What is Brontophobia?
Brontophobia or also known as Astraphobia is the fear of both thunder and lightning. The word brontophobia is derived from the Greek word bronte meaning thunder and phobos meaning fear. Other terms of the condition include astrapophobia, keraunophobia, ceraunophobia and tonitrophobia. This condition can develop also to animals. They say that those affected of the condition starts in childhood, and then would subside as he or she enters puberty. The condition is readily identifiable due to the fact that a person may start to develop the condition at a young age.
Symptoms of Brontophobia
Those who suffer from brontophobia experiences the same presenting symptoms as all other phobias manifest. Here are the typical presenting symptoms of brontophobia:
- Increased sweating
- Shaking. Trembles to the sound of thunder
- Crying
- Difficulty in breathing
- Panic attacks
- Increased heart rate
- Nausea and even vomiting
- Obsession with the weather forecasts
The presenting symptoms are aggravated when a thunderstorm is in progress. The symptoms are more prominent when the affected is home alone or simply alone. Tendency for the client is to hide or go to a place where he or she can block out the sound of the storm. When news provides that a storm is coming, they become obsessed with the facts and would just turn on their TV for to be able to check the weather reports. This can become a danger when the patient himself becomes too panicked that it alters his senses and way of reasoning. This should not be taken lightly for the presenting symptoms may be not that alarming but it can become if not treated accordingly.
Brontophobia in children is quite common but shouldn’t be resorted as a “phobia” right away. This is due to the fact that children at a young age are starting to discover new things and even start to fear them, which is sometimes normal but should not persist for a long period of time.
Brontophobia Causes
Phobias are considered a learned response. This explains how one becomes fearful of a thing from a previous association with it in an unpleasant manner. This is due to a previous unpleasant exposure to the triggering factor; development of the phobia becomes attainable. This has become a response by the affected because they percept the situation as harmful to them. But in general, the development of the condition or its exact root cause is still unknown.
Brontophobia Treatment
Treatment for this condition would basically be these methods and therapies:
Seeking a mental health professional is a must in order to alleviate the symptoms of the client. When it comes to a point that it impedes the daily activities of living, one should consider consultation to a professional.
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Cognitive-behavioral therapy
This therapy is with an approach which is voicing out or “talking therapy”. This would help in attaining the patient’s emotional concerns and identification of unusual behaviors. This can help reduce bouts in moods and anxiety disorders.
Exposure therapy
This would include patient being exposed with the triggering factor which is the phobia itself. This would aim in the overcoming of the stressful situation and embracing it as a recognized fear. The con of this therapy is that it may promote for worsening of the condition, but can be avoided if it has been properly done. It may also be a harsh form of therapy, that is why less professionals perform this.
Calming activities
The patient may be advised to attend to activities that can reduce anxiety. These would include attending yoga sessions and practicing deep breathing exercises regularly.
Counseling
This is very helpful in the identification of the root cause of the phobia and would also provide answers of how the condition started. Counseling can be of help by making the patient share about the phobia, and then gradually overcoming them.
Distraction
This can be done by placing the patient in an area away from places where storms usually come by. It can also be done with music therapy, one good way to distract the client from the raging storm.
There are also some self-help books made available to us in order to overcome this fear. There are also books prepared for children, in order for them to dissociate the fear from thunder.
