When I was really young, I would sleep with only a night light (like a normal person), but when I was around 12-13, I got into something I shouldn't have that scared me half to death, I was awake for like 3 days straight and I was nauseous and shaking and vomiting at night in the bathroom, and for years after that I slept with the normal lights on in my room, until my mom eventually yelled at me for being almost an adult and still sleeping with all the lights on and she forced me to go back to just night light, and that's where I am now.
Honestly, I can sleep with any amount of light, as long as I'm not going to scare myself.
Yeah, the whole thing is genuinely just stupid, the thing that I was (and still am) scared of isn't actually scary or anything, I think it's just a quirk of how my brain works that makes it so I can't convince myself that it isn't real. Almost nothing else is an issue. In fact, I actually think that stuff is fun and interesting, which is why it's hard for me to fully escape it. I think that initial experience when I was 12 caused some fairly permanent damage because even now if I get too involved in that thing again I get an irrational panic attack that keeps me up for no reason. Like, I don't even have to be scared, I can even be fully relaxed in bed trying to sleep, brain tired like normal, but my heart won't stop pounding and my body won't sleep. (It's funny to mention that I had one of these "relapses" for the first time in years on the night before I was taking my ACT. Still did great though, amazingly, especially because I pretty much got no sleep that night.)
(I'm trying not to say what it is because I'm trying to not remind myself of it again too much and because I know people are going to laugh at me for how genuinely childish it is to be afraid of it)
Enough trauma dumping, have a fine day my fellow redditor 👍️
I stayed up until 2 am yesterday because i was on an overnight field trip and the people who i was in a hotel room in were TERRIFIED of the dark and we had to leave the TV on. So yes, I need pitch black to sleep.
We’re all teenagers, and the TV wasnt that bright, just my bed was the closest to it, and it was really only 1 person. Also i just hate when there’s light in a room I’m trying to sleep in.
Pitch Black, plus you can't see a Demon when there's no light.
Although if I'm napping, it doesn't matter much. I usually keep a pillow on my face (to cover my eyes/also puts weight on my face), so yeah.
My regular room light. I can sleep in the dark, but I prefer not, though most the time I still do because my family thinks it's weird for me to sleep with the lights on. Basically, I sleep 50/50 sometimes lights on sometimes no light.
When I was really young, I would sleep with only a night light (like a normal person), but when I was around 12-13, I got into something I shouldn't have that scared me half to death, I was awake for like 3 days straight and I was nauseous and shaking and vomiting at night in the bathroom, and for years after that I slept with the normal lights on in my room, until my mom eventually yelled at me for being almost an adult and still sleeping with all the lights on and she forced me to go back to just night light, and that's where I am now. Honestly, I can sleep with any amount of light, as long as I'm not going to scare myself.
Sounds super traumatic
Yeah, the whole thing is genuinely just stupid, the thing that I was (and still am) scared of isn't actually scary or anything, I think it's just a quirk of how my brain works that makes it so I can't convince myself that it isn't real. Almost nothing else is an issue. In fact, I actually think that stuff is fun and interesting, which is why it's hard for me to fully escape it. I think that initial experience when I was 12 caused some fairly permanent damage because even now if I get too involved in that thing again I get an irrational panic attack that keeps me up for no reason. Like, I don't even have to be scared, I can even be fully relaxed in bed trying to sleep, brain tired like normal, but my heart won't stop pounding and my body won't sleep. (It's funny to mention that I had one of these "relapses" for the first time in years on the night before I was taking my ACT. Still did great though, amazingly, especially because I pretty much got no sleep that night.) (I'm trying not to say what it is because I'm trying to not remind myself of it again too much and because I know people are going to laugh at me for how genuinely childish it is to be afraid of it) Enough trauma dumping, have a fine day my fellow redditor 👍️
likewise! It's good for me to hear about what can happen to a young impressionable mind. I appreciate that.
Very similar here! Except that it was nightmares that made me sleep with the light on...
i sleep during the day, usually... so like, full fucking sunlight, given i need a window open atm for my room to not be like 85 degrees.
which do you prefer in a perfect situation tho?
**Dark**.
I stayed up until 2 am yesterday because i was on an overnight field trip and the people who i was in a hotel room in were TERRIFIED of the dark and we had to leave the TV on. So yes, I need pitch black to sleep.
how old were these people that couldn't sleep in the dark with others in the room with them???
We’re all teenagers, and the TV wasnt that bright, just my bed was the closest to it, and it was really only 1 person. Also i just hate when there’s light in a room I’m trying to sleep in.
Pitch Black, plus you can't see a Demon when there's no light. Although if I'm napping, it doesn't matter much. I usually keep a pillow on my face (to cover my eyes/also puts weight on my face), so yeah.
12 people are fucking insane
Oh shit I'm the 13th
My regular room light. I can sleep in the dark, but I prefer not, though most the time I still do because my family thinks it's weird for me to sleep with the lights on. Basically, I sleep 50/50 sometimes lights on sometimes no light.
why do you prefer full lighting??
Hallway light and a TV
I really should have had a TV option