Darkness Exposure Disorder

Darkness Exposure Disorder, otherwise known as DED is a disorder caused by overexposure to the Shadow (the Dark Presence), typically by dealing with Shaded individuals, items and occurrences (the Taken), The Shadow itself or being trapped in the Dark Place. This disorder will stay with the affected for the rest of their life, be that short or long which is dependant on the stage of the disorder.

## Symptoms

Symptoms of DED are a grey undertone to the affected person’s skin making them look sick, increased eyesight in the dark and decreased eyesight in the light, the sclera of the eyes being darker than usual alongside the edges of the affected person’s iris’ being darker too, the Shadow trying to cloak the affected like how it cloaks Shaded individuals in the dark. DED shares similar symptoms to Seasonal Affective Disorder due to a shared lack of Vitamin D such as a persistent low mood, irritability, sleeping longer during the day and finding it hard to wake up among other symptoms.

Another symptom is constant mood swings, usually timed and paralleled with someone who has BED (Brightness Exposure Disorder), DED sufferers will be irritable and angry during the day whilst BED sufferers will be happy and friendly during the day and vice versa. This is to do with the time of day that each disorder flourishes in such as nighttime for DED and daytime for BED.

People affected by DED rarely last long, finding themselves becoming Shaded individuals, taking their lives from the SAD like symptoms or just expiring due to too much light intake. However this disorder can be managed such as wearing sunglasses during the day and staying in the shade or inside. During the night, small lights such as salt lamps and candles can help keep the darkness at bay without overwhelming the affected. As well as this, taking Vitamin D supplements with meals can help balance out the SAD symptoms and bring the affected some peace. Finding a balance between the light and the dark is key to managing DED and its sister disorder, BED (Brightness Exposure Disorder) as without the balance between the two, the affected can succumb to a variety of outcomes.

## Stages

DED has five stages, the earlier stages is where it can be intervened with Light Exposure Therapy, Vitamin D supplements and spending most of their time outside. There however is always a 50/50 chance of these treatments not working and it leads to DED getting worse and worse.

### Stage 1

Stage 1 doesn’t physically show any traits thus why not a lot of documentation exists however what is known is the stage comes with a yearning for the dark and dragging more people into the dark to become like them, a zombie like stage but with more cognitive function

### Stage 2

Stage 2 is where the physical signs start to appear with the affected’s skin gaining a grey undertone and the sclera starting to get darker in colour. At this stage, treatment may become difficult as the affected will try to steer clear of any form of light due to how painful it is on their eyes.

### Stage 3

Stage 3 is where the skin properly gains its grey undertone and where the darkening of the iris edges starts to take place. Depending on the person, they can either lose all control over themself or keep their control (as seen with a later example) over themself.

### Stage 4

Stage 4 is the stage to which the Dark Presence tries to reclaim its prize (the affected) by trying to repossess them after the seeds it has sown have buried their way into the affected. This stage is best characterised by the appearance of the shadows that cloak the Taken appearing on the affected at night. Very few make it to this stage without being turned into one of the Taken. The transition between Stage 3, 4 and becoming a Taken is extremely seamless and thus why someone in Stage 4 must be under constant surveillance.

### Stage 5

Nothing is appropriately known about this stage aside from the suspicion that this stage, if not already a Taken, will turn the affected into a type 2 (as seen with Shaded Hartman) although this has yet to be seen in action and we do hope it is never seen.

## Stage 4 Example:

Shown in the gallery is an example of a Stage 4 DED sufferer, Agent Spencer Dalby-Wake who volunteered themself for examination after being brought in for an interview due to their first hand experience with the Bright Falls AWE. It’s suspected that Dalby-Wake’s sudden DED onset is due to interaction with the Dark Presence at a very early age, using their puberty to try and turn them into one of the Taken. However it seems Dalby-Wake’s natural stability and logical thinking has created a balance despite the stage of DED that they are suffering from. This gives them a unique playing field when it comes to work on the field as an agent.

An example of Stage 4 DEDAs shown in the example, the physical traits are as follows: darkening of the sclera, darkening of the edge of the iris, dark presence cloaking and greying of the skin. These traits are a persistent thing that no amount of treatment can erase, however managing it is a key way to not succumb to Stage 5 and to keep control over themself.

## Trivia

* This disorder is fictional and is a group project between PropaneNightmarez and a friend of their's