Lilapsophobia
twister.. by Sir MervsLilapsophobia - Fear of tornadoes and hurricanes
Symptoms of Lilapsophobia
When a storm hits, you may display unusual behaviors. Constantly checking for weather alerts; hiding under the bed or in a closet; and even putting a full tornado plan into effect as soon as the rain begins are all common among those with this fear. You might listen closely to the storm for sounds of tornado activity, or you might attempt to drown out the storm altogether with loud music or movies. Many people find that lilapsophobia is worsened by being alone.
Oh my God, this is me!!! Tonight I had the scariest night ever. I finally admitted to myself that I really have an undeniable phobia of tornadoes. Really bad storms passed through Augusta tonight from about 10:30pm. As usual, when I see any type of tornado watch on TV, I get on the computer and every few minutes I'm refreshing the Doppler to see exactly where the storm cells are at. Then I proceed to get fully dressed, pack Christopher's diaper bag, and prepare to go downstairs if necessary. In a tornado, a closed room on the lowest floor is the safest place to be. I didn't really think the hallway downstairs was quite the best so I was fully prepared to knock on a neighbor's door and ask if we could come in. To make matters worse, Michael has been gone in class tonight.
Then I hear on TV that there is a tornado near Augusta Mall....and that's when I really panic. I start sweating, my heart is racing, and I grab Christopher (who was awake from the storms) and stand right by the door. Luckily, the storms pass and although they were close to me, thankfully they headed Southeast. After I get him back in bed, I watch the weather channel and they mentioned that in the tornado earlier today in Alabama, a woman and her 9 week old baby died while the husband is in the hospital. After the whole nights events, as soon as I heard this news, I just busted out crying like a loser. I feel awful for that family. To know there was also a baby is even worse. I said a prayer for their families and then said a prayer for us.
From my earliest memories, I can recall being in Minnesota at my Grandfather's cabin during a tornado. The tornado didn't touch down, but it was bad enough. Then another time in Oklahoma I was in the same situation right after a concert of mine. My Dad, who always acts like nothing will ever happen to anyone, made us eat Burger King afterwards and even made my scared butt sit right by the window. What a meanie.
In all similar situations in my life, I have always had a massive amount of anxiety and reacted the same. When my roomie and I lived in North Carolina, there were two times that I mostly scared her to death so we both ended up acting loony. The first was when there was an impending hurricane. I was so scared, I convinced her to drive us all two hours North to Virginia to stay with her Mom for a couple days. Raleigh ended up only getting tropical storms that day...lol Then another time, there was a really severe thunderstorm and possible tornado, and I freaked us both out so bad, by the time my "date" (now husband) arrived, we were in "full battle rattle" and getting the storage under the stairs ready for us to take shelter in. There was no tornado that day.
So basically, I have obvious issues when it comes to this subject. My mom told me tonight that I probably got the phobia from her. She said anytime there were bad storms when we were kids, she used to freak out and try to hide us in the bathtub or closet. I just don't want to pass this to Christopher, but I'm wondering how I will mask my fear in future situations? Hopefully I figure out something.
Symptoms of Lilapsophobia
When a storm hits, you may display unusual behaviors. Constantly checking for weather alerts; hiding under the bed or in a closet; and even putting a full tornado plan into effect as soon as the rain begins are all common among those with this fear. You might listen closely to the storm for sounds of tornado activity, or you might attempt to drown out the storm altogether with loud music or movies. Many people find that lilapsophobia is worsened by being alone.
Oh my God, this is me!!! Tonight I had the scariest night ever. I finally admitted to myself that I really have an undeniable phobia of tornadoes. Really bad storms passed through Augusta tonight from about 10:30pm. As usual, when I see any type of tornado watch on TV, I get on the computer and every few minutes I'm refreshing the Doppler to see exactly where the storm cells are at. Then I proceed to get fully dressed, pack Christopher's diaper bag, and prepare to go downstairs if necessary. In a tornado, a closed room on the lowest floor is the safest place to be. I didn't really think the hallway downstairs was quite the best so I was fully prepared to knock on a neighbor's door and ask if we could come in. To make matters worse, Michael has been gone in class tonight.
Then I hear on TV that there is a tornado near Augusta Mall....and that's when I really panic. I start sweating, my heart is racing, and I grab Christopher (who was awake from the storms) and stand right by the door. Luckily, the storms pass and although they were close to me, thankfully they headed Southeast. After I get him back in bed, I watch the weather channel and they mentioned that in the tornado earlier today in Alabama, a woman and her 9 week old baby died while the husband is in the hospital. After the whole nights events, as soon as I heard this news, I just busted out crying like a loser. I feel awful for that family. To know there was also a baby is even worse. I said a prayer for their families and then said a prayer for us.
From my earliest memories, I can recall being in Minnesota at my Grandfather's cabin during a tornado. The tornado didn't touch down, but it was bad enough. Then another time in Oklahoma I was in the same situation right after a concert of mine. My Dad, who always acts like nothing will ever happen to anyone, made us eat Burger King afterwards and even made my scared butt sit right by the window. What a meanie.
In all similar situations in my life, I have always had a massive amount of anxiety and reacted the same. When my roomie and I lived in North Carolina, there were two times that I mostly scared her to death so we both ended up acting loony. The first was when there was an impending hurricane. I was so scared, I convinced her to drive us all two hours North to Virginia to stay with her Mom for a couple days. Raleigh ended up only getting tropical storms that day...lol Then another time, there was a really severe thunderstorm and possible tornado, and I freaked us both out so bad, by the time my "date" (now husband) arrived, we were in "full battle rattle" and getting the storage under the stairs ready for us to take shelter in. There was no tornado that day.
So basically, I have obvious issues when it comes to this subject. My mom told me tonight that I probably got the phobia from her. She said anytime there were bad storms when we were kids, she used to freak out and try to hide us in the bathtub or closet. I just don't want to pass this to Christopher, but I'm wondering how I will mask my fear in future situations? Hopefully I figure out something.
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