the French. I had to go and look up the phrase because my mind drew a blank. It helped me to smile though. :bookworm:

I prefer chocolate to kisses.

 

[Will86]

''I prefer chocolate to kisses'' .. Ahah I laughed :)
What do you do these days when you are alone ? You can function properly or you are struggling to find anything interesting to do ?

 

[MoriMermaid]

I usually only prefer kisses from few people -- my mom and family and my friend. It's good you laughed. I like that. :woot:

Alone, I'm normally writing, doing art, being out in nature, volunteering online, listening to music...got lots to do. The only things that are affected with me involve sleep and getting motivation to do things, but it's improving.

 

[Will86]

Looks like you have a lot of interests in your life and know how to keep yourself busy. You are very lucky.
All these activities will help you tremendously now and after. Glad to read such a good new.
I face exactly the same issues as you actually, motivation and sleep.

I laughed cause it's exactly the type of things my sister would say, I love this type of sense of humor. :D

I assume a ''kiss'' at the end of a message can sound weird to foreigners but in France, it is just a polite and nice way for us to say ''see you''.

 

[MoriMermaid]

I try. Sometimes there are days now where I don't hear from him so I need to keep myself busy to keep from worrying. Do you do anything to keep your mind off?

Good that we have the same issues. Always a good start. :)

Thanks for loving my humor. I try. Well, you didn't mention you were French. I though it was some random stranger kissing me on the Interweb.:speechless:

 

[Will86]

It must be really difficult for him, that's why he remains silent sometimes, he is just trying to protect you and not cause you too much pain.
The relationship you have with him is something that will never die.
And I believe, as horrible this experience is to you, it will make you a better, more mature and loving person.
Since my grandmother passed away, I feel like I grew up and I became a better person than I was before, even tho I'm facing a couple of issues at the moment that her sudden and violent death has caused me. There are always some good in bad I guess or at least, we have to force ourselves to see the good in the bad. That's the only way to keep being positive.
I like this quote btw: ''Grief is the price we pay for love'', it's sad, true but beautiful at the same time.

To keep my mind busy, I do a lot of sport, I read, watch movie, write. And yes unfortunately, I'm a Frenchy. I'm arrogant, drink lots of wine and eat stinky cheese and I can also be very rude sometimes. Annoying to be French ..... :tdown: :roflmao:

Btw, when you said you do ''volunteering online'', what is it exactly ? It sounds interesting.

 

[MoriMermaid]

@Will86 I don’t mind him knowing. I know that it must take a lot of just…I don’t know…strength to do all of this. The pain comes from not being able to be near him --he lives a long way away from me. His condition worsens, he's in a play so that people can hear him speak (it might be the last play he's in), and we both just want to slow down and let the world go by. I don't expect anyone but him and I to understand the connection anymore.

I like stinky cheese as long as it doesn't smell like feet or some kind of brutal cheese death. Trust me. I've smelled cheese like both of those things. :eek: Wine not at all. I think it's fascinating to be French or any culture really. Better than English. The French Taunter from Monty Python suddenly came to mind. I always have to put that in there.:happy: I do some volunteer work with Zooniverse. There's everything from animals to weather and climate change to tracking animals. My work is put in scientific journals and helps researchers, for example, determine which humpback whales visit a certain area. They know the specific animals by their flukes and markings but what they have is thousands of photos that might not even have whales in them. It's like going whale watching without the boat.

 

[Will86]

I know you don't mind him knowing you feel pain but believe me, he probably cares.
When previously you said, ''I find that sitting with him helps, even if I can't say anything. He's that type of person''
I'm kind of similar so I believe your friend is also the type of person who prefer to step back and suffer in silence, alone. (Stop me if I'm wrong)
He is a proud person and express his love in a way that can be hard to identify.
As I said , it's his own way to protect you because he doesn't want you to suffer too much, simply and maybe he also doesn't like you to see him this way.
It can be hard to understand but that's the way it is.

Aaa.. French people... This is one of the reason I left my France but I believe I will go back to live there one day. I love australia but the more I grow up, the more I find Paris too beautiful to be ignored. A bit sick of tall buildings and architectures here tbh.

This is funny cause I applied for WWF (environment association) a couple of hours ago to work for them, but not as a volunteer, as a part time job. I also donate some money every month to help them to increase the tiger population and from what I gathered, they are really doing a great job so far.
Thank you very much for the info, I'm gonna have a look at Zooniverse and see if I can do something, it looks great and also, my respect to you for giving a hand to this type of cause.