Astra phobia is a fear of thunder & lightning storms, the feeling that “something is wrong with God’s world and you’re in it”. It is true that lightning can maim and even kill us but it rarely happens and the chances are miniscule.
Thunder is a sonic boom caused when air expands after heated by a lightning bolt.
Lightning strikes when clouds build up electrical charge and release it to ground. The lightning bolt draws streams of opposing charges from objects on the ground eg trees and people.
I watched a programme in which an astraphobic chose Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to confront her fear face-on. She had to sit in a room with artificially created lightning strikes. Also listed to audio tapes of thunder and watch videos of storms. The intention was that she would become accustomed to the sudden noises and flashes and so her fear would diminish. The therapy had only partial effect and was not performed during the peak season for thunderstorms.
Hypnosis is effective at treating all sorts of fears and phobias in a gentle way, whilst the person is in deep relaxation. The process used is desensitization to the cause of the fear. While no one may ever like or enjoy something that has previously caused them fear, the aim is for them to handle the situation in a calm way rather than showing physical reaction to an irrational fear. Watching a thunderstorm can actually be a wonderful experience...when safely indoors.
A Hypnosis MP3 download is available to anyone wishing to overcome the fear of thunderstorms. Within 60 minutes of downloading the session, the fear could be history.
Antonia Stuart-James is an English Hypnotherapist in Belgium helping people to make positive change.
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