>>13169481) Don't sweat being scared. You can beat this.
2) Don't sweat the dark. Nothing more is in the dark than in the light, it's your primitive brain's superstition wiring working. If you've never seen scary alien shit coming at you in the daytime, it isn't going to happen in the dark either. If you have, you need some psych attention, the dark isn't your problem.
3) Don't listen to the advice of sleeping with a gun if you're afraid of the dark. I have a fuckton of guns, and yes, I sleep with one very close. But I also know that if I wake up and something seems out of place, I'm not going to be guided by irrational fear because it's dark, and end up shooting wildly around the area hitting the source of the sound, which is 99% likely to be harmless and something you'd regret shooting.
4) Seriously - go on some low light hikes. Take the shittiest dollar store flashlight you can find with you, the one that makes a vague glow in front of you, and then try not even to use that. My friend got over a fear of the dark by actively trying to enhance his night vision. He used only a red filter light and tried to go without even that. Also try making a notebook entry of literally every sound you hear. "That's a barred owl." "That's a rustle in pine needles, probably small mammal." "That's a flying squirrel." "That's a cricket." Trust me, you won't be able to find more than about 25 unique and distinctive sounds in any one environment, and identifying the sound makes you aware of your surroundings. If you can't identify it, guess, then try to amend the guess when you hear it again.
Most of all, relax. Ain't nothing in the woods out to get you if you're in North America or Europe, except maybe mosquitoes. You are the apex predator.
