Could your child's fear of the dark be more than an overactive imagination? According to researchers from the Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, children who suffer from congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) "can experience a profound fear of the dark." Although rare, CSNB impairs a child's ability to see in the dark and is often misdiagnosed or attributed to common childhood fears. For parents, knowing potential warning signs, seeking medical treatment and providing nightlights are all important steps in coping with night blindness in children.

As described in the Gale Encyclopedia of alternative medicine, "All of the possible causes of night blindness are associated with the way in which the eye receives light rays." "Most people can see a little in very dim lighting conditions after a short period of adaptation," says Gordon N. Dutton, consultant ophthalmologist for Gartnavel General Hospital. "Children who suffer from night blindness are unable to see at all in the dark even after a period of adaptation."

As Dutton's research shows, for many children, night blindness translates into a fear of the dark and for that reason is often overlooked or missed by medical professionals and parents alike. Dutton provides two case studies of children who suffer from CSNB.

-- A 3-year-old girl who had been frightened of the dark from an early age. "She had complained to her parents of not being able to see when the bedroom lights were turned off," says Dutton. It was not until her younger sister was born visually unresponsive that her parents sought the advice of an ophthalmologist who diagnosed her with CSNB.

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