I have a terrible phobia of thunderstorms cause of the lightning....?

Question

Im tired of living in frear this time of year. Esp. if im driving & in the house alone w/ no basement. I get sooo scared, I feel like an idiot. How do i get over such phobia? Please, any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.

I go into a panic.

WHAT!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TELL ME THINGS LIKE I CANT GET HURT OR SOMETHING!

Answer 1

It seems you suffer from Astraphobia -> fear of thunder and lightning. Im providing the correct name so you can check it out.

Answer 2

The first thing to realise is that a car is absolutely the best place to be in a thunderstorm. It's becomes what's called a Faraday cage and you are perfectly safe in it in a thunderstorm (same thing applies to aircraft).

Secondly, can you not learn to enjoy the lightning? It is incredibly beautiful and you are lucky to be able to watch it- we have them so infrequently it's a real treat! (seriously!!)

Finally, perhaps it would help to know the real risks. Although lightning kills some people it's actually quite rare as a killer. According to Wiki, nearly 2000 people per year IN THE WORLD are injured by lightning strikes, and between 25 to 33 % of those struck die, so per year only about 500 to 700 people are killed and a lot of those will be in mountains and other high risk areas and jobs. The odds of an average person living in the USA being struck by lightning once in their lifetime has been estimated to be 1:280,000 and therefore the odds of dying from it are 1:1,120,000 or approx. 0.00001%. This compares quite well with the world's real big killers which you might not even in the slightest really worry about, such as:
Ischaemic heart disease13% (1,300,000x more likely!!)
Road Traffic Accidents 2% (200,000x more likely!)
and my personal favourite:
Diarrhoeal Diseases 3% (300,000x more likely-still fancy that dodgy hamburger?)

I hope I've not given you some more phobias!!

Answer 3

Oh honey, I wish I could help you...this may sound weird to you but thunderstorms and lightning are one of my favorite things in the world....what I am afraid of is Tornadoes....I will never forget the time I was in a tornado...not literally....but it was right there....I have never EVER (except one other time) been so scared. I felt like I had no control, which I didn't.
I feel that if need be, as long as I am inside, I am safe from lightning, thunder....but tornadoes...they are just wicked...It happened in Wisconsin.
Here's something even more sad...I am deathly afraid of Mosquito Eaters (aka mosquito hawks) they don't even eat mosquitos and they are like flying spiders...it is exactly how you described it....a phobia and it's an awful feeling...I guess they do have professional help but other than that, I don't know.
People always tell me they don't bite...but that's not even what I'm afraid of....it's the way they fly, follow you, the way they look, and always end up in my house...GOD!! SHUDDER!

P.S. THIS ACTUALLY APPLIES TO YOUR OTHER QUESTION ABOUT LIGHTNING...I DELETED MY ORIG. ANSWER AND THEN IT WOULDN'T LET ME REPOST SO HERE IS WHAT I FOUND...
Myth: The rubber tires on my car protect me from a lightning strike.
Most people believe the rubber tires on a car are what protect a passenger during a lightning strike. Ironically, it's not the rubber tires of the car, but the conductive metal framing which protects you.

The truth of the matter is, the rubber tires don't deter lightning in the least bit. By the time a lightning bolt reaches your car, it has been travelling for miles and miles through the air which is many orders of magnitude more resistant than a few inches of rubber. In short, if the lightning bolt can overcome the resistance of air, it can easily overcome the resistance of a rubber tire. The one thing that saves you is the conductive metal framing of your car. The metal framing directs the electric current around the passenger compartment and to the ground similar to a Faraday cage. Sometimes the electric current will pass right through the tires by way of the metal wheel rims (blowing them out of course). Here in Colorado, a motorcyclist was struck while riding his bike through Denver. If the rubber tires were responsible for insulating you during a lightning strike, he would of most likely not have been struck. Fortunately, most of the times the electric current will arc flash to the ground underneath the vehicle and not blow out the tires.

However, don't think the lightning won't travel through your car as well. Here are some pictures of a van that had a majority of its insides destroyed by a lightning strike. Because a lightning bolt is on average 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun (50,000°F), it instantly vaporizes and super heats any moisture no matter how little there is. This steam explosion can blow up concrete and in the case of this van, melt the plastic molding. It doesn't take that much moisture to do a lot of damage when it is instantly heated to 50,000°F. By looking at the outside of the van, you can hardly see any damage at all.

Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing what paths the electric current might take once your car has been struck. It could go through all the electrical wires, steering wheel, or the car tires. As long as your car has a metal frame, you will most likely be protected from the initial lightning strike. But if you happen to be touching anything metal (steering wheel underneath the vinyl or leather), you could be electrocuted by an arc flash.

Answer 4

The best way to get rid of a phobia is slowly facing it not too dramatically or else you will just gwt more afraid 1 step I sugest is next time there is a thunder storm sit on the ground and listen to the rain and the thunder ask your self why are you afraid of this while listen and then try to figure out what does the sound of it make you think of and then relax and keep listening and take DEEP SLOW breath so that you dont get a panic attack and try to stay calm this first step will really help you because only you couls no the answer of why are you afraid of something...I know this cause I used to have the same phobia....

Answer 5

Well,I can tell you a couple of things.First,if you are in a house,just stay away from electical things like the computer and t.v.,don't wash dishes or shower,don't use a corded telephone.Most likely you'll be fine in the house.Having a basement is important during a tornado,not a thunderstorm,unless you have trees that might smash your house.When you're driving,try to get home or wherever you're going as soon as you can and if a tree comes down on your car or you get stuck in downed power lines,stay in the car and don't touch any metal.You're ok as long as you're not touching metal and you stay inside.I'm not so afraid of lightening as I am of tornadoes.And I don't have a basement.I guess that's all part of life.There's always something to be afraid of.You just have to use as much caution as possible and try to forget about the rest of it.

Answer 6

Did you know every day over 200 people are killed by lightening strikes, and its a very painful way to die. Plus it can happen without any warning, one second its just drizzling, the next a terrible thunderstorm and you being struck by lightening.

Answer 7

I don't know, but I have a phobia of thunderstorms too!

Answer 8

I don't like the idea of flash floods, but I LOVE thunder and lightning. Thunder and Lightning make me happy for some reason.

Answer 9

Listen Heavy Metal.

Answer 10

i used to be afraid also.but then i changed my mind about it. first of all thunder can't hurt you and yes lightening can.i still jump with a crack of lightening but i use the counting system.you count the seconds between the thunder and lightening and it tells you how close the storm is to you.the longer the count ,the further the storm is away or going away from you.don't worry just stay away from windows and don't use phones,be cautious and not scared.

Answer 11

I also have this phobia, I just grab my fave teddy bear and hold it close. Did I mention that I'm 33 almost 34?