Astraphobia is an abnormal fear of thunderstorms which includes thunder and lightning. I am not sure where my astraphobia originated. I’ve been to therapy since I was ten years old for my fear of thunderstorms so I have gotten much better.  My fear of thunderstorms manifests very similar to how dogs who are terrified of thunderstorms. As soon as I hear thunder, see lightning, see dark clouds, see rain, or see the lights flicker, my heart drops. I start to get even more fidgety than normal. I used to just freak out, cry, and I had no tactics to cope during a thunderstorm. Now I have techniques but they really only work when I am in an area where I can turn off all of the lights, put ear protectors on, close all of the windows, and watch shows and movies on my phone until it is over. If I can not hear the thunder/rain/wind, and I can’t see the lightning/lights flickering/dark clouds, I can pretend that there is no thunderstorm at all. I can just pretend that it is a sunny day outside. In my dorm room, two things that I always need to have near my bed are, one, a battery powered flashlight so that I can have light but I can not see it being affected by the storm. The second item is a pair of construction site ear protectors to block out the thunder so that I can relax a bit.



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