Thunderstorm phobia

[sedalia]

Hello - I joined yesterday as I have a health anxiety problem, but I also have a thunderstorm phobia. I don't know where it came from, I was never scared as a child, I think it developed in my teens and has got steadily worse (I'm 44). I hate summer and the thunderstorms that come with it, especially at night. I sit at the bottom of the stairs where there are no windows and put my headphones on. I don't feel like I can go on like this tho, it's beginning to take over my life. Does anyone else have this fear, or has got over it? The thing with this phobia is that no-one can tell you that lightning can't hurt you. It doesn't help when the newspapers show photos of houses which have been struck by lightning. It's not fair on people like us. I am always checking the weather forecast and won't go out if there are any dark clouds around. A few weeks ago the weather looked fine and I thought I was safe so I took the dog out to my local fields when there was a sudden flash of lightning and huge clap of thunder. I had to somehow get back across the field even tho my legs had turned to jelly. That's made me a lot worse now.

[ElizabethJane]

Hi I also suffer from this phobia- astraphobia fear of thunderstorms and brontophobia fear of thunder. I dont suffer in the same way as you though. Have you ever had any treatment for this? I'm sure that hypnosis would help. I used to feel that the storm was actually coming after me and that I would be struck by lightning. I was staying in an old house once which was struck by lightning but it had a lightning conductor so nothing bad happened to us. I'm still not keen on storms but they don't frighten me as much. I still can't look at forked lightning and feel that there is something sinister about a storm. Mad I know but I can't help it. At least you know that you are not alone.

[drummermike]

Hello - I joined yesterday as I have a health anxiety problem, but I also have a thunderstorm phobia. I don't know where it came from, I was never scared as a child, I think it developed in my teens and has got steadily worse (I'm 44). I hate summer and the thunderstorms that come with it, especially at night. I sit at the bottom of the stairs where there are no windows and put my headphones on. I don't feel like I can go on like this tho, it's beginning to take over my life. Does anyone else have this fear, or has got over it? The thing with this phobia is that no-one can tell you that lightning can't hurt you. It doesn't help when the newspapers show photos of houses which have been struck by lightning. It's not fair on people like us. I am always checking the weather forecast and won't go out if there are any dark clouds around. A few weeks ago the weather looked fine and I thought I was safe so I took the dog out to my local fields when there was a sudden flash of lightning and huge clap of thunder. I had to somehow get back across the field even tho my legs had turned to jelly. That's made me a lot worse now.

Not sure if I will be much of a help. But I am a big believer in statistics. Because more times than not understanding odds can reduce anxiety concerns. Medical/health and what you are concerned about. First as a small child you may not have realized that you did get a fear of T storms. A parent could have been overly scared etc .....

You can get rid of the thunder fear right now, TODAY. It's JUST sound waves. Nothing more then that. Can't hurt you and never will. Just a sound wave cutting through the atmosphere.

Ok Lightning. Lightning is a danger and can hurt a human. No doubt, but try and learn how it works. It needs conduction from a ground source. Or it can be cloud to cloud which hurts no one. In an enclosed building it rarely strike through into a building extremely rare. Maybe the roof area, maybe the electrical box but rare. In all my years in the FD, I went to about 3 fires that were Lighting related. Staying in the center of a room are house is fine. During a real active storm, staying away from windows is a good idea. But again the odds are VERY small. You just have to somehow believe. Read all about it online, the more knowledge you have the better. You literally will have a better chance of winning millions of dollars.

Hope this helps. Mike

[ElizabethJane]

To Mike: rationalising a fear/ phobia can help some people but then you are usually left with the fear/phobia. It is far more helpful to get behind what is causing the fear in the first place. Knowing why it won't happen does not usually take away the fear. Feelings are sometimes hard to rationalise.

[Jennifer Anne]

Does anyone know whether turning off and unplugging all sockets is necessary during a storm?

J x

[Galatea]

I have this phobia.. never when I was a child, like you, I actually enjoyed the rain. But ever since one day when I was 13 and it rained...the rain sounded so hard on the window, it frightened me, I felt like the roof or walls might collapse. Steadily it got worse and I was afraid of everything in thunderstorms... not afraid of getting hurt. But for some reason hearing the thunder puts a pit in my stomach, like something terrible is going to happen. The lightning flashing frightens me the most and makes me gasp and dash for safety like a scared little mouse. The sound of heavy rain on a house makes me feel claustrophobic almost. I mostly have lived in small apartments with not many windows so it is easy to hide.. the lightning scares me the most. otherwise I don't scream. I just cry. I get a pit in my stomach and cry for no reason.

I am convinced this phobia of mine including all other phobias are a direct result of something psychological or perhaps some kind of trauma in one's life.

[butterfly00]

HI I used to have the exact thing. I would monitor the weather channnel constantly and watch the clouds for any sign of darkness. Terrible time. But I went t to a behaviour therapist and over time I worked through it. Its probably not the thunder and lighening your scared off but the randomness of when it comes and having no control over it. I got over my fear so much that I am actually planning on goin on a storm chasing trip. so done despair you can work through this fear. It is possible.

[cagsy]

Hi I have just found this website and wanted to post this message as I too have a thunderstorm phobia. Mine started as a child and I have always been frightened of thunderstorms and I am now 33 it has never gone away. My parents both didn't like thunderstorms and once there was a storm in our house they would turn the tv off at the plug switch because of the lightening, turn around mirrors, shut curtains alll this was going on which has made me have a major fear of storms.
I am still really bad and find myself nervous most of the summer incase of storms coming, checking the weather forecast constantly and not wanting to go out if i know they have forcasted a storm. Once the storm comes I hide in my bathroom as there are no windows so i can hide away from it and i hardly sleep untill it has completely gone.
It has come to the point where it is now ruining my life and i feel i need to get some sort of help to help me deal with it better. I was thinking of hypnotherapy??? any suggestions regarding help you may have experienced would be really helpfull.
I am glad i have found others who are living everyday with this phobia and it is interesting to know i am not alone in suffering with this.

Look forward to hearing any replies.

Caroline

[D&K]

only cure i can think of is going deaf. would probably make my life better but not for my djin. this phobia sucks how can we all just bee scared of something so silly thunder is just a soundwave from the air expanding i dont know why i scared of this its nuts.

[D&K]

Does anyone know whether turning off and unplugging all sockets is necessary during a storm?

this is not necessary if lightning was going to hit your house it would blow the house to pieces so theres not much you can do to stop it. lol i dont mean to worry you but lets be honest if it wants to pulverise your house it will.

i have just been signed off because of my phobia because i have had my benifits stoped because a4e said me being scared of thunder and not being able to leave the house was not a good enuff excuse not to got to my meetings. i find a4e very rude and discriminating againt my phobia and very cheeky ive never felt so angry i feel like ive been discrimated against because of my phobia. this woman said it rains all the time, ive never heard it thunder here for 13 weeks etc all that rubbish but she aint got the one with the phobia and has to watch the weather forcast 24/7. sorry if it dont make sense am a bit drunk lol...