Fear of Thunderstorms
Amie
Do any of you have children that are terrified of thunderstorms? If so, what do you do to help them? Sam (8) is really really afraid of storms. He is afraid that a tornado will happen. He is hiding out in the basement when it gets just alittle bit windy. I feel so badly for him. I sit with him and we talk, but nothing really helps him feel better until the storm ends.
He saw the movie Twister (at his request) about 6 months ago. Then, one of his friends asked him if he heard about the real tornado that had happened nearby. Then, this friend told him that a tornado can happen even if there is just 10 mile an hour wind. Well, his friend is terrified of storms, so I think a bit of that fear got projected onto Sam. We have read books, looked up information, and talked and talked about movies vs. real life. Nothing is helping him at this point. I have tried positive imagery, and making sure that he is talking about his fear, and what it is he is afraid of. Sometimes he says he doesn't know what he is afraid of, just that something bad will happen. Also, he says that when he hears the loud thunder he thinks of big trees.
I just thought I would post here to see if anyone has some ideas or suggestions that I can try, to help him feel less scared.
Thanks!
Amie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
He saw the movie Twister (at his request) about 6 months ago. Then, one of his friends asked him if he heard about the real tornado that had happened nearby. Then, this friend told him that a tornado can happen even if there is just 10 mile an hour wind. Well, his friend is terrified of storms, so I think a bit of that fear got projected onto Sam. We have read books, looked up information, and talked and talked about movies vs. real life. Nothing is helping him at this point. I have tried positive imagery, and making sure that he is talking about his fear, and what it is he is afraid of. Sometimes he says he doesn't know what he is afraid of, just that something bad will happen. Also, he says that when he hears the loud thunder he thinks of big trees.
I just thought I would post here to see if anyone has some ideas or suggestions that I can try, to help him feel less scared.
Thanks!
Amie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
On Apr 17, 2006, at 7:20 PM, Amie wrote:
storm cellars with her family many times. She was very afraid of wind.
We used to turn up music and close curtains to distract her.
Nowadays, maybe headphones. If you have an inside safest room,
maybe make a little nest there—the room that would be safest *IF*
lightning struck your house (maybe he's not afraid of lightning,
though) or if wind blew a side off), and put some special storm
safety stuff. Flashlight, music with headphones, pillows and blankets.
(Just brainstorming and fantasizing.)
Sandra
> Do any of you have children that are terrified of thunderstorms? IfMy mom grew up in crummy houses in tornado country and hid down in
> so, what do you do to help them? Sam (8) is really really afraid of
> storms.
storm cellars with her family many times. She was very afraid of wind.
We used to turn up music and close curtains to distract her.
Nowadays, maybe headphones. If you have an inside safest room,
maybe make a little nest there—the room that would be safest *IF*
lightning struck your house (maybe he's not afraid of lightning,
though) or if wind blew a side off), and put some special storm
safety stuff. Flashlight, music with headphones, pillows and blankets.
(Just brainstorming and fantasizing.)
Sandra
Joyce Fetteroll
On Apr 17, 2006, at 9:20 PM, Amie wrote:
Kathryn was the same way and at 14 is still nervous. I never found
anything to help. Holding her didn't make it worse is the best I found.
Looking at spiders close up made her appreciate them but she still
doesn't like them loose. But unlike spiders research doesn't help
calm fears about thunderstorms because they *are* destructive! We
live in a 150 year old house and I helped her calculate how many
storms the house had been through but the fears just didn't respond
to logic Sorry.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> I just thought I would post here to see if anyone has some ideas orMove where it doesn't thunderstorm?
> suggestions that I can try, to help him feel less scared.
Kathryn was the same way and at 14 is still nervous. I never found
anything to help. Holding her didn't make it worse is the best I found.
Looking at spiders close up made her appreciate them but she still
doesn't like them loose. But unlike spiders research doesn't help
calm fears about thunderstorms because they *are* destructive! We
live in a 150 year old house and I helped her calculate how many
storms the house had been through but the fears just didn't respond
to logic Sorry.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
freepsgal
All 3 of my children (ages 13, 9, 8) are terrified of
thunderstorms. After talking, we discovered they all shared a fear
of a power outage. That was easily solved. We took a trip to
WalMart and they all chose their very own flashlights and lanterns
which they keep in their rooms. During storms, they used to come
running into my room to pile into my bed. Now they just all sleep
together in my son's room. The girls fix a blanket pallet on the
floor and they have their flashlights ready. Most of the time, I go
in and lay with them during the worst of the storm but they seem to
need me less and less each time.
I don't know how I would handle a fear of tornados. We live in GA
and while there have been a few tornados and even one extremely mild
earthquake, we just don't experience enough for it to be a real fear
I guess. Do you know if there are tornado sirens nearby so that if
a tornado was ever spotted, you'd hear the warning? Or what about
an all news/weather channel on the radio or television? Perhaps
hearing a weather report will empower your son to feel he's somewhat
in control if he can be forewarned of any real danger? What's your
basement like? Maybe you can fix up a fun sleeping place so that
when he does feel the need to be safe, he can also be comfortable
too, sort of like camping out. Just a few ideas.
Beth M.
thunderstorms. After talking, we discovered they all shared a fear
of a power outage. That was easily solved. We took a trip to
WalMart and they all chose their very own flashlights and lanterns
which they keep in their rooms. During storms, they used to come
running into my room to pile into my bed. Now they just all sleep
together in my son's room. The girls fix a blanket pallet on the
floor and they have their flashlights ready. Most of the time, I go
in and lay with them during the worst of the storm but they seem to
need me less and less each time.
I don't know how I would handle a fear of tornados. We live in GA
and while there have been a few tornados and even one extremely mild
earthquake, we just don't experience enough for it to be a real fear
I guess. Do you know if there are tornado sirens nearby so that if
a tornado was ever spotted, you'd hear the warning? Or what about
an all news/weather channel on the radio or television? Perhaps
hearing a weather report will empower your son to feel he's somewhat
in control if he can be forewarned of any real danger? What's your
basement like? Maybe you can fix up a fun sleeping place so that
when he does feel the need to be safe, he can also be comfortable
too, sort of like camping out. Just a few ideas.
Beth M.
Barbara Chase
> I just thought I would post here to see if anyone has some ideas orA homeopathic remedy might be helpful. It won't "fix" the problem, but it
> suggestions that I can try, to help him feel less scared.
will help his mind/body find a balance w/ the fear. There isn't one
certain remedy for the fear of thunderstorms, so working w/ a book or a
practitioner (to see which one might best fit your son wrt to other
patterns) would be recommended. There's also this site:
http://www.abchomeopathy.com/go.php. I found it recently, but haven't
tried it yet.
Mahalo,
Barbara