Brontophobia

Brontophobia






Brontophobia is the fear for thunder and lighting. Phobias are classified under psychosomatic disorder arising due to irrational fear. Most of them are intense causing serious symptoms and panic reaction on the affected person. We all have fear to some extent for any unexpected moments. But the person affected with phobia will have irrational fear to great extent that it will prevent him from doing his daily activities normally.

Brontophobia is common in children of age group 3-10 and this will eventually subside as the child matures into adolescent age. Even pets will have fear for thunder to some extent until it grows up. However there are some adults who have this kind of fear which would hinder them from his daily work. Brontophia is also called as Astraphobia.

For normal persons, this may sound illogical since sudden lighting and thunder storms are scary for anyone. But when you see the affected person, he would behave strangely by the sound of thunder. He/she would have high anxiety when he hears the sound of thunder even at the distance. He would be filled in with apprehension and restlessness and would start acting to the response wildly. He would look as if he is in a panic attack. He may even cancel his trip to office and close all the windows and curtains and lock himself into the room.

In severe cases, the person would lose control of sanity and would suffer from fear of death.

Symptoms :

For mild to moderate forms of brontophobia the signs include irrational fear, feeling of panic and anxiety and restlessness. For severe case, there would be rapid heartbeat, palpitation, trembling of hands, nausea, vomiting, feeling of terror and extreme cautious reaction. The person would start taking extreme measures to avoid the lowest chance of getting attacked by thunder. He would literally sit in the center of the room, locking all the doors and windows. He would be obsessed to hear every weather forecasts fearing the announcement of thunderstorm. The symptoms are more intense when the affected child/adult is alone at home than surrounded by others.

Causes :

Phobias occur due to learned response. The person becomes fearful of particular thing due to the unpleasant experience he gets for the stimuli earlier. Maybe, the child or adult would have been exposed to the stimuli (thunder sound) in unpleasant manner it may develop into phobia. In reality, they do not dread the thunder but they perceive the situation to be more fearful than the actual stimuli.

However, why certain children/adult become victims of phobia is still not known.

Diagnoses :

Doctor would often conduct standardized tests meant for measuring the intensity of phobia. He would assess the child behavior using home testing methods. In children, bronchophobia is quite common and understandable but there are adults who are affected with this disorder and struggle to overcome the fear even after years.

Treatment :

The doctor would refer the child/adult to psychologist or mental health professional who would make use of behavior therapy, psychotherapy and exposure therapy for curing the person.

Through effective behavior therapy and exposure method, the phobia can be completely cured. Further the professional would also recommend the person to undergo relaxation techniques and visualizing the stimuli in relaxed atmosphere.

Brontophobia – Symptoms, Causes, Treatment

Brontophobia – Symptoms, Causes, Treatment

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.