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The most widely used and possibly the most effective treatment for astraphobia is exposure to thunderstorms and eventually building an immunity. Cognitive behavioral therapy is also often used to treat astraphobia. The patient will in many cases be instructed to repeat phrases to himself or herself in order to become calm during a storm. Heavy breathing exercises can reinforce this effort.
The following are two therapies normally used in treating specific phobia:
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a short term, skills-focused therapy that aims to help people diffuse unhelpful emotional responses by helping people consider them differently or change their behavior, is effective in treating specific phobias. Exposure therapy is a particularly effective form of CBT for specific phobias. Medications to aid CBT have not been as encouraging with the exception of adjunctive D-clycoserine.
In general anxiolytic medication is not seen as helpful in specific phobia but benzodiazepines are sometimes used to help resolve acute episodes; as 2007 data were sparse for efficacy of any drug.
Like many other phobias, lilapsophobia can often be treated using cognitive-behavioral therapy, but if it stems from post-traumatic stress disorder, then alternative therapy may be more recommended.
Dogs may exhibit severe anxiety during thunderstorms; between 15 and 30 percent may be affected. Research confirms high levels of cortisol - a hormone associated with stress - affects dogs during and after thunderstorms. Remedies include behavioral therapies such as counter conditioning and desensitization, anti-anxiety medications, and Dog Appeasing Pheromone, a synthetic analogue of a hormone secreted by nursing canine mothers.
Studies have also shown that cats can be afraid of thunderstorms. Whilst it is very rare, cats have been known to hide under a table or behind a couch during a thunderstorm.
Generally if any animal is anxious during a thunderstorm or any similar, practically harmless event (e.g. fireworks display), it is advised to simply continue behaving normally, instead of attempting to comfort animals. Showing fearlessness is, arguably, the best method to "cure" the anxiety.
Lilapsophobes spend a lot of time watching the weather or checking weather online to keep an eye out for oncoming storms. When a storm hits, sufferers either watch for severe weather alerts constantly or take cover, like under the bed or in the windowless room. In the extreme cases, sufferers take tornado shelter as soon as rain starts falling, usually in the basement or storm shelter. Sufferers who have weather radio or mobile phones can watch the radar and alerts using it while hiding.
According to the fourth revision of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders", phobias can be classified under the following general categories:
- Animal type – Fear of dogs, cats, rats and/or mice, pigs, cows, birds, spiders, or snakes.
- Natural environment type – Fear of water (aquaphobia), heights (acrophobia), lightning and thunderstorms (astraphobia), or aging (gerascophobia).
- Situational type – Fear of small confined spaces (claustrophobia), or the dark (nyctophobia).
- Blood/injection/injury type – this includes fear of medical procedures, including needles and injections (trypanophobia), fear of blood (hemophobia) and fear of getting injured.
- Other – children's fears of loud sounds or costumed characters.