Fear of the dark

Fear of the dark is something that haunts many people in childhood, but for some this fear continues into later life. Despite the adult knowledge that 'there is nothing there', the fear is stronger and overrides logic.
Like any fear, fear of the dark can arise at any time and for many reasons, but happily hypnosis is extremely effective at treating fears and phobias.
There is an ancient story of a man who, when a child was told by his father that he must never, ever go into the old creaky shed behind the barn. As this man grew up and took over the farm he turned it into a model of efficiency, except for the old shed.

One day a friend asked him why he hadn't done something with it, and he said he really didn't know. He thought about this, and pondered on it, and then in the middle of the night, awoke, went downstairs and lifted an old rusty key off a hook.
He went to the shed, opened the door and went inside. Shining his torch into the dark he saw old tools, rusty nails, broken floorboards and so on. All of which made it a very dangerous place for a young boy.
He had left the shed alone all that time because although his conscious mind was adult, he still had the unconscious attitude of fear towards the shed that his father had used to keep him safe.