Table of contents:
- What is astraphobia?
- Symptoms of someone having astraphobia
- What causes a person to be afraid of thunder and lightning?
When it rains, thunder and lightning start to appear. Lightning and lightning, which are also signs of the coming of this rain, often make some people surprised. The loud sound and the sudden reflection of bright light made people even scared to see it. However, if this fear makes someone anxious and worried or causes a more serious reaction, this could be called lightning phobia or it is called astraphobia.
What is astraphobia?
Astraphobia is the extreme fear of thunder and lightning. This fear of thunder and lightning can happen to people of all ages. Although fear of thunder and lightning is more common in children than adults. Apart from that, animals can also have this phobia.
Fear of lightning and lightning has many names, namely astrapophobia, tonitrophobia, brontophobia, or keraunophobia.
Most of these fears go away as children grow up. However, there are also those who will still feel scared until they grow up.
In a normal person, the fear of being caught in a thunderstorm and lightning is natural. However, people with astrafobia will experience reactions of anxiety and fear that are excessive, too extreme, even uncontrollable.
Symptoms of someone having astraphobia
Most normal people, when it is caught in the rain outside and the lightning starts appearing, will immediately shade, find shelter, and avoid tall trees.
Meanwhile, people with astraphobia will have different reactions to thunder and lightning. People who are afraid of thunder and lightning may have feelings of panic or anxiety, both before and during the lightning and lightning appearing.
This reaction can turn into a bigger panic attack and cause several symptoms such as trembling, sweaty palms, chest pain, body numbness, nausea, racing heart (heart palpitations), and difficulty breathing.
Apart from that other symptoms of fear of thunder and lightning are:
- obsession with weather forecasts
- want to hide from a storm, such as in a cupboard, bathroom, or under a bed
- 'Clinging' to others for protection
- crying uncontrollably, especially in children
These symptoms can be triggered by a sudden weather report, conversation, or sound, such as a lightning strike. Sounds and sights similar to thunder and lightning can also trigger symptoms. In addition, these symptoms can get worse if he is alone.
This fear of lightning can develop into a fear of going outside without first checking the weather forecast. In extreme cases, astraphobia can eventually lead to agrophobia, which is the fear of leaving the house.
What causes a person to be afraid of thunder and lightning?
Like any phobia, a person may have a phobia of lightning and lightning due to trauma they have experienced.
When a person has a traumatic experience related to thunder and lightning, they may be more prone to developing astraphobia. If someone has seen other people injured by lightning and lightning, this can also be a cause of astraphobia.
People who are prone to anxiety and fear may also be more prone to developing this phobia.
In addition, children with autism and problems with sensory processing tend to have a higher risk of astraphobia than other people because they are more sensitive to sound.
