Adverse meteorological phenomena have been present throughout our lives. Rain, snow, hail or thunderstorms occur to a greater or lesser extent at certain times of the year and, therefore, we are very used to living with them.
Of all of them, rain is the phenomenon with which we have experienced the most and although in many cases it is harmless, in others it can cause great material and even personal damage. For this reason, people can experience fear of rain, a fear that can become irrational and constitute a specific phobia called pluviophobia. We tell you more in this Psychology-Online article about pluviophobia: what it is, causes, symptoms and treatment.
What is pluviophobia
Fear is an emotion that, just like other emotions, has been and is necessary for the survival of human beings. The fear of rain can mean that, in the face of a strong storm in which the rain is torrential, people do not leave the house and/or protect themselves from the danger that may occur.
First of all, let’s look at the definition of pluviophobia. The term pluviophobia refers to the irrational fear of rainthat is, a fear disproportionate to real danger. That last aspect is important if we take into consideration the different degrees of intensity that occur when it rains. That is, it is not the same that anxiety symptoms appear in the face of torrential rains (probably adaptive) as in the face of low-intensity rain (probably maladaptive).
Within the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association) and ICD-11 (World Health Organization) diagnostic classifications, this type of problem would be included in the category of specific phobiaswithin .
As for the DSM-5, pluviophobia would belong to specific phobias related to the natural environment. Following this diagnostic manual, we list below the characteristics for the diagnosis of specific phobias:
- The person feels a intense fear or anxiety of rain which lasts at least six months.
- Rain is avoided (for example by staying at home) and if it cannot be avoided, the patient will resist it, experiencing great discomfort.
- The fear is disproportionate to the real danger.
- The fear of rain negatively interferes with the patient’s daily life and/or generates great discomfort.
- This problem is not better explained in the context of other disorders (such as substance use).
Causes of pluviophobia
The explanatory theories of specific phobias have been studied from different perspectives:
Biological explanations
- evolutionary theories: This theory assumes the evolutionary predisposition for the development of phobias, which has contributed to the survival of the species. Let’s imagine that, when it rains, there are people who take shelter in a safe place and others who are not afraid enough to do so. If the rain is intense and/or dangerous, those who have shown the most fear will survive since said fear has made them run to safety.
- There may also be a genetic predisposition regarding the development of phobias as suggested by studies with families.
Cognitive-behavioral explanations
- Phobias are acquired by (rain is associated with aversive stimuli such as floods or dangerous situations) and maintained by (if every time it rains the person avoids going outside or runs away when it starts to rain, they will feel relief and the anxiety response will be reinforced). avoidance).
- In addition, irrational thoughts or beliefs regarding the danger of rain may be present.
- On the other hand, the irrational fear of rain can be acquired by observing this fear in other people, which is known as .
Biopsychosocial explanations
Finally, to explain the causes of pluviophobia, we find theories that integrate the findings of all the previous theories and that take into account biological, psychological, and social factors to explain the development and maintenance of specific phobias. An example of this may be Barlow’s theory (2002, seen in Sosa, CD and Capafóns, JI, 2014).
Symptoms of pluviophobia
The symptoms that appear in the context of a specific phobia encompass, following Sosa, CD and Capafóns, JI (2014), three dimensions:
- Firstly, the physiological dimension, in which we find symptoms such as tachycardia, nausea, diarrhea, or elevated blood pressure.
- Secondly, we find symptoms belonging to the cognitive dimension such as negative beliefs in relation to the rain and their own ability to cope.
- Thirdly, within the behavioral symptoms we find the rain avoidance (for example, as indicated above, staying at home) or fleeing from the rain (for example, running home when it starts to rain).
Treatment of pluviophobia
The treatment of choice for specific phobias is . However, it can be complemented with pharmacological therapy with anxiolytics if the case requires it.
Within cognitive-behavioral therapy we must use the exposure technique, which we can complement with cognitive therapy and psychoeducation.
Exposure technique
This technique consists of prolonged exposure of the patient to the feared stimulus, in our case the rain. This technique allows the anxiety response to decline during the presentation of the feared stimulus.
The problem with exposure to natural phenomena is that we cannot control their appearance, that is, it is not under our control whether it may rain or not. To do this we can use exposure in imagination or we can use virtual reality, taking into account that live exposure cannot be avoided (our objective will always be to reduce the irrational fear response to real live stimuli).
In the next article, we delve deeper into the .
Cognitive therapy
Cognitive techniques are aimed at working on irrational thoughts, beliefs and schemes related to the case that may be present. In this article we explain the.
Psychoeducation
Psychoeducation aims to explain to the patient what it is to offer information to the patient about their problem, which can help improve their attitude towards treatment and increase their commitment.
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.
If you want to read more articles similar to Pluviophobia: what it is, causes, symptoms and treatmentwe recommend that you enter our category.
References
- American Psychiatric Association (2014). DSM-5. Reference guide to the diagnostic criteria of the DSM-5-Breviary. Madrid: Panamericana Medical Editorial.
- World Health Organization (WHO) (2018) International Classification of Diseases, 11th revision. Recovered from https://icd.who.int/es
- Sosa, CD and Capafóns, JI (2014) Specific phobia. En Caballo, VE, Salazar, IC and Carrobles, JA (2014) Manual of Psychopathology and Psychological Disorders. Madrid. Pyramid.