According to the Cleveland Clinic, astraphobia, or the fear of thunder and lightning, affects not only people but our pets as well.
As a child, I was astraphobic. A tornado came close to my house and instilled the fear that all thunderstorms would produce a tornado. Thankfully, I overcame my fear by researching and exploring the field of meteorology, resulting in turning my fear into a career.
Thunderstorms remain a common phobia, especially amongst children.
“This childhood fear of weather is not unusual”, says Jenny Hoffman, MA LCSW, who owns and operates Jenny Hoffman Counseling in Creve Coeur, Missouri. She helps children understand and learn to cope with weather anxiety.
As an anxiety specialist trained in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is highly effective in treating worries like weather, she sort of fell into the weather part by accident.
“I never really imagined myself working specifically with weather fears, but working in Missouri creates an environment that can lead many to fear the weather.”
Tornado sirens are a common theme of fear regarding safety and, for those people, the monthly testing of the sirens may be a trigger. They create a feeling of being out of control and the “what if” of having nowhere safe to go, sometimes to the point of abandoning plans.
“When the fear becomes really intense, people will imagine safe tornado and storm spots in every location they travel to and not want to travel to locations they don’t feel will be safe in severe weather,” explains Hoffman.
Nowadays, we have so much weather information at our fingertips, which can actually do more harm to someone with extreme weather apprehension.
“Apps can create additional challenges because people will update themselves repeatedly on what weather to expect,” says Hoffman. “We all know the weather predictions are not always 100% accurate, which can further play into people’s fears of extreme weather.”
One way she helps patients make their fears more manageable is to reduce the time spent on these weather apps, maybe even removing them all together.
Other ideas include playing detective by having them imagine their worst-case scenario. She has them find three alternatives to this worst-case and find safety in the situation.
For children with weather anxiety, Hoffman encourages parents to recognize and empathize with the weather fears.
“It is helpful to not be dismissive,” she says. “Parents may wish to let teachers and other professionals in their children’s lives know about the fears and if their help is needed.”
She also adds that it’s important to normalize the fear and discuss how many other people are afraid of extreme weather.
Hoffman suggests using distraction as a coping skill. “Meditation, deep breathing, dancing, singing and any other fun distractions are also very helpful to use to engage with your child if and when they are fearful.”
She tells me treatment in these cases doesn’t take long as kids build coping skills.
“As they learn how to cope with their fear of weather, they also learn that mental health treatment is helpful and can be fun, and hopefully, they’ll feel like returning to mental health treatment if they want in the future.”
People aren’t the only ones with weather anxiety. A lot of pets, including dogs, deal with weather stress.
Emma Entner, Canine Manager with Five Acres Animal Shelter in St. Charles says understanding your dog’s behavior can help calm them during a storm. She suggests having a designated safe space, like an inner room of the house that is dark and den-like.
She recommends using a white noise machine to drown out the thunder, soothing tones when speaking and reward with treats. “By rewarding, they learn thunderstorms aren’t so bad,” she explains.
She also says to be patient with them. “Dogs have emotions just like us and can be uncomfortable.” She adds, “Don’t punish them for destructive behavior during a thunderstorm.”
There are also products on the market for dogs that can help ease anxiety like a “thundershirt,” which provides compression. CBD oils work well for some dogs and there are even “calming collars” that release calming pheromones.
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