Brontophobia or the fear of thunder, lightning and lightning

Brontophobia can lead a person to become obsessed with the weather forecast and even seclude themselves at home. Discover its symptoms and the possibilities of intervention in this article.

Written and verified by the psychologist Elena Sanz.

Storms are common and generally harmless natural phenomena. However, for the person who suffers from brontophobia they are something truly terrifying. The anxiety you feel in its presence is high, especially if it is accompanied by thunder, lightning and lightning.

This fear is common during childhood, but if it is not addressed properly it can extend into adulthood, becoming a phobia. The interference of this disorder in the individual’s life often makes it necessary to resort to psychological treatment.

Brontophobia: a specific phobia

Brontophobia is part of the so-called specific phobias. All of them share a series of characteristics in which the only thing that varies is the main stimulus. In specific phobias, a disproportionate and irrational fear of a specific stimulus or situation is experienced.. The person is unable to control the fear, even knowing that it is illogical.

Coming into contact with the phobic stimulus, or anticipating that it will appear, triggers high discomfort in the individual. For this reason, different escape and avoidance behaviors usually start. who try to avoid proximity to the object or situation at all costs.

In the case of brontophobia, the fear experienced of storms and all related elements is excessive and illogical.. Therefore, the phobic person tries to avoid all contact with them. However, when avoidance is not possible, he endures it at the cost of great anxiety. Symptoms such as tremors, sweating or shortness of breath also appear that worsen when alone.

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This fear causes significant interference in the person’s life, limiting their daily activities. It is common for those who suffer from this phobia to become obsessed with the weather forecast, get nervous in rainy seasons and avoid leaving the house if there is a chance of storms.

Why does this phobia occur?

Many times the phobic individual is not able to give a logical explanation for his fear. On the other hand, some probable causes have been determined for its origin:

Having experienced some unpleasant event or event or storm-related trauma.Witnessing the negative impact the storms have had on someone close to you. For example, having a family member who was involved in a car accident on a day of heavy rain.Receive information about catastrophic storm-related events that impacts us emotionally.

Brontophobia treatment

Fortunately, there are effective treatments to address this disorder. Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy offers the best results in terms of reducing anxiety and avoidance behaviors. To achieve this, it combines a series of techniques with which it modifies the symptoms of the phobia at all levels: cognitive, physiological and behavioral.

On a cognitive level

A modification of erroneous beliefs is carried out and dysfunctional about storms. Through cognitive restructuring, the person is helped to check the veracity of their thoughts and look for alternative interpretations. That is, more adaptive and realistic.

On a physiological level

Various relaxation techniques are used, which help the individual control their level of activation. By obtaining this certain degree of control, he is able to face the feared stimuli without his anxiety levels skyrocketing.

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At a behavioral level

It is about gradually exposing the person to their fears.. The goal is for you to be able to remain in the situation until the anxiety decreases, avoiding any behavior, such as avoidance, that could increase it in the long term. Through this technique the existing association is broken and it is verified that the stimuli are, in reality, harmless.

To perform this last exercise on phobias, live exposure is normally used. Through it, the person is exposed face to face to the feared stimulus and experiences a decrease in anxiety. However, In the case of storms it is not possible to schedule live exposure sessions at our will. This is because we cannot control the weather.

For this reason, other variants are often used, such as exposure in imagination or virtual reality. The effectiveness of the first depends largely on the patient’s visualization ability. On the other hand, the second offers a vivid and realistic experience and great effectiveness in the treatment of phobias.