You probably know someone who is afraid of lightning and, specifically, of being struck by one. When this fear becomes constant and intense, it is known as astraphobia. Other names that are common to use are astrapophobia, brontophobia, keraunophobia or tonitrophobia. On many occasions, the meaning of astraphobia is extrapolated to thunder and storms. It is more common in boys or girls and, generally speaking, one in every 208 people suffers from this problem.
In extreme cases, it can become a big problem and have innumerable consequences at the work, family and social level. This is because many people begin to develop an avoidance of storms through isolation and confinement at home. In this Psychology-Online article, we tell you What is astraphobia, what are its causes, the main symptoms and treatment that could be applied.
Causes of astraphobia
Why are people afraid of thunder? There are various reasons that can cause astraphobia. Some examples are the fact of having suffered a traumatic process during a storm or related to a storm. Another cause may also be hearing that another person has suffered this traumatic experience. In boys or girls, astraphobia may be due to a nightmare related to a storm or having seen a catastrophic movie related to a storm. In this article, you will see.
Another cause of astraphobia is having mystical beliefs related to phobias, having other types of phobias or an evolutionary fear, that is, fear of innate origin as a way of survival. However, in many cases the exact origin of the phobia is not known, since, as we mentioned, it usually begins at an early age and it is possible that the boy or girl does not know the moment and the reason for his or her fear of storms. .
Symptoms of astraphobia
Fear makes the person with astraphobia hide. It is common for boys and girls to crawl under a table, a bed, or inside a closet to avoid hearing and seeing thunder and lightning. In adults it can reach the point of avoiding going to work on a stormy day. That is why, as we mentioned at the beginning, different areas of a person’s life can be affected.
Next, we will see what the symptoms of astraphobia are:
Treatment of astraphobia
How to overcome astraphobia? The usual treatment for this and any other phobia is The exhibition. As prior steps to this, you must carry out a relaxation treatment, teaching the person to control their breathing and relax the body, among others. There are various types of relaxations that can serve the situation, such as, for example, or other types of relaxations related to mindfulness.
Furthermore, in the treatment of astraphobia the irrational ideas that the person has about storms will be treated and the person will be made to see how unlikely it is that this fear will come true. Likewise, it will reflect how that fear is really affecting her life. For this, it is very useful to use techniques of cognitive therapies. Next, we will see the different steps to follow in the treatment of astraphobia:
- The person is asked to make a list of the elements or situations related to the phobia ordered from least to greatest. Each element or situation will be given a score from 1 to 100 in reference to the level of anxiety it causes. Some examples of astraphobia could be:
– Fear of seeing a storm on television: 15.
– Storm with thunder but no lightning: 50.
– Thunderstorm with lightning: 87. - The person next to the professional will face the first item on the list until their anxiety is reduced to zero.
- Next, you will do the same with each item on the list until you complete it and have overcome your fear.
It is of utmost importance that Do not do such exposure without supervision, since it could aggravate the problem. Additionally, the exposure should not end until the anxiety level is reduced to zero or until the element, such as the storm, has ended on its own. If you cut yourself off in another way, for example by hiding in a safe place or playing music, this could increase your anxiety level the next time there is a storm.
In this article, we show you more.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Moncho Terrades, S. (2018). Phobophobias: Illustration of irrational terrors (Doctoral dissertation).
- Rios Maza, C.G. (2019). Foundation of a psychological model for the treatment of situational specific phobia.
- Wright, H. N. (2005). Free Yourself from Fear: A Process to Reclaim Your Life. Nelson Group.