Beyond simple disorientation, other more profound causes explain the occurence of children's fears: darkness is also disappearance:
- The bedroom disappears, and so do Mum and Dad, which brings a primitive fear of death to a children and makes them feel vulnerable, as if they no longer have a grip on the world.
Additionally, the appearance of night terrors coincides with the Oedipus period, which is a key stage in a child'd psychological development. During this stage, the child desires to marry the parent of the opposite sex and eliminate the parent of the same sex. This naturally leads to a strong sense of guilt. Guilt and violence symbolically express themselves as night-time monsters; iIn other words, the child transforms his aggression into monsters that take hold.
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