How to Cope with Weather Phobias

Anticipating the arrival of a hurricane, tornado, blizzard, or any severe storm strikes fear and anxiety in the people in its path for good reason. Natural disasters disrupt lives in significant ways, including creating physical and mental health problems and major economic challenges. And the never-ending news about a storm’s arrival may increase your anxiety, stress, and fear.

Here are some tips to help you take care of your own mental health, as well as your family’s before and after a storm.

Prepare

It’s only natural to feel scared, anxious, and nervous. Recognize your emotions and try these tips to alleviate your anxiety.

• Create a plan — A well-prepared plan for your family can help reduce anxiety and chaos before, during, and afterward. Make an evacuation plan and compile preparedness kits. Get tips from the Red Cross.
• Be informed — Stay up-to-date on weather information and warnings. If you’re aware of the latest information, you may gain a sense of control over the situation.
• Talk it out — Share your fears with family members, friends, a counselor, or others who can offer emotional support.
• Find out more on how to strengthen your emotional well-being before the storm.
• Accept what you can’t control — Nobody can control the path of a storm or its damage. And excessive worrying that one may hit you will not change anything except your emotional well-being.

Take tips from the Mayo Clinic for talking to kids about weather-related anxiety:

• Be calm and supportive. Tell children that thunder won’t hurt them. Explain that storms are a normal part of nature.
• Talk about storms matter-of-factly. Some kids may seem afraid of storms, but they’re really interested in learning more about them.
• Allow children to face their fears by gradually helping them learn they can handle a fear and other uncertainties of life on their own.
• Help children face their fear of storms by reading about them or watching videos of tornadoes, hurricanes, and other big storms.
• If the anxiety doesn’t diminish, or if it begins to create greater stress for the child or the parent, get the assistance of a mental health professional.

After the Storm

Many survivors of severe storms will experience emotional and physical symptoms such as headaches, muscle tension, insomnia, and nausea for days or even weeks afterward.

If you are having difficulty coping, consider the following:

• Do something positive: Donate blood, prepare care packages, or volunteer to help others, all of which can provide a sense of purpose in a situation that feels out of your control.
• Follow your usual daily routine as much as possible.
• Limit your exposure to repeated news stories, which usually increases stress.
• Rest, get exercise, and eat properly. Seek out leisure and recreational activities that involve both mind and body.
• Spend time with trusted loved ones for support.
• Talk with others and seek support from those who have been exposed to the same or similar trauma.
• Recognize that you cannot control everything.
• Talk with a relative, friend, doctor, or spiritual advisor about getting help. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not of weakness.
• Contact a mental health professional if symptoms persist for more than a few weeks and interfere in your carrying out your daily activities.

Prolonged Anxiety and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

If after several weeks your anxiety symptoms persist, it may be an indication of posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Symptoms of PTSD:

• Re-experiencing the trauma through intrusive distressing recollections of the event, flashbacks, and nightmares.
• Emotional numbness and avoidance of places, people, and activities that are reminders of the trauma.
• Increased arousal such as difficulty sleeping and concentrating, feeling jumpy, and being easily irritated and angered.

PTSD is diagnosed after a person experiences symptoms for at least one month following a traumatic event. However symptoms may not appear until several months or even years later.

Helping Children

A key element in a child’s or a teen’s recovery from a traumatic event is the support from parents, teachers, and other adults. Listen to this podcast about treating children with PTSD.

Here are some tips to help your child recover:

• Anticipate needs. Take the initiative and approach children to talk about their feelings and concerns about a traumatic event before they bring it up. It is easier for children if the adults anticipate their needs and open up the lines of communication. This also sends the message that a topic is okay to talk about with adults.
• Use candor — with discretion. This should be the theme of all adult-to-child communication on traumatic incidents. Be honest, but give details and explanations at a level commensurate with the child’s cognitive and emotional capacity. It is healthy and appropriate to begin with more limited sharing that provides a foundation for future elaboration.
• Let kids know how you feel. While adults dealing with children in distress should maintain a moderate level of composure, it is often helpful to let children know that adults, too, experience upsetting feelings. Children need to know that adults are sometimes scared and seek support from those around them and that it is okay to hurt — but that the pain does get better with time.
• Tornadoes, Hurricanes, and Children: How to help alleviate help alleviate emotional consequences

Most children and teenagers are resilient and will return to normal functioning following a natural disaster. If, however, a child’s distress continues to interfere with their lives after a few weeks, it may be time to seek professional help.

Signs of distress include not sleeping or eating; excessive clinging; re-experiencing the event through nightmares, recollections or play; emotional numbing; or persistent fears about disaster. If your child is experiencing these symptoms, seek the assistance of a school counselor or other mental health professional. Find out more about treatment for PTSD and anxiety disorders.

• B.S., Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, University of North Carolina

Do you jump at every flash of lightning and rumble of thunder? Or monitor the TV whenever there’s a severe weather threat near your home or workplace? If you do, it’s very possible you have a weather phobia—a marked fear of or anxiety about a specific weather type or event.

Weather phobias are included in the “natural environment” family of phobias—fears triggered by objects or situations found in nature.

Why Am I Afraid?

Phobias are sometimes described as “irrational” fears, but they don’t always develop out of nowhere.

If you’ve ever experienced a natural disaster such as a hurricane, tornado, or wildfire—even if you didn’t suffer any physical injury or trauma—it’s possible that the unexpected, sudden, or overwhelming nature of the event could have taken an emotional toll on you.

You Might Have a Weather Phobia If.

If you feel any of the following in certain weather situations, you may suffer, to some degree, from a weather phobia:

• Anxiety and panic (heart palpitations, shortness of breath, sweating, and nausea)
• A desire to be around others when unfavorable weather is forecast or occurring
• An inability to sleep or eat during sever weather
• Helplessness when certain weather is occurring
• You change your schedule so that you can plan around ill weather
• You obsessively monitor the TV, weather forecasts, or your weather radio

One in 10 Americans Are Afraid of Weather

While you might feel ashamed to be afraid of something like weather, which most other people consider to be routine, please know that you’re not alone. According to the American Psychiatric Association, approximately 9-12% of Americans have natural environment phobias, of which 3% of that number are afraid of storms.

What’s more, some meteorologists can trace their interest in learning about weather back to a fear of weather. Let this encourage you that your weather phobias can be overcome!

Coping with Weather Fears

When your weather fear strikes, you may feel helpless. But there are a number of things you can do, both before and during attacks, to help manage anxiety and stress.

• Learn how weather works. If you’re afraid of something, the last thing you may want to do is willingly subject yourself to it. But sometimes, fear of something is rooted in a lack of knowledge of it. If you understand the reality of how weather works, you can better differentiate between threats that are real and those that are perceived in your mind. Read weather books, visit science museum exhibits, and learn about weather basics from your favorite weather company and links. (Your presence here on About Weather means you’re already off to a good start!)
• Practice weather safety. Having an emergency plan in place may help put your mind at ease should bad weather actually strike. It can also make you feel like you have more control of the situation, and are not just a passive victim.
• Relax. While it’s easier said than done, relaxing is one of your best defenses. To help keep calm, try engaging in activities that keep your mind occupied and off of the weather happening outside your door. Practice a favorite hobby or start up a conversation with friends or family. Meditation, prayer, music, and aromatherapy are other good options. (Lavender, chamomile, bergamot, and almond are scents frequently used to ease anxiety.)

To find out more, including what the most common weather phobias experienced among Americans are, read Afraid of the Atmosphere.

Jill S. M. Coleman, Kaylee D. Newby, Karen D. Multon, and Cynthia L. Taylor. Weathering the Storm: Revisiting Severe-Weather Phobia. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (2014).

Our earth is a wonderful thing, full of changing seasons, and changing weather. But, as weather changes occur, severe weather also occur. With the level of climate variability in our world today, we are experiencing increased severe weather events year round. Rain, thunderstorms, blizzards, and tornadoes develop more frequently and more intensely. Many children are understandably scared and apprehensive about weather events, particularly if their community has suffered a tornado, hurricane, or natural disaster in recent years. Weather anxiety is commonplace among children, and it can also be helped.

There are some things that parents can do to help children with weather anxiety

Be calm. Model calm.

Offer your children reassurance, but don’t overdo it. They will watch you to see how to respond. Keep your own storm anxiety in check, and it will help your child.

Teach your children about storms ahead of time

The more they know, the less afraid they will be. Visit child-related websites on weather, or watch videos of tornadoes, hurricanes and other big storms, and learn about weather facts. Even some museums have lightning and thunder exhibits. Make it interesting and enjoyable. Even reading rhymes about rain, like those from Dr. Seuss, can increase a sense of whimsy and humor.

Have some fun with weather

On days when there is no thunder or lightning (and just rain), take your child out in her raincoat, umbrella and galoshes, and enjoy the weather. Splash around in the puddles, and enjoy.

Find some beauty with weather

Teach your child the enjoyable parts of storms: counting to see how far away the lighting is, watching the clouds swirl, a cozy blanket by a safe window. You can take the time to notice the color of the grass in the rain, the sound of the rain on the roof, or the beauty of the raindrops on the windowpanes.

Have a weather safety plan

Explain it to your children. Parents can role-play storms, along with fun activities, such as as banging on pots and pans, playing music, and having fun in your family’s safe room. Special toys and supplies can be kept there just for storms as a fun ritual. Demonstrate how you know just what to do to keep your child safe, and make it fun.

Simulate the Storms

Parents can purchase audio clips of thunderstorms, or find them online. Parents can play these audio clips of thunder storms when they are engaging in fun, relaxing family activities, such as games, etc. You may want to play these clips regularly during storm seasons or anytime. Let your child pick her favorites.

Practice Relaxation regularly

Practice deep breathing and other stress reduction techniques when storms are not present. This will help your child be more familiar with these skills when the storms are significant. Practice the deep breathing when listening to audio clips of thunderstorms whenever you remember.

Teach your child coping thoughts that she can use in these situations, such as:

“Mom and Dad know what to do.”

“Natural disasters are rare.”

“I know how to get back to sleep.”

“It’s cozy inside when it is rainy outside.”

Try not to give in to the anxiety

If the storms happen at night, and your child wants to sleep with you, calmly take them back to their room. Remind her of her deep breathing and coping thoughts so they can get back to sleep. Keep up with working on independence.

Try not to miss activities due fear of the weather unless it is a storm warning

Keep to routines as much as possible, even if your child is a little scared. The more practice they get with this skill, the better it will be.

Weather anxiety may take some time to resolve. You may want to practice and review deep breathing, and coping thoughts daily. However, with some tools and coaching from parents, many children will do better and learn to enjoy and respect the beauty of nature (thunder and all).

Lilapsophobia, or fear of tornadoes and hurricanes, can be seen as a more severe form of astraphobia, or fear of thunder and lightning. If you suffer from lilapsophobia, it is not the average summer storm that you fear, but the possibility of that storm becoming severe. This phobia is relatively common, although rarer than astraphobia.

Causes

Like many phobias, the fear of tornadoes and hurricanes is often traced to a negative experience. Perhaps you have been affected by severe weather that caused personal injury or property damage to you or someone you love. Or you might have been spared by a tornado that wreaked havoc in your neighborhood, possibly adding a bit of survivor guilt to the mix.

If you have been through a truly devastating storm experience such as Hurricane Katrina, it is particularly important to seek professional advice. In addition to lilapsophobia, it is possible that you are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder.

Lilapsophobia, like many phobias, may also be learned. If your parents, friends or relatives are afraid of tornadoes and hurricanes, you may have picked up their fear.

Symptoms

While it is normal and rational to check weather forecasts before outdoor activities, many people with lilapsophobia find that the weather controls their lives. You might spend a great deal of time watching the Weather Channel or tracking storms online. You may refuse to go out on days when storms are predicted.

When a storm hits, you may display unusual behaviors. Constantly checking for weather alerts; hiding under the bed or in a closet, and even putting a full tornado plan into effect as soon as the rain begins are all common among those with this fear. You might listen closely to the storm for sounds of tornado activity, or you might attempt to drown out the storm altogether with loud music or movies.

Many people find that lilapsophobia is worsened by being alone. You might call friends in a panic, or arrange your schedule such that you are rarely alone. Some people with this phobia find that going to a mall, a movie theater or a library can help them control their panic.

Over time, you might find that your daily activities become more and more restricted. You might become unwilling to enter buildings that you do not find “safe,” even on clear, sunny days. You may refuse to take part in outdoor activities or long road trips for fear that a storm might hit.

Appearance in Children

Many children go through a phase of astraphobia, or fear of storms. Lilapsophobia is not as common in children, but may certainly appear. Young children who are just learning to separate fantasy from reality are especially susceptible to fears caused by media images and adult conversations. If a major storm is profiled on television or discussed by adults, children may become afraid that it will happen to them.

Because fears are a normal part of development, phobias are generally not diagnosed in children unless they persist for more than six months. Try to reassure your child about the relative rarity of major storms, and explain your storm readiness procedures to him. Of course, it is important to tell the child’s doctor if the phobia is severe or persistent, as a therapist referral may be necessary.

Appearance in Popular Culture

Hollywood films such as Twister (1996) address the effects of lilapsophobia. In that film, Dr. Jo Harding, played by Helen Hunt, witnesses her father’s death in a tornado. As an adult, she fights the resulting lilapsophobia by becoming a storm chaser. The film features highly realistic footage of major tornadoes, so it is not the best choice for those suffering from this fear.

Tornadoes and hurricanes are a part of life, and today’s media offers the opportunity to view devastating storms and their aftermath repeatedly, in vivid high definition detail. Although the coverage is certainly important, it is equally important to put such coverage into perspective. While small weather events happen frequently, only those that are severe are deemed newsworthy. Media coverage can easily lead to a skewed belief that serious storms are much more common than they actually are.

How to Be Rationally Prepared

Although your chances of being caught in a killer storm are relatively small, the risks are real. Therefore, it is important to be prepared. The key is to recognize the difference between rational preparedness and phobic reactions.

If you live in a storm-prone area, get a copy of your area’s official preparedness literature. These documents are often distributed in grocery stores, libraries and other public locations or online through sites like weather.gov and nhc.noaa.gov. Read through the recommendations and put together a storm readiness plan.

If you share a household, let someone else monitor the weather. That person can alert you about any specific dangers and help you decide the best course of action. This will take some of the pressure off you, and can help you avoid obsessive checking.

Learn about the types of storms that affect your area. For examples, hurricanes can be devastating but are predicted far in advance. Tornadoes can develop quickly, but only under certain weather conditions. Learning about the types of storms that may affect you can help you make more rational decisions about confronting them.

Treatment

Like many phobias, lilapsophobia is often treated through cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques. However, if your phobia stems from post-traumatic stress disorder, then other types of therapy may be more appropriate. Your therapist will be able to diagnose the root of your phobia and prescribe the best course of action.

Conny Marshaus/Getty Images

• B.S., Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, University of North Carolina

While the weather is business as usual to most of us, for one out of every ten Americans, it is something to be feared. Do you or does someone you know suffer from a weather phobia, an inexplicable fear of a certain atmospheric condition? People are very familiar with insect phobias and even fear of clowns, but fear of the weather? Which common weather phobia hits close to home for you? Each phobia takes its name from the Greek word for the weather event it’s related to.

Ancraophobia, Fear of Wind

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Wind has many forms, some of which are quite pleasant — a gentle sea breeze on a summer’s day at the beach, for example. But for individuals with ancraophobia, any amount of wind or draft of air (even one that brings relief on a hot day) is unwelcome.

For ancraophobes, feeling or hearing the wind blow is upsetting because it triggers a fear of its often destructive force, specifically wind’s ability to down trees, cause structural damage to homes and other buildings, blow things away, and even to take away one’s breath.

A small step to help acclimate ancraophobes to mild air flow could include opening an indirect window in a house or car on a day with light winds.

Astraphobia, Fear of Thunderstorms

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Nearly ​one-third of the U.S. population experiences astraphobia, or a fear of thunder and lightning. It is the most common of all weather fears, especially among children and pets.

While it is easier said than done, keeping distracted during thunderstorms is one of the most effective ways to ease anxiety.

Chionophobia, Fear of Snow

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Individuals who suffer from chionophobia aren’t likely to be fond of winter or the season’s activities due to their fear of snow.

Oftentimes, their apprehension is a result of the dangerous situations snow can cause, more so than of snow itself. Hazardous driving conditions, being confined indoors, and being trapped by snow (avalanches) are some of the most common snow-related fears.

Other phobias involving wintry weather include pagophobia, the fear of ice or frost, and cryophobia, fear of cold.

Lilapsophobia, Fear of Severe Weather

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Cultura RM Exclusive/Jason Persoff Stormdoctor/Getty Images

Lilapsophobia is usually defined as fear of tornadoes and hurricanes, but it more accurately describes a general fear of all severe weather types. Lilapsophobia can be thought of as a severe form of astraphobia. Causes of this fear usually stem from having personally experienced a devastating storm event, having lost a friend or relative to a storm, or having learned this fear from others.

One of the most popular weather movies ever made, the 1996 film “Twister,” centers around lilapsophobia. The film’s main character, Dr. Jo Harding, develops a professional interest and reckless fascination with tornadoes after losing her father to one as a little girl.

Nephophobia, Fear of Clouds

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Mike Hill/Getty Images

Ordinarily, clouds are harmless and entertaining to watch. But for people with nephophobia, or fear of clouds, their presence in the sky — specifically their massive size, odd shapes, shadows, and the very fact that they “live” overhead — is quite disturbing. Lenticular clouds, which are often likened to UFOs, are one such example of this.

Nephophobia can also be caused by an underlying fear of severe weather. The dark and ominous clouds associated with thunderstorms and tornadoes (cumulonimbus, mammatus, anvil, and wall clouds) are a visual cue that dangerous weather may be near.

Homichlophobia describes the fear of a specific type of cloud: fog.

Ombrophobia, Fear of Rain

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Rainy days are generally disliked for the inconveniences they cause, but people with an actual fear of rain have other reasons for wanting the rain to go away. They may be afraid to go out in the rain because exposure to damp weather could bring on illness. If gloomy weather hangs around for days, it can begin to affect their mood or bring on bouts of depression.

Related phobias include aquaphobia, a fear of water, and antiophobia, a fear of floods.

In addition to learning more about precipitation and its importance in sustaining all forms of life, another technique to try to alleviate this fear is to incorporate nature relaxation sounds into everyday activities.

Thermophobia, Fear of Heat

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As you’ve probably guessed, thermophobia is a temperature-related fear. It’s the term used to describe an intolerance of high temperatures.

It’s important to note that thermophobia not only includes sensitivity to hot weather, like heat waves, but also to hot objects and heat sources.

Fear of the sun is known as heliophobia.

If you or someone you know has a fear of lightning that causes you to hide in your closet or avoid attending events, you may have astraphobia. Find out how you can treat it

Are you scared of lightning? Does thunder make you want to curl up in a ball and hide? Do you have a physical reaction when a storm begins, such as sweaty palms or chest pain? Astraphobia is the term for the extreme fear of thunder and lightning. And it’s not just children and adults who can suffer from an extreme and irrational fear of thunder and lightning. This common phobia can also affect animals, so don’t be surprised if your dog starts howling and hiding under the bed at the height of a nasty electrical storm. The term, astraphobia, is derived from the Greek word astrape which means lightning, and phobos which means fear. Astraphobia can negatively affect and limit the lifestyle of people dealing with the fear, but it is treatable–for both humans and pets.

What is Astraphobia?

A person who has astraphobia will frequently check the weather report, says Greta Hirsch, PhD, clinical director of The Ross Center, an outpatient mental health treatment center in Washington, DC. “If they hear that there is a storm coming, they will alter their plans and they may go to extreme degrees to change these plans. And when there is a storm, they may become so afraid they go into a closet in their home and hide,” explains Dr. Hirsch.

People with a phobia of thunder and lightning may avoid situations where a storm might be present, such as camping. Astraphobia may cause them to go irrationally out of their way to avoid bad weather, such as canceling plans at even a slight possibility of a storm. The good news, for those who suffer from astraphobia, is that the condition is treatable.

Causes of Astraphobia

Astraphobia can be attributed to evolution, instinct, and a natural physiologic response, says Alan Manavitz, MD, clinical psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “It can be instinctual or learned or traumatic in origin,” he says. Evolutionarily, it makes sense to want to avoid a storm, since they can very realistically present danger. However, having an overwhelming physical reaction to a storm when you are knowingly safe in a home is a condition that can be overcome.

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When people have had a traumatic experience linked to thunderstorms and lightning, they may be more prone to develop astraphobia. And if a person has witnessed someone getting hurt by thunder and lightning, this can contribute to the development of astraphobia. Those who are generally inclined toward anxiety and fear also may be more prone to develop this phobia.

Additionally, children with autism and those with sensory processing issues tend to develop astraphobia more frequently than other people because they are more sensitive to sound, Dr. Hirsch says.

Astraphobia Symptoms

Individuals who have astraphobia may have feelings of panic before and during a storm. The phobia can cause such symptoms as:

• Chest pain
• Numbness
• Nausea
• Heart palpitations and a racing pulse
• Breathing difficulty
• Sweaty palms
• An obsessive desire to monitor the storm
• Clinging to others for protection during a storm
• Understanding that these feelings are irrational and overblown

Individuals with astraphobia may also feel the need to hide away from lightning and thunder in a closet, bathroom, bathtub, or under the bed, Dr. Manavitz says. “They may cling to others for protection,” he says.

Treatments for Astraphobia

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be used to treat astraphobia. “Cognitive behavioral therapy is effective because it retrains our subconscious to rid itself of negative thoughts by retraining our conscious perceptions first,” Dr. Manavitz says.

In cognitive behavioral therapy, the therapist may encourage the person attending to keep an anxiety journal, Dr. Hirsch says. In the journal, the person may note when there is a storm coming and that they believe that if they don’t hide in their closet, something terrible (like lightning striking the house or a tree falling on the house) will happen. Next, the therapist and patient will look at their negative thoughts together. “The person begins to see that when he or she is having a panic attack and believing these negative thoughts, all it does is make them continue to be fearful,” Dr. Hirsch says. “So the anticipatory anxiety feeds the feelings of loss of control and creates a panicked feeling.” In treatment, this negative way of thinking is gradually replaced with fact-driven, evidence-based thinking, which helps the person to manage their anxiety.

Exposure therapy is also helpful, Dr. Hirsch says. “With exposure therapy, the person may watch videos of storms or listen to the sound of thunder,” Dr. Hirsh says.

Breathing techniques and progressive muscle relaxation can also be useful in treating astraphobia.

What You Can Do

Don’t constantly look at weather apps. Checking the weather compulsively can make a person with astraphobia think they are keeping themselves safe, “but it really fuels the anxiety,” Dr. Hirsch says. Try limiting yourself to checking the weather in the morning so that you can dress accordingly, but resist hitting the weather app multiple times per day.

Get a referral to a mental health counselor who is trained in CBT. You may even want to have the therapist make a “house visit” during a storm so that you can practice your deep breathing and receive counseling during the actual storm.

Mental health apps and meditation apps are also an easy and accessible option for dealing with astraphobia. There are apps that provide therapy sessions (including CBT), apps that provide guided relaxation techniques, and apps that allow you to journal your fears.

Share with your loved ones that you have an irrational fear of thunder and lightning, and ask for their support. Talking out loud about your fears may help you begin to face them and informing your loved ones that your phobia is limiting you may help decrease additional anxiety you have about missing your loved ones’ events and gatherings.

Surprisingly, knowing the rarity of death by lightning strike won’t lessen the irrational fear. “During a storm, to calm yourself, count backward from 200 by 3s or 2s. Or talk on the phone,” advises Dr. Hirsh. “Doing either of these out loud regulates your breathing.” She also says to remind yourself of how many times you’ve been at home by yourself during a storm, and nothing bad has happened!!

It might feel like you’ll never get over this fear, especially if it’s something you’ve been dealing with since you were young, but opening up about your phobia and seeking treatment will help you get over your fear of thunder and lightning.

An estimated millions of Americans are afraid to fly, and the September 11 terrorist attacks, followed by the recent crash of American Airlines Flight 587, may make them even more jittery.

“Whenever there’s a plane crash, it’s hard for people to cope,” said Dr. Page Anderson, whose Virtually Better clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, helps people overcome their fear of flying and other phobias through virtual-reality therapy. “Now, of course, it is more complicated in the wake of the terrorist attacks.”

Fear of flying can begin in several ways, Anderson explained.

Having a traumatic experience on an airplane — say an especially rough flight — or sitting next to someone who is afraid can intensify people’s own fears.

“A third way to develop fear is to actually hear information that’s consistent with the fear,” he added. “There’s always intense media coverage of airplane crashes and that can really play into people’s fears and skew their perceptions of how safe it is to fly.”

But these fears can be conquered.

“In order to overcome a fear, you have to face a fear,” Anderson said.

He recommends the following for coping with a fear of flying:

— Develop a realistic perception about the fear. For instance, flying remains statistically safer than driving. According to the National Safety Council, in 1998, the odds of dying in an air accident were 1 in 390,532, but the odds of dying in a traffic accident were 1 in 6,212.

— Challenge negative thinking or scary thoughts about flying.

— Manage anxiety with breathing techniques or meditation.

— Avoid alcohol on flights. While it may seem to be calming initially, it will prevent facing up to fears in the long run, Anderson said. Other experts advise that alcohol can heighten anxiety.

— Get back on the plane. Avoiding flying may intensify the fear.

— If you are still nervous and anxious long after others have come to terms with their fears, consider treatment.

“Treatment tends to be very brief and focused and effective,” Anderson said. “Therapeutic exposure involves facing the fear in a controlled and gradual way so that you feel like you’re mastering and can cope with your anxiety as you face it.”

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Dealing with a fear of ghosts is, more or less, just like dealing with any other type of fear, but with a few differences based on the particular subject of the fear. Since ghosts are not something that can be directly identified or utilized for confrontation of the fear, it can be somewhat more difficult to evaluate how the fear manifests itself. If you are trying to cope with a fear of ghosts on your own, then you should try to determine exactly how that fear comes out; consider environment and other tangential factors. You should then try to find some coping mechanisms that work well for you, such as deep breathing and guided visualizations, for which you may need the help of a psychological professional.

It may be helpful to find support among family, friends, or even a therapist when dealing with a fear of ghosts.

A fear of ghosts can be just as crippling or detrimental as any other type of fear or phobia, and perhaps more so since you may feel some embarrassment or shame over your fear. The first thing you should do is try to eliminate that embarrassment. Though a fear of ghosts, or phasmaphobia, may be completely irrational, most deep fears are irrational. Even a common source of fear, such as snakes or spiders, is irrational since most people are not likely to die or suffer serious injury from such a creature.

Talk to your friends and family about your fears and find support from them in dealing with what frightens you. You may even find someone who can relate to how you feel and you can work together to overcome your fears. It can also be helpful to seek out further support from a psychological professional or even a support group to help you cope with your fear of ghosts.

You may want to consider the root of your fear, and how the fear manifests itself. For example, perhaps you tend to feel anxiety or fear when seeing graveyards, tombstones, and other iconographic imagery associated with death. This may mean you have a fear of death, thanatophobia, which is quite common and you may need to deal with that phobia as well overcoming your fear of ghosts.

If your fear is more directly related to the idea of attack from malicious or harmful spirits or assailants beyond your capacity to defend against, then your fears may stem more from a sense of helplessness or inability to protect yourself. These types of tangential factors and issues can be quite common and helpful for understanding your fear. Knowing what triggers your fears and other concepts they are related to can also help you cope with your phobia.

Just like any other type of powerful fear, you can learn some tricks to help you cope with your fear of ghosts. A psychological professional can help you learn coping skills such as deep breathing, which can help you relax and move through a moment of fear or anxiety. Guided visualization is a process by which you learn to visualize an object or place that you associate with safety and comfort. By using this when you are dealing with your fear, you can find a way to move past an episode of distress or fear, and reduce how your phobia impacts your life.

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• How do I Overcome a Fear of Clowns?
• How do I Overcome a Fear of People?
• Is a Fear of Bridges Common?
• How do I Overcome a Fear of Being Alone?
• How do I Overcome a Fear of Cold?

Discussion Comments

The fact is that ghosts are not real. Paranoia and anxiety can cause you to experience things that seem real but simply are not. This phobia is the result of fantasy and nothing else. anon278563 July 7, 2012

You know, this is harder than any other phobia. Ghosts are real. To be honest, I have my good times and bad. At some times, I can face it, even though inside I am petrified. But sometimes I can’t. I swear my house has ghosts, though. There are unexplained bangs and shuffles, and I swear I see figures and almost everywhere in the house I feel like I’m being watched. Seriously. This phobia, when you have this, is inescapable, no matter what. anon247996 February 15, 2012

This is bullcrap. I am extremely afraid of ghosts and they are real, I swear. I have had much experience. You cannot overcome this fear.

Tip: Change What You Can, Accept the Rest

Divorce, layoffs, threat of terrorism — there’s plenty of anxiety around for everyone these days. And very often, the source is something we can’t change. How do you know when it’s time to get help dealing with your anxieties?

To better understand the underpinnings of anxiety — and how to better cope — WebMD turned to two anxiety experts: Jerilyn Ross, MA, LICSW, director of The Ross Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Inc., and Linda Andrews, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Normal vs. Harmful Anxiety

The cold sweat of anxiety is that “fight or flight” response that kept our early relatives safe from grizzly bears and other scary characters, says Andrews. “That adrenaline rush still serves us well under certain circumstances. Anxiety is a natural reaction to those very real stresses.”

In today’s world, “that reaction helps motivate us, prepares us for things we have to face, and sometimes give us energy to take action when we need to,” adds Ross.

Big job interview is coming up, and it’s got you in knots. So “you spend a little more time getting dressed or rehearsing what you’re going to say,” Ross says. “You’ve got an appointment with the divorce lawyer, so you do more homework. That kind of anxiety can motivate you to do better. It helps you protect yourself.”

But as we know too well, sometimes it doesn’t take a specific threat — only the possibility of crisis — to send humans into anxiety mode. “The difficulty comes in learning to tone down that automatic response — to think, ‘How serious is the danger? How likely is the threat?’ “says Andrews.

“The thing about anxiety is, it can take on a life of its own,” she adds. “Everything becomes a potential crisis. The unthinkable has happened. So around every corner, there’s the next possible disaster.”

The Anxiety Toll

When anxiety is taking a toll, your body knows it. You have trouble sleeping, eating, and concentrating. You get headaches; your stomach is upset. You might even have a panic attack — the pounding heart, a feeling of lightheadedness.

Continued

Anxiety may also feel like depression. “The two sometimes overlap,” Ross says.

When anxiety becomes so overwhelming that it interferes with day-to-day activities — when it keeps you from going places, from doing things you need to do — that’s when you need help, says Ross.

Generalized anxiety disorder is a bigger syndrome — “like a worry machine in your head,” Ross says. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another. You’re procrastinating to the point that you’re almost afraid to take a step. You’re so nervous about going to your child’s school to talk to the teacher, you just don’t go — you miss the appointment.”

In the case of such overwhelming anxiety, “people are not making good decisions,” says Ross. “They’re avoiding things, or they’re unable to rise to the occasion because the anxiety is too much. They’re procrastinating because they can’t concentrate, can’t stay focused. It’s really interfering with their day-to-day life. At that point, they may have a more serious anxiety problem and need professional help.”

How Do You Cope?

To cope with plain-vanilla anxiety, “get real,” as they say. “Separate out the real risks and dangers that a situation presents and those your imagination is making worse,” advises Ross. It’s a twist on the old adage: “Take control of the things you can, and accept those you can’t change.”

“Ask yourself: Where can you take control of a situation? Where can you make changes? Then do what needs to be done,” she says. “What things do you simply have to accept? That’s very important.”

Very often, it’s possible to get past an anxiety cycle with the help of friends or family — someone who can help you sort out your problems. But when anxiety becomes overwhelming, it’s time for a therapist, or perhaps medication.

Here are two strategies that therapists use to help us conquer anxiety:

Challenge negative thoughts.

Ask yourself: Is this a productive thought? Is it helping me get closer to my goal? If it’s just a negative thought you’re rehashing, then you must be able to say to that thought: ‘Stop.’ “That’s difficult to do, but it’s very important,” Ross says.

Continued

Rather than becoming paralyzed with anxiety, here’s another message you can send yourself: “I may have to take a job I don’t like as much, may have to travel further than I want, but I’ll do what I have to do now. At least I will have the security of income in the short term. Then I can look for something better later.”

The most important thing: “to realize when you’ve done everything you can, that you need to move forward,” Ross says.

Learn to relax.

You may even need “breathing retraining,” Ross adds. “When people get anxious, they tend to hold their breath. We teach people a special diaphragmatic breathing — it calms your system. Do yoga, meditation, or get some exercise. Exercise is a terrific outlet for anxiety.”

Most of all, try not to compound your problems, adds Andrews. “When things are bad, there is a legitimate reason to feel bad,” she says. “But if you don’t deal with it, you’re going to lose more than just a job — you’ll lose relationships, your self confidence, you could even lose technical abilities if you stay dormant in your profession. Try not to compound one stress by adding another.”

Often your ability to work through anxiety — get past it — varies depending on the type of crisis you faced. “The more severe, the more surprising it was, the longer it’s going to take to get over it,” says Andrews. “You may be on autopilot for several weeks. If you’re depressed, that can complicate things. In the case of divorce, it may take months to years to really get back to yourself.”

But take heart. “If you’re doing well in one aspect of your life — in your work or your relationships — you’re probably on your way,” she says. “Fear and anxiety are no longer running your life.”

Medication for Anxiety Disorders

Medication will not cure an anxiety disorder, but it will help keep it under control. If anxiety becomes severe enough to require medication, there are a few options.

Antidepressants, particularly the SSRIs, may be effective in treating many types of anxiety disorders.

Other treatment includes benzodiazepines, such as Valium, Ativan, and Xanax alone or in combination with SSRI medication. These drugs do carry a risk of addiction so they are not as desirable for long-term use. Other possible side effects include drowsiness, poor concentration, and irritability.

Beta-blockers can prevent the physical symptoms that accompany certain anxiety disorders, particularly social phobia.

Police psychologists are trained to help officers cope with stressful jobs.

— — A spate of violence in recent weeks both by and against police officers has put a spotlight on the unique stressors police face across the country.

In Dallas, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a total of eight officers were killed in two separate incidents in less than a week. Just prior to those shootings, the deaths of two black men by officers in Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights, Minnesota, put scrutiny on police amid increased tensions between law enforcement officials and the communities they serve.

The scrutiny and violence have unnerved police across the country, with many police departments now having officers patrol in pairs or take other steps to protect themselves. Police psychologists say it also has drawn attention to the psychological toll of being an officer in the U.S.

Police psychologists are trained to work with law enforcement to ensure the police officers are mentally fit for duty and help them cope with the high-stress jobs. They explained that officers have to grapple with complicated work that can be emotionally taxing.

“Policing is one of the most complex jobs in the world — they have to a be a priest, an athlete, a cop, an officer, a lawyer and an enforcer,” Ellen Kirshman, a clinical psychologist who has been working with police officers for 30 years, said. “I wish the public understood what policing really entails.”

Kirshman said that police have to cope with not just violence, but the pain of seeing graphic scenes or seeing grief-stricken families, which can lead to long-term symptoms.

“Police officers and the nature of what they do and what they are exposed to are vulnerable to PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder],” said Kirshman. “Anytime you can identify with a victim you are called to, that narrows the emotional and social distance and it makes you more vulnerable to become symptomatic.”

Kirshman said incidents like Dallas where officers are targeted or anything involving grotesque images have a bigger impact on officers.

“What makes it worse? Forms of betrayal — they are feeling betrayed by the communities they work so hard to protect,” she said. “You can also be betrayed by your department. You can feel personally betrayed by a fellow officer. Or by your family when they don’t understand what it is you do, or they aren’t interested in what they do.”

To cope, Kirshman recommends peer support and talking to families or others about the stress and anxiety associated with the job. She said police face the difficult task of being compassionate when dealing with a tragedy but not overly identifying with the victim.

“Cops are enormously self-critical — they have high standards from themselves, ‘If I had just not turned left on Elm Street, then so and so wouldn’t have happened. ‘” she explained. “They suffer from a lot of self-blame.”

Laurence Miller, a Florida-based psychologist, works with officers after a shooting or other major incident to determine if they are fit to return to duty. He said most officers get a few weeks off and mental health counseling after an incident.

“In most cases, it’s a nonfatal shooting. Most officers return to work, sadder, wiser, but fit to go back,” he said.

Miller said that officers’ stress at home can also impact how they cope with a job, all of which can put them under tremendous pressure.

“You’ve got to understand the personality of public safety officers: High performance, excellence, you’re only as good as your last screw-up,” he said.

Dr. Shyam Sivasankar is an emergency medicine resident at the Stanford University-Kaiser Permanente program. He is a resident with the ABC News Medical Unit.

I had an awful fear of tornadoes as a child. It started when I was around 6, and continued for about a decade.

I believe this may have been an actual phobia.

• Thunder storms gave me anxiety
• Hail or sleet storms frightened me so much that I couldn’t focus on anything else
• I was told by my mother once, around the time the phobia started, that tornadoes sounded like trains. From then on I had terrible anxiety whenever I heard trains (even the horns!) and couldn’t see them that it often kept me awake or woke me up in terror. This was awful because I always lived near enough to active tracks for it to be a daily problem.
• When I first saw the movie Twister it pretty much ruined my summer, as I was hypersensitive to foul weather afterwards. After that I could only watch it in the winter, when tornadoes don’t occur.

Eventually I grew out of it, in a way. But it took quite a while for me to train my body to stop responding to train horns at night with fear responses, even though I logically knew there was no connection to the horn and tornadoes.

I did tell my mother about this fear a few times over the years, but she didn’t really know what to do about it (or maybe understand the severity).

So, I ask, what could a parent do to help a child with a long-standing irrational fear of bad weather?

I ask specifically about weather, and not general phobias, because I think there is a real threat of weather that acts as a rational basis for the irrational aspects. Not all phobias are grounded in things that have tangible, realistic threats. (I grew up in Tornado Valley, and have been through some very bad tornado weather. The earliest occurence I can remember was terrifying for me and the cause of my phobia).

Although I understand counseling would likely be appropriate, I’d prefer a response dealing with what a parent can actively do in the home, between and during storm episodes.

2 Answers 2

I think this is fairly common to some degree; weather is about as unpredictable as you can get, and also has incredible destructive potential.

Both my sons have a strong dislike of thunderstorms; although perhaps not as strong as a phobia, they are visibly anxious and tense as soon as there’s a rumble of thunder. Rain on car windows, even gentle drizzle, also inspires a lot of comments that a storm is coming and we should get home right now.

• We acknowledge that it’s scary. There’s loud rumbling for no apparent reason, and there isn’t always warning that it’s coming (and even when lightning is visible, there’s an irregular time lapse between that and the thunder clap). “Don’t be silly, it’s just thunder!” isn’t a useful response for them, but “It’s scary, isn’t it?” or “It’s OK to be scared!” can be.
• We allow more snuggle time, hugs, nightlights, and general delay tactics when there’s an evening thunderstorm that’s going to be growling through bedtime. They’re scared about something out of my control, I’ll be more lenient about unrelated things.
• We talk about the science behind the weather. This can be tough with younger kids, but even the toddler will listen to an explanation about the delay between light and sound or about how hailstones form — I think it may be just hearing a calm conversation instead of panicking, so things are probably OK right now. But I also emphasize that the weather can’t get in our house. We have a roof, windows, doors, so we stay dry and safe.
• We (gently) push opportunities to safely observe. My son and I sat in the garage with the door open during a hailstorm. We were well back from the door, but the wind, hail, and thunder were still very obvious. I talked to him about why it’s important to be inside when there’s bad weather (imagine those hailstones hitting you!), discussed a bit of weather science, and when the storm had largely passed we went outside to look at the hailstones close up. That was a very unusual case: more often it’s simply sitting by the window during a thunderstorm, but I still like this because it’s a demonstration that this can’t actually hurt us while we’re inside. Neither has had such severe anxiety that they couldn’t be coaxed to come look as long as I was there too, but this may not work as well for a child who’s really significantly afraid of the storm.
• You mentioned in a comment that your mother had you listen to storm bulletins: this is another great idea for a couple of reasons. This applies some predictability to the situation as well as a time window (we can stop worrying at 7:30!). It also can incorporate geographic distance (a tornado warning two counties away, or even on the other side of my county, is a less immediate threat) and direction, which can be reinforced with a weather map (see, it’s moving away from us now!).

More extreme weather events can’t necessarily be dealt with calmly at home. Tornadoes or hurricanes, for example, require going to a safe room or even evacuating to a different city. The key in that case is to have a plan, communicate it to the kids, and carry it out as calmly as possible when necessary.