Scared of Thunder and Lightning!

[Bigboyuk]

Ok, ok, if you say so then it is.

I do sincerly believe it is as my heart does race at the end of the day it may not be as bad as some sufferes where as soon as a storm starts then they panic but I do have a real fear of heavy overhead storms I have heard people say in the past it doesn't bother them in the slightest and they can watch a storm from start to finnish That's the opposite to me!!!

[KatiePink]

I am the same. As soon as a storm starts i turn into a little child, i am shaking and i usually hide of find the 'safest' place in the house. I instantly go on the lightening map website to see where it is hitting. Thunder makes me cry sometimes and i am just a mess until it stops. Pretty embarrassing

[Carnation]

I do that KatiePink.

Go on the lightening map. Why do we do that? It makes it worse!!!

[KatiePink]

I do that KatiePink.

Go on the lightening map. Why do we do that? It makes it worse!!!

I know!

[babywhale]

Hi all - I'm new to this site, and am exploring the various groups and threads.

I've always been scared of thunder and lightning but it's getting worse as I get older.

I've had some bad experiences over the years...

Once I was playing a tennis tournament and during my match, a storm was quickly brewing overhead. No rain at that point so the referee told us to carry on playing, but fork lighting all around. I lost the match quickly and deliberately and then had to cycle home. Sadly the storm and rain was right in top of me, and one bolt was so close that the thunder was instantaneous. I quickly sheltered in a nearby pub for an hour. No money on me either.

Another time I was at a beach party and an evening storm was approaching. I begged my friend to leave and heard back to our apartment, which we eventually did. Within five minutes of being home, the storm was overhead, really powerful, and it felt like the windows were going to blow in. It was still around the next morning when we had to leave. The walk to the train station was a nightmare, as the place we were had streets littered with telegraph poles. Once inside the train station there was a huge bang, and we informed that a train on the platform outside had just been hit.

Also, once when I was at college, a bolt hit one of the college buildings and travelled down the chimney, and blew someone across the room. And on another occasion, i colleague of mine - a policeman - was hit directly, the lightning having travelled down through his radio. He survived but was left with one of those nasty leaf-pattern scars down one side of his body.

Needless to say, my fear is strong, and it is worsening with age. I have the live lightning app and use this to check to see if there is any lightning about, and I do plan my day around it. One of my dogs is also terrified of thunder, having been exposed to some nasty storms when we were on holiday in a caravan (with poor soundproofing) - the poor lamb now freaks out at the sound of passing planes, or rumbling lorries.

If I'm out in public and get caught, I generally flock to an indoor shopping center where the sound proofing is good and where there aren't windows. If in the house, I'll close the windows and curtains, and hide under the covers with my headphones in. The worst part is thinking it has passed, only to get a sudden bolt and rumble, or perhaps a few in succession, telling you that it has come back again or was just a brief lull.

I don't find weather forecasting apps reliable enough. The live lightning one is really useful. I used it last summer when traveling down from scotland to north wales, and managed to avoid a live storm in the Preston area that was moving eastwards.

[Carnation]

Welcome to the Forum babywhale.

[babywhale]

Thanks carnation. It feels so good to be able to relate to others.

Phobias include: thunder and lightning, wasps, and feeling trapped or confined (even a heavy tog duvet can do it).

Conditions: general anxiety, social anxiety and depression - with insomnia and IBS thrown in.

Currently on an 8-week mindfulness course through the NHS.

[Bigboyuk]

Thanks carnation. It feels so good to be able to relate to others.

Phobias include: thunder and lightning, wasps, and feeling trapped or confined (even a heavy tog duvet can do it).

Conditions: general anxiety, social anxiety and depression - with insomnia and IBS thrown in.

Currently on an 8-week mindfulness course through the NHS.

Hi and welcome babywhale to NMP good to have you aboard take a look at page 10 reply #98 and that's why I am terrified of thunder and lightening from a nasty child hood experience it was a tropical storm in the uk I know the actual thunder can never hurt you but lightning can it's as simple as. One tip that has helped me is after the flash count in seconds till you hear the thunder every second that passes is = to 5 miles away So childhood experiences do make a difference wether you become scared of something or you don't
Yeah don't like wasps, Bee's iam fine with. Suffer from long term depression and have bad sleep patterns too so can relate to you in many ways Cheers

[Carnation]

At night, I just hide under the duvet now, but like you Bigboy, all electrics have to be turned off. I've actually got worse as I have got older.
I go nuts over wasps too.

[babywhale]

It doesn't sound like a severe phobia to me, but rather quite sound to be a little bit wary under those circumstances. Only the unwise would call on a landline, grab on to the tv aerial, hold up an umbrella in an open football field (like a parabola antenna), sit under a big tree, etc. with a raging thunderstorm immediately overhead.

I think the issue is that there is still a chance that you might get hit and killed or seriously injured, no matter what precautions you've taken. I've seen post-storm photos of houses having been hit, and they're just normal houses, no higher than the other ones around them, and even surrounded by taller trees that didn't get hit. If i absolutely knew that I couldn't get hit, then I don't think I'd have the fear.

What is irrational - and why it is a phobia - is that I know there's more chance of dying by crossing the road, driving in a car, or falling into a river than there is from being hit by lightning, yet I'm not afraid of doing those things.

With lightning, it doesn't happen everyday so its not a familiar risk which we can overcome through constant, gradual exposure. In fact its quite a rare event where i live (2-3 thundery days/nights per year), which means its more noticeable, more disturbing, different each time, and I'm usually doing something different at the time. Some times the storm has been some distance away but 'felt' close, and then another time you discover what it means to have it right overhead, where you hear the thunder at the same time as the lightning.

There are few scarier (some would say thrilling) sounds and sights than hearing the lightning as it forks across the sky and then produces a sonic boom sound, and changes colour from white/blue to orange on making contact with the ground, a building or a person.