Are You Scared Of Thunderstorms?

[SnowJoke]

I'm just interested here as to why people are so frightened / pertrified of thunderstorms?

I've seen numerous people posting comments over the last few days saying how glad they are that there has not been any storms in thier respective locations.

As a young child I used to be pretty scared of thunderstorms, especially the ones that used to hit overnight in the summer months and seem to last for hours. Once I got a little older though and looked into the specifics of thunderstorms thier development and what causes them then fear changed into great interest and I have been hooked on watching / chasing and filming storms in my local area ever since

Please feel free to discuss your phobias and fears of storms, as I'm interested in why they scare some people so much!

SnowJoke.

[Damone]

I used to love them when I was a kid. I remember sitting through an absolute cracker when I was 14 in reading at my Gran's place, and kind of enjoying it. It was like bombs going off, and at times my mum was terrified in case the lightning hit the roof, but I just sat through it, hardly batting an eyelid.

I actually developed a fear of thunder when I was 21, and a fairly severe storm hit our area. It couldn't have lasted more than 20 minutes, but it was deafening, and I actually remember placing my hands over my ears to try to drown the noise out.

Since then I have been absolutely petrified of them. I have tried almost everything to get over my phobia (counselling, mild sedatives and even trawling the net for something that might look like a genuine cure). I eventually came to the conclusion that learning more about them (like you) might help me to overcome my fear, and in some ways it has led to a genuine fascination and appreciation of thunderstorms, and a desire to learn more about them and why they occur. Unfortunately the phobia is still hanging on, although it is lessening very gradually bit by bit each year.

I'm hoping it will go away completely, because I would love to go on a chase at least once in my life! I imagine the thrill and the adrenaline rush of tracking down and then watching a powerful storm must be awesome!

[M'Lady]

I've always been scared of thunderstorms... and also of strong winds.

It's the rumbling noise that bothers me. Don't like it!

[*AL*]

I've never been scared only excited by storms.My wife thinks i'm mad .I have 3 daughters and none of them are scared of storms due to my fascination of them.

[Bobby]

I love thunderstorms, I'm like a little kid when we get one. The bigger the better! Can see why people would be afraid of them, but they are such awesome spectacles of nature.

[Lightning Hunter]

Well, lightning is deadly, so it's a healthy phobia to have. I always try to minimise the risk when out and about around storms, but you're never fully safe.

[Damone]

Stupidly it's not being struck by lightning that i'm frightened of, I just hate the sound of it.

Talk about irrational fear!

[Stormraider]

I have been suffering with the phobia of thunder now for 31 years. I was 2yrs old and i saw my nan put her fingers in her ears due to a thunderstorm, As kids at that age tend to copy others i started doing the same and my phobia grew from there.

Sadly neither of my parents tried to stop me from doing this, i was badly bullied at school because of it, has stopped me from doing things in life i had plans for.

Nowadays i dont put my fingers in my ears but i listen to music on headphones instead. I have always enjoyed watching storms... the best one being in 1995 when 2 storms merged into one giant one, lasted about 3 hours, one strike hit the telegraph pole less than 50ft away... totally amazing.

I got caught out by a freak mini storm on the way back from work 2 years ago, travelling back from Walsall my workmates and i stopped off at a pub a few miles from home. It was raining quite heavy when there was a flash of lightning and almost instant thunder.. luckly i didnt have my pint in hand but put my fingers in my ears but no one took any notice. I tried to be brave and not show myself up, i forced myself to listen to the next 2 loud bangs, quickly downed my pint, told everyone i was going back to the car. There i got my headphones out manaed to get them on my head before the next bang. I was shaking like mad, i find that being caught out is terriffying. Whats worse is the waiting, once i know there is even the slightest chance of a storm, i get all tense, go very quiet, have been known to be sick with worry.

My heart goes out to anyone with this phobia, some are worse than others, and to those who poke fun at ANY phobia... have no idea.

Steve

[Damone]

Excuse me for rambling on even further!...but I completely sympathise Stormraider! I am exactly the same as you - I find it can prevent me from doing things I really want to do. It almost stopped me applying for a job in Japan that I really wanted, because I know they can get some pretty nasty storms there. Seems like such a petty reason, but for me the fear is very, very real.

It is not something you can really explain, and people often think you can just snap out of it. It's also not like a lot of other phobias, because you can't really avoid it. It's not a case of simply leaving a room and removing yourself from something that scares you - a thunderstorm is all-embracing and kind of forces you to witness it, whether you want to or not.

I am also similar in the sense that even the threat of one can make life difficult. For instance, today I am feeling highly stressed and don't really know what to do with myself. If one does come along my heart races so hard I feel like I'm having a heart-attack and I just want to bury my head and get away from it. All rationality just flies straight out the window...

[barbienightmare]

Excuse me for rambling on even further!...but I completely sympathise Stormraider! I am exactly the same as you - I find it can prevent me from doing things I really want to do. It almost stopped me applying for a job in Japan that I really wanted, because I know they can get some pretty nasty storms there. Seems like such a petty reason, but for me the fear is very, very real.

It is not something you can really explain, and people often think you can just snap out of it. It's also not like a lot of other phobias, because you can't really avoid it. It's not a case of simply leaving a room and removing yourself from something that scares you - a thunderstorm is all-embracing and kind of forces you to witness it, whether you want to or not.

I am also similar in the sense that even the threat of one can make life difficult. For instance, today I am feeling highly stressed and don't really know what to do with myself. If one does come along my heart races so hard I feel like I'm having a heart-attack and I just want to bury my head and get away from it. All rationality just flies straight out the window...

phobias are awful things , there being scared of warey in a healthy way and theres phobias which completly over whelm your rational mind! I so get where your coming from with how they could take over your life preventing you doing things and the stressing out / panic type things,

I suffer from panics and phobias, Im now only slightly agraphobic /public places, fear of embarrasing myself and when it starts one half of my brain says its my phobia and the other hlf has dreamed up how i could embarrass myself and how im already doing and its happening right now... its such a horrible feeling of needing to get the hell out of where i am and get home that i dread even having to go places , even the school im not anywhere near as bad as i used to be , its probably a couple of times a month now , it used to plauge me daily , so i really sympathise with any one who finds even the thought of a possible storm happening upseting x

ive alway thought its funny how i am basically scared of every thing ... everything but im not with storms , which can be dangerous .. i love them and i often think about this and wish i could apply this lack of fear to the rest of my life in the same way !!

[Mondy]

and to those who poke fun at ANY phobia... have no idea.

I have dentalphobia. And if anyone pokes fun at my fear of dentists, i'll knock their teeth out.

Erm

[barbienightmare]

I have dentalphobia. And if anyone pokes fun at my fear of dentists, i'll knock their teeth out.

Erm

oh my yes, i remember the dentist chat before , Im not surprised you have a dentalphobia ...

[RisingStar]

I have always had a slight fear of lightning during the night. The thunder doesnt really bother me as much, as it usually begins quietly and builds up louder as the storm gets closer. I think the lightning only bothers me becuase you never know when its going to flash, so the 'waiting' part is the worst. The strange thing is I will track and listen out for storms, but once they actually arrive, I miss it all because my head is buried somewhere

[Nick F]

I used to have a slight phobia of t-storms when I was little. Now the phobia has been overcome by a fascination of t-storms, and also a respect, the last few weeks of storm chasing in the US, a few times we came under the 'Bear's Cage' ( powerful updrafts) of supercellular t-storms over the Sern Plains and saw frequent positive cloud-ground strikes hit very nearby to where we were - enough to warn others taking photos to get back inside the car. One evening just after we checked into a hotel in Kansas, we heard a report of a torndao touch down 15 miles South of where we were staying and also tornado warning for our town, that certainly made me a little concerned! So UK t-storms have little to concern me now!

[Andy H]

My wife has a terrible fear of thunderstorms, a few years ago we where living in a top floor flat, a huge storm was lighting up the fields so me and my wisdom got the wife up to watch, with me thinking once she really sat and watched the beauty of a good storm it would help her, next thing we know the flat was struck everywhere went blue my cable box blew up and every bulb in the flat, she still hates them

[Mammatus]

So UK t-storms have little to concern me now!

I love a good thunderstorm and I have the upmost respect for them, especially since I was hit by lightning in May 2000. Nearly killed me. I was thrown 2 metres and had to have 3 weeks off work, my nerves were in tatters for months after. I was in the local paper on front page with the other 4 people that were hit that day. Never underestimate a storms potential where ever you are!

Mammatus

P.s. Yes, I really do have 9 lives.

Edited May 13, 2007 by Mammatus

[Noctilucid]

Whats worse is the waiting, once i know there is even the slightest chance of a storm, i get all tense, go very quiet, have been known to be sick with worry.

My heart goes out to anyone with this phobia, some are worse than others, and to those who poke fun at ANY phobia... have no idea.

Steve

My condition is identical to yours, as soon as theirs a storm all rational thought leaves me and a strong urge to get the hell to my room and shut myself in.

It also gets worse every year, so now im going to see someone about it, this cant go on or im going to loose out on life.

My freinds dont laugh at me for it, unlike most people theyre very sympathetic.

Im not scared of bing struck by lightning, i know its very unlikely if youre inside, but the sound of thunder sends tingles all over me, i also become very very quiet, especially on hot humid days when there alt cas building all over the place, i hate days like that.

Im not so scared when the storms right overhead, im most frightened when its approaching and booming in the distance, and you can see the updrafts punching hard into the air, the sheer scale of it all scares me to death, and also when its approaching on the radar and is bright pink on the screen and everyone downwind of you is saying 'blimey a real cracker here!'. Ive treid to sleep through night storms, but i ALWAYS seem to wake up just as its starting, i always used to sleep through them.

Im determined that the next storm that comes long im going to sit and watch it at the window, storms both interest me and frighten me, and someone recomended watching them instead of hiding from them as a way to get over the fear.

I really want to get over the faer so that i can go chasing, which is something ive always wanted to do if myself would let me, ive always loved the idea of travelling and seeing lots of places in the world aswell as seeing supercells which really amaze me, unfortunately as i am now i cant even go near a thundery shower!

I need to shed this phobia, today i could have gone out and enjoyed myself, but i stayed inside all day, and although it didnt thunder it thundered all around here in all directions.

Hopefully one day ill be chasing storms instead of running away!

Joe

Edited May 13, 2007 by jshaw

[biddie]

im terrified of lightning especially if im on my own i live on the top point of my town and have a water tower opposite which often gets struck during a big storm feel very exposed the sheer power of them makes me quake. I am also a storm watcher fasinated by something that has so much control over my life

Edited May 13, 2007 by biddie

[SnowJoke]

Can't say i've ever had the unfortunate luck to actually be struck by lightning. Come pretty close though on 3 seperate occasions. You'd think i'd have gotten the message by now! lol.

1st time I was cycling back to parents house and decided i'd cross over the old railway bridge during a raging thunderstorm into a field filled with long grass. The only two things in the field were me and a large oak tree by the railway tracks. Luckily the lightning hit the tree and metal fence running along the back edge. One hell of a bang, definately brown trousers time!

2nd time I was out fishing when a thunderstorm started to come accross, put all my rods and tackle down just incase, the lighting actually hit the upright mast of a sailboat that was anchored a way out in the lake, huge crack of thunder and some pretty sparks from the mast none the less. Then i realised I was actually sitting under my fishing brolly that has a large metal spike on top.... Oooopppss O_o

3rd time was last year july 4th to be precise. I was out filming a really nasty storm with a vast ammount of CG lightning and torrential rain and hail. A house less than 200yrds from my location got hit by a huge CG bolt which blew the chimney and half the roof off, right infront of my eyes. Sadly I was unable to catch the bolt on camera, just wasn't fast enough!

Looking forward to this summers storms and photo opertunities, will be out in the storms once more. Hopefully the lightning won't be so close though

[johnholmes]

what has surprised me on this thread, bearing in mind most of us are weather nuts of one sort or another, is the number that are shall we say 'not happy' either when storms are forecast or are near to them.

Nothing to be ashamed off, we all have phobias about one thing or another, mine is heights, well exposure on hikes into hills and mountains.

When I was forecasting at Manchester WC we had a number of what we rather unkindly called 'our thunder ladies' who were all terrified of thunder, some even hearing the word on radio or TV. One or two became quite well known, oddly enough one from near to where I live now, Thorne near Doncaster. All of us always spent time trying to reassure them and what was a sensible behavior to adopt if they actually got a storm.

To those of you who delight in being out in storms, taking photographs or whatever, do remember that OUTSIDE, in the open, and near trees or other objects sticking up above the general landscape, the lightning will look for an easy way to get to the ground.

To those of you afraid of it, thunder cannot hurt you apart from you not liking the noise, lightning can, if you do silly things, like standing near windows, metal, telephones or electrical appliances. If you have time disconnect your tv/radio, telephone, and of course the aerial from your tv. Sit away from a window and your chances of being hurt by lightning are so remote as to be able to forget about that happening. Yes, the house/chimney or whatever may be struck but you will not be.

Hope some of that helps

Edited May 13, 2007 by johnholmes

[biddie]

what has surprised me on this thread, bearing in mind most of us are weather nuts of one sort or another, is the number that are shall we say 'not happy' either when storms are forecast or are near to them.

Nothing to be ashamed off, we all have phobias about one thing or another, mine is heights, well exposure on hikes into hills and mountains.

When I was forecasting at Manchester WC we had a number of what we rather unkindly called 'our thunder ladies' who were all terrified of thunder, some even hearing the word on radio or TV. One or two became quite well known, oddly enough one from near to where I live now, Thorne near Doncaster. All of us always spent time trying to reassure them and what was a sensible behavior to adopt if they actually got a storm.

To those of you who delight in being out in storms, taking photographs or whatever, do remember that OUTSIDE, in the open, and near trees or other objects sticking up above the general landscape, the lightning will look for an easy way to get to the ground.

To those of you afraid of it, thunder cannot hurt you apart from you not liking the noise, lightning can, if you do silly things, like standing near windows, metal, telephones or electrical appliances. If you have time disconnect your tv/radio, telephone, and of course the aerial from your tv. Sit away from a window and your chances of being hurt by lightning are so remote as to be able to forget about that happening. Yes, the house/chimney or whatever may be struck but you will not be.

Hope some of that helps

yes thanks for understanding did you know brontophobia as it is better known is one of the hardest phobias to treat by therapists i also thought a window needed to be open in order for it to get into a dwelling

Edited May 13, 2007 by biddie

[Damone]

I am fully aware that the noise cannot hurt me. It is not the fear of being hurt that is at the root of my phobia. A phobia, by its very definition, is an "irrational fear", and, therefore, I am aware that I am being irrational when I want to escape the noise, but that alone is not enough to stop it.

It does not surprise me that it is hard to cure either. Most phobias are cured by exposure - and yet every time I am exposed to thunder it either makes my phobia worse, or it remains at the same level. Also, it is impossible for a therapist to recreate the conditions that trigger it.

[barbienightmare]

i must say i did laugh at college on the first day , I was studying photography and the course involved processing your prints using the darkroom , we are all sat there neewbies and our lecture asks if any one is scared of the dark as they may want to reconcider the course .. apparently she had a pupil with a phobia of the dark in a previous year

....

[Stormraider]

Yes im fully aware that Thunder cannot hurt me, and im sure that a majority of those who have Brontophobia realise that noise cannot possibly hurt you. Does anyone here dislike ALL loud noises i.e jets,fireworks etc ? or just thunder?

When i was a kid it used to be all loud noises, i remember going to the local airshow at Cosford and the noise from the likes of the Vulcan bomber being so loud that you felt it rather than heard it, also the Tornado,Harrier and the like. Now though none of those bother me, the same goes for fireworks, i used to hide away late October early November due to al the noise, and like the jet noise... now it doesnt bother me.

I find this site helps me keep an eye on any storms in my area and so idea when and where they are going to be. I went to see a therapist some years ago who told me that im making things worse by keeping check on the weather on tv,looking out the window all the time etc, but i find that by doing that i am ready for it, as i said in my other post... i hate being caught out by thunder. Once a storm starts im quite relaxed and i will either sit and watch it or just read a book or whatever, as long as i dont hear it im ok. My kids dont have this phobia and im glad they dont as i wouldnt want them to suffer as i did (one of which is sadly not with us anymore) but thats besides the point.

I also remember my mother on more than one occasion, trying to pull my fingers out and force me to listen to it saying i was being stupid, deep down i hate her for doing that but i never let it show as she is now more understanding. She doesnt like lightning... understandable, in the summer last year my wife and i were at my parents for a bbq, a storm broke out, i did my thing with the headphones, my mother started going 'OOO' 'OOO' in an almost excited way each time she saw lightning, i think she does that in a more comical way as its her way of coping, had me in stitches anyway.

Does anyone know of any phobia sites? Ideally i would like to make my own website dedicated to my phobia, give people the chance to discuss their phobia of thunder with people who have the same thing, a place where they can open up more and not be the butt of some joke.

Steve

[johnholmes]

yes thanks for understanding did you know brontophobia as it is better known is one of the hardest phobias to treat by therapists i also thought a window needed to be open in order for it to get into a dwelling

no it does not need to be open, its metal that attracts a lightning strike.