The anticipation of what may be the most severe weather event in the northeastern United States since 1903 looms heavy over the region in anxious wait. In fact, hours from now, the eye of Hurricane Sandy will be hovering over my New Jersey town after “she” slams into our nearby coast, approximately 50 miles due West. So, how could I not write about the tension in the air?
Excessive and irrational fears about the natural environment are common. Fears of thunder and lightening (astraphobia), rain (ombrophobia), and, yes, hurricanes or tornadoes (lilapsophobia), can cause significant distress. Unlike many of its situationally-based “cousins,” nature-based fears are essentially unavoidable, unpredictable (to a large extent), and imminent perceived threats to which the sufferer responds with physiological, cognitive, and emotional arousal. This internal activation is like an alarm being sounded (the fight-or-flight response) to alert the individual to perceived danger and prepare them, in body and mind, to effectively manage the problem. Whew! I’m exhausted just thinking about this process.
Yes, phobias and other excessive anxious states are exhausting. They tax an individual’s coping resources until the threat is gone or their resources are depleted. Phobic individuals attempt to decrease their subjective experience of anxiety by avoiding that which triggers their anxiety, which can be disruptive to their daily lives. Avoidance can further reinforce their fears and lead to a more generalized anticipatory anxiety around that which is feared and the feelings that accompany that level of distress. Thus, treatment can be critical to one’s quality of life.
The evidence-based literature regarding the treatment of phobias strongly concludes that exposure-based, behavioral therapy is THE current first-line, evidence-based practice. In fact, some studies have demonstrated the utility of as little as one session of treatment, while the standard course of treatment is 12-16 sessions. Exposure therapy involves the systematic, hierarchical exposure to that which is feared. In other words, the individual is exposed to the fear in a gradual way, exposing them to increasingly anxiety-provoking approximations and maintaining each exposure until the individual notices the anxiety peak and diminish – habituation. Through these learning experiences, the individual learns to respond to the stressor differently, with less arousal.
Exposure therapy is often accompanied by cognitive therapy, which is also well-supported by the scientific literature. With cognitive therapy, therapists explore the individual’s thoughts and beliefs and challenge their cognitive processes, aiding them in discovering and changing their unhelpful thoughts and mistaken beliefs to more realistic, adaptive cognitions.
With Hurricane Sandy on its way and many therapy offices (along with just about every other type of business) in the northeast closed for the next few days, many are left with unhelpful attempts to quell their fears. Here are a few tips to “weather the storm”:
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Last reviewed: 19 Nov 2012