Fear of the dark
Psychiatrist Maurício Knobel talks about 'nyctophobia',
that will torture many people in case of blackouts

JOAO MAURICIO DA ROSA

ISABEL GARDENAL

light is activity. Darkness, inertia. Because of this, when the sun was the only known source of energy, light was associated with good and shadow with evil and remains so today. Scientist Maurício Knobel, professor emeritus of postgraduate studies in Psychiatry at Unicamp, says that science has already tried to pinpoint the moment when light, the mother of vegetables, begins to act on human life. “Subjecting pregnant women to intense lighting only discovered that the mother can transmit sensations to the children,” he explains.
But it is in darkness that man begins his days and then escapes them. “During the period of pre-civilized society, without electricity, but which already maintained this current rite of production, people could only work when there was light. Hence its association with good. When you can't see, you lose movement, you grope, there's a risk of getting hurt. It's evil. These meanings were perpetuated”, explains Knobel.

When the lights go out, modern men jump onto the couch of psychoanalysis. The fear of the dark, which has already been sung in samba and rock, is not just musical flavor. Knobel deals with people who become paralyzed when the lights go out, a pathology that came to be called, unsuccessfully, nyctophobia (from “niktos”, which in Greek means night).

“In a broad sense, phobias – which can be defined as an irrational fear in situations or in front of objects that do not present any danger to the person – affect around 10% of the population. Mental disorders are much more common than one might think: almost a third of adults will have a mental health problem at least once in their lives”, warns the doctor.

Maurício Knobel believes in the possibility of social action to negotiate the occurrence of possible blackouts during the day. “I'm sure the damage will be less,” he says. “And our patients will be grateful”, adds the doctor, a specialist in the area of ​​Brief Psychotherapy, that is, dealing with emergencies that require treatment in a few sessions to help the patient change their attitude. “Darkness favors regression, introspection and consequently fantasy, sometimes hallucination”.

The doctor remembers that recently, in his office, he was approached by a phobic woman, aged 35. She wanted to know what her situation would be like given the imminent blackout. She said she was distressed when she anticipated her own going crazy. “This patient cannot bear to face the dark, even though she knows other lighting resources that are equally effective.”

Danger of fantasies – Paulo Dalgalarrondo, chief psychiatrist of the Department of Medical Psychology and Psychiatry at Unicamp, reinforces Knobel's experiences. “More sensitive people, who have phobias, panic syndrome, depression, anxiety or psychosis, may suffer even more. In today’s imagination, the dark leads to fear and insecurity,” he says.

Dalgalarrondo believes that the dark doesn't just bring fear. In general, it is combined with threatening fantasies, in the case of children and psychotic patients, which can even be dangerous. “There is continuous interaction between the social and the mental. This is not linked to any pathology.”

Preventive medicine also investigates this problem. Patients receive guidance on how to act in certain situations. Reality is presented in a natural way. The doctor emphasizes that all people are subject to natural phenomena, such as darkness, for example, and that man is the being that most adapts to changes.

“We invite the patient to reflect, focusing on other daily aspects that we are forced to live with, and cannot avoid”, explains Knobel. For him, the problem of drought is much more serious, and people live with this problem. “What then can we say about the floods and earthquakes that occur in several countries?”, he observes. Brief Psychotherapy also aims to clarify this. “We shouldn’t fool ourselves, as we need to live a life that’s closer to normal,” he emphasizes.

Fearful expectation – Dalgalarrondo states that the energy crisis should trigger social and psychological responses, both negative and positive. The negative is society's historic revolt against government authorities. “Everyone is disbelieved in the country’s direction. The fearful expectation is not knowing what might come in the near future.”

The positive aspect, according to Dalgalarrondo, is that people should be less passive. “They need to be aware that their actions can still cause changes, starting with habits,” he says. Teenagers or adults who spent hours static in front of the television or slumped in their armchairs for just one more game of video games or even 'surfing the Internet' will have to restrict the time they use this equipment. “I realized that many parents would like their children to spend less time in front of the television, in addition to containing that expense.”

Brazilian society needs to overcome some horrible vices, advises Dalgalarrondo, but it always reveals a determination for renewal. “The energy crisis has mobilized a lot of fear and anger. It will depend on how people deal with it. Belief in the future and in society is at stake.”