Fear of wind (anemophobia): symptoms, causes and treatment

One of those rare phobias that can have very diverse origins.

The vast majority of people enjoy sunny days, with a pleasant temperature, and studies seem to indicate that this climate favors well-being. On the other hand, gray and rainy days can cause negative moods. In fact, it can even provoke some psychological phenomena such as Seasonal Depressive Disorder, which we talked about in our article: "Seasonal Depressive Disorder: what it is and how to prevent it".

But weather conditions do not only affect people's well-being in this sense, but a well-known phobia called anemophobia or ancrophobia causes a strong irrational fear of wind and drafts..

In this article we will delve into this pathology and review its symptoms, causes and consequences.

What is wind phobia

Phobias are mental disorders that develop with some frequency.. They belong to the group of anxiety disorders, because their main symptoms are anxiety and irrational fear. The person suffering from a phobia tends to avoid the feared stimulus in an attempt to reduce the unpleasant symptoms. Phobias can be classified in different ways as explained in our article: "Types of phobias: exploring fear disorders".

Anemophobia is the irrational fear that some people feel when presented with the phobic stimulus, in this case: the wind. If this phobia is not treated, it can significantly affect the phobic's quality of life. In fact, it can seriously impair normal day-to-day activities, as the affected person may retreat into his or her own home to avoid the wind from the street. Many times, these individuals irrationally anticipate catastrophic consequences of this climatic event, for example, that trees may fall because of the strong gusts, causing problems for the physical integrity of the person.

Wind phobia not only affects the person when going outdoors, because having open windows, which would result in drafts, can produce intense anxiety, nausea, headaches, catastrophic thoughts, pulse acceleration and feeling of suffocation in the phobic.

Causes of anemophobia

No one is born with a phobic disorder, so these irrational fears are learned.. Anemophobia usually originates after a traumatic experience, which is not always consciously remembered. This learning occurs by association of an originally neutral stimulus with one that elicits the fear response. For example, a person may have had an emotionally negative experience on a windy day, which has had such an impact on him that on subsequent windy days he may remember that traumatic experience. This type of learning is called classical conditioning. If you want to know more, you can read our article: "Classical conditioning and its most important experiments".

Generally, many people who experience this type of situation know that their fear is irrational, but they are unable to overcome it. This occurs because human beings are biologically programmed to experience this negative emotion, which is produced by primitive associations in the primitive brain and not by cognitive associations. Logical arguments, in this type of situation, carry little weight.

On the other hand, people can also develop phobias by vicarious conditioning, that is, by observing other people. For example, by suffering a traumatic event related to the wind.

• Related article : "Vicarious conditioning: how does this type of learning work?"

Symptoms of this phobia

Each person experiences the fear of wind in his or her own way; however, the symptoms are usually general in any type of phobia. The only thing that changes is the phobic stimulus that produces it.

Symptoms of phobias are usually divided into three groups: cognitive, physical and behavioral.. Cognitive symptoms are the experience of fear, anguish, anxiety, lack of concentration, catastrophic and death thoughts. Physical symptoms are dry mouth, Nausea or difficulty breathing. As for behavioral symptoms, we can highlight the avoidance of the feared stimulus.

Treatment

Anxiety disorders, including phobias, are one of the main reasons for consultation in psychological clinics.. These pathologies can cause great suffering, but they are treatable.

There are many effective therapeutic methods, such as Mindfulness or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. However, the most commonly used is cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral techniques include relaxation techniques and exposure techniques.

In the treatment of phobias, a technique that has proven to be very effective is applied. It is systematic desensitization. It consists of exposing the patient to the phobic stimulus gradually, but beforehand he/she must have learned a series of coping strategies, including the relaxation techniques mentioned above.These include the aforementioned relaxation techniques.

Thanks to this technique, the prognosis of phobic disorders is positive and it is useful for different phobias.

Phobias and new technologies

Nowadays, with the advance of new technologies, it is not necessary to expose the patient to a real phobic stimulus, but it is possible to use virtual reality. Psychologists make use of these technologies and the results are excellent.

In addition, in recent times, patients can carry therapeutic tools in their own pocket thanks to the use of smartphone applications.. These apps contain , for example, virtual reality, augmented reality, useful information about phobias and record sheets.