Paranoia and Fear of Darkness

[hX_]

I'm not scared of the dark, but sometimes if I start to think the in slightest paranoid way, I ussually end up getting worse and worse lol.

You know there isn't anything there, but that doesn't stop you sub-conciously thinking about it.

Just wondering if anyone else finds this happening to them?

(woods/forest/unlit graveyard are the places I'd refuse to enter at night; just creepy, and running through graveyards is pretty disrepectful.)

[stealththief]

I went through a graveyard at night once. The dark think doesn't bother me. I just know that if anythings out there it can probably see it before it sees me. Maybe check out places like that in the daytime and wait til night falls...

[hX_]

Spose, although round where I live there are kids that would leave you in a pretty bad state that hang around these area's cause they think "the goffiks hang round der and we cud beat em". (Arseholes who will pretty much beat up anyone for no reason.) called chavs.

The woods round where I live have a load of huge holes in the ground, surrounded with barbed wire, about 10 feet deep with random stones in the bottom. Plus paranoia gets the best of me in dark woods XD.

[ruzam]

The presence of something there in the dark creeps me out, but I deal. I can go through wooded area's ect, but probaply not thick forests.

[SilentKnight]

I don't personally have a fear of the dark but for anyone who does you can try telling yourself that the darkness is just a tool you can use for stealth and be glad its there, or tell youself that your the predator and whatever is out there should be afraid of you.

Just some ideas.
whatever works for you.

[Alexander Terror]

What if you.
Grabbed control of your conscious mind and realize your feelings are tied to your thoughts.
For example: If you were to close your eyes and imagine someone or something that makes you incredibly angry.......you'll start to feel angry.
Same way with getting scared of something being there in the dark. You just keep imagining something worse and worse each and every time which changes your emotions thus making you SCARED.

So heres the easy obvious way to fix that.
Think of happy thoughts! Stay focused on your overall mission and next objective in a POSITIVE way.
Never make NEGATIVE thoughts in your head those only bring more negative thoughts. But positive thoughts will change your outcome in your night ops and in your overall life in general.

[Ghost]

OR - You can train yourself to disconnect your emotions from your perceptions (obviously not 100%, that would take an incredible amount of insight and willpower) but enough so that you realize your mood doesn't have to depend on anything other than what you think your mood should be at any given time.

Either that, or learn how to "block out" your emotions, by forcing them to "drop" from your conscious state completely. Both are possible for short periods of time, and both would effectively end the problem.

[stealththief]

OR - You can train yourself to disconnect your emotions from your perceptions (obviously not 100%, that would take an incredible amount of insight and willpower) but enough so that you realize your mood doesn't have to depend on anything other than what you think your mood should be at any given time.

Either that, or learn how to "block out" your emotions, by forcing them to "drop" from your conscious state completely. Both are possible for short periods of time, and both would effectively end the problem.

Either or both come with time spent in the field I feel. I don't really have any emotions that interfered while I operate unless it's fear which usually aids me and keeps me cautious and sharp...

[seed]

OR - You can train yourself to disconnect your emotions from your perceptions.

More supressing those emotions I would think. To be honest, being comfortable in the dark comes with experience. A young child is afraid of the dark until they A) become convinced that there's nothing to fear or more likely B) Get used to it. Im sure when all we're starting out our nightopping activites (not calling you a noob btw, just going on a raving speculation) we all we're paranoid to some level, but we got used to it (B) and through that we (A) became convinced that there was nothing to fear. This is kinda like shoplifting, the first time was a huge rush, you remember guys, being 12 and walking into the store being like "OMG guys" looking everywhere, the knowing cashier smiling ever so slightly) the casher let you go. Later that month you were coming in each day, earning that cashier's trust, making away with 20$ worth of energy drinks...ANYWAYS

After a while you should become more used to the dark.

[Ghost]

That works too, but like you said, it's more of an experience thing. The first time i did a house, my legs were shaking uncontrollably with adrenaline until i dropped my emotions (that's just how i think of it, it somehow feels different, not crushing it down, but letting them fall out, meh...). My point was more to explain about possible methods of overcoming paranoia/fear of the dark.

I do agree with you though, once you've done something a few times, you sort of subconsciously loose all of those irrational fears that you used to associate with whatever activity it is you had them about in the first place. But until that comfortable familiarity is achieved, well, we all started somewhere

[darktorn]

I get that all the time but i can usually control it. Chavs are everywhere where i live, sometimes take detours to scare them - throw stuff at them, make noises, they are cowardly bastards when it comes down to it.

[KolmeK]

I only skimmed through this thread as I am short on time, but it really comes down to experience as Therin said. As you become confident in your abilities and get used to what adrenaline feels like it no longer becomes a huge issue. It's important to realize that your mind is playing tricks on you. If I think I heard something (unless of course I am sure I really did) I stop and listen for a moment to make sure it was just an illusion, then just tell myself it is just a thought and move on. It comes from being able to control your mind, not the other way around. Meditation helps a lot with this.

[darkwolf7]

I didnt really have this problem with graveyards and stuff espesially woods sice I practicaly live in them, but I was pretty sketch when I started and I brought a lot of weoponery with me like several knives, a t-ball bat, crowbar what have you just for my security. This helped calm my nerves just to know I was at least able to deffend myself, but after a while like its bean said a few times in this tread experience rubbed that right out of me and I didnt take all those things. You just have to remember that your probably one of the scariest things in the night. People fear the pofessional, if your just a guy in black wandering upright your going to be regarded as nearly harmless (people would usually think of you as a random really creepy guy they can scare easily) on the other hand if you have a mask/blaclave ect.and a back pack moving in a way that dosnt mark you as average joe this really freaks people out and I really wouldnt worrie about other people the only thing you have to worry about is them calling the cops.

If you dont mined me asking what the hell is a chav, I guess we dont have them were I live could someone enlighten me?

[hX_]

http://www.antisocialbehaviour.org.uk/dictionary/c.php

[darkwolf7]

[quote="hX_"]http://www.antisocialbehaviour.org.uk/dictionary/c.php[/quote]

okay well "chavs" sound dumb enough to fuck with I would make it and op just to scare the shit out of them.

buts thats just me.

[hX_]

But if you're seen/caught its very likely you'd end up in hospital or dying in the gutter. 4-5 dumb guys with knives/improvised bats can quite easily beat one trained fighter.

[Evil_0ne]

yes but in reality as previously stated chavs are cowards. they don't know if you just killed someone or if you have a gun. remember that the night is our element. so if they get a glimpse of some guy decked out in BDUs they may just kind of try to stand their ground and hope you on't try to approach them. I have intimidated police officers to go to their cars and call for /b/lackup.

long story short, a cop saw my silhouette and exited his car. with him actually looking at my full body I ducked around a house and got ready to sprint through the next yard when I heard a car door open. I glanced around the corner and saw him get in his car and ask for backup. he said that i was possibly armed and looked like I was something out of a Tom Clancy movie (this made me feel like a mall ninja... ). after describing me as dressed in combat gear he stayed in his car while I silently escaped.

tl/dr
a cop saw me and was too scared of a guy at 2 am in military looking gear to arrest or even follow me. that or it is standard procedure...

that made me feel like a badass, lol

[stealththief]

Yea I was going to say that scaring a chav doesn't sound too tough. I mean if you stay stealthy and a bit fast you'll stay safe and remain intimidating, especially when decked out in stealth gear.

[darkwolf7]

[quote="stealththief"]Yea I was going to say that scaring a chav doesn't sound too tough. I mean if you stay stealthy and a bit fast you'll stay safe and remain intimidating, especially when decked out in stealth gear.[/quote]

agreed

[mib]

yes but in reality as previously stated chavs are cowards. they don't know if you just killed someone or if you have a gun. remember that the night is our element. so if they get a glimpse of some guy decked out in BDUs they may just kind of try to stand their ground and hope you on't try to approach them. I have intimidated police officers to go to their cars and call for /b/lackup.

long story short, a cop saw my silhouette and exited his car. with him actually looking at my full body I ducked around a house and got ready to sprint through the next yard when I heard a car door open. I glanced around the corner and saw him get in his car and ask for backup. he said that i was possibly armed and looked like I was something out of a Tom Clancy movie (this made me feel like a mall ninja... ). after describing me as dressed in combat gear he stayed in his car while I silently escaped.

tl/dr
a cop saw me and was too scared of a guy at 2 am in military looking gear to arrest or even follow me. that or it is standard procedure...

that made me feel like a badass, lol

Lol.

[kunoichi]

As a scout, I am used to the darkness, because I have done many night watches in my life. I will never forget the last summer at the summer camp with the scouts, where I had to do a night watch completely alone from 2am to 4am, in a dark, scary forest. I saw 2 snakes that night, and all the time I believed I was hearing noises. At some point, I thought that a tree was a human (I haven't identified yet if it really was a tree... ) and I was soooo scared that I started running like hell! Needless to say I lost the path...

Anyway, due to these experiences, I am not very afraid of the dark anymore. However I often still think someone is following me so I turn to look behind me "just in case".

[Xanatos]

It's always wise to check your '6. And yeah, strange noises happen at night. It's something to get used to.

[joshvillen]

Afraid, hell nooooo, Night doesn't come soon enough in my opinion. I’ve gotten so used to night being an effective tool that I get mad I can’t pull off the same stuff during the day. Course, I don’t really get scared of much these days, either paranoid or deeply concentrated on the task at hand. It’s kind of sad when you lose that rush from being scared and then you ask yourself, how can I make this more dangerous, how far do I have to take it before I can feel alive again?

[Anthony Sykes]

Afraid? Not with what you would call fear; debilitating anxiety is more like it, especially in certain areas that trigger PTSD (Underneath decks, certain ground depressions, and some bathrooms bedrooms and cars), but then again night ops=my best therapy. Second, with a gang ("chavs") I get angry, very very vehement (training induced) not blind, but fight and flight x10 and in a fight, i am angry emotionally, but clearheaded, as my mind and emotions operate separately, if that makes any damn sense, it's hard to explain but i can explain more if you want. Simply put, my "fear" brings anger, and a certain levelheadedness (Think a Theta Pattern, I always op in an Alpha brain pattern). It's hard to explain

[fx1k]

I've never really been afraid of the dark, but I have had slight paranoia when I've been out on an OP. I guess that is good to an extent though because you don't want something to go unnoticed and get caught.

[Captain Winky]

he said that i was possibly armed and looked like I was something out of a Tom Clancy movie

You should've punched him in the face and asked him who killed your daughter.

[Xanatos]

he said that i was possibly armed and looked like I was something out of a Tom Clancy movie

You should've punched him in the face and asked him who killed your daughter.

[baseman]

I hate dark woods because the animals make so much noise... Its mad scary... that constant rustling of leaves coming from every angle. But despite the amount of noise they make i can never see them. Once I was in the woods (@ night) when it was really foggy and a light from someone's was shining through the trees. I was standing still looking at the light and then something passed by it, blocking it from my view momentarily. The light was pretty high up, but the place where the thing crossed it was a small hill. I estimated the height of the thing was at least 4 ft. I ran away as fast as I could...

[Blue_Social]

I usually have more daytime paranoia than I do at night.
Thats why I love this site! I can get rid of my paranoia and spend a night in the stars!

[CokeCanNinja]

The only thing you have to fear in my area is the half drunk redneck teenagers, and deer. The rednecks you can hear coming from far off, and the deer will only hurt you if you attack them. Now if you aren't careful, the rednecks can catch you sometimes, but they can't fight worth a damn.

[Psychlonic]

"There is a difference between those who feel safest in the light, and those who feel safest in the dark."

[Urgon]

AVE...

Fear of night? A little. Fear is good, it kept us alive for thousands of years, it's important instinct. The only rule is that fear should not have control over one's mind. If I feel like I'm watched or followed, or in any kind of danger, I concentrate on my senses and scan the surroundings. I stop rapidly and listen for footsteps. Then few more steps, hold breath, stop and listen again for breathing. Then I turn around visually scanning terrain around me. 99 of 100 times there are either some people passing by, or animals. In both cases they are scared of me, if they can see, hear or sense me...

The only paranoid fear I have is fear of being surrounded and forced to fight. I just know that someone will die in this situation. And it probably won't be me...

[FuzzyCommandPenguin]

I swear to God, like 95% of the noises you hear in the woods are squirrels or chipmunks. But that 5% chance that it's something else will fuck with anyone. I would advise spending a night in an improvised shelter in the woods. I did it when I was a boy scout 3 times. Overcoming fear is a priceless achievement.