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

But climatic conditions 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 air currents .

In this article we will go 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. People suffering from a phobia tend 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 a phobic stimulus, in this case: the wind. If this phobia is not treated, it can significantly affect the quality of life of the phobic. In fact, it can seriously harm the normal activities of their day to day life, since the affected person can seclude themselves in their own home to avoid the wind from the street. Many times, these individuals irrationally anticipate catastrophic consequences from this climatic event, for example, that trees may fall because of strong gusts, causing problems for the physical integrity of the person.

The phobia of the wind not only affects the person when it comes to going out to the street, since having windows open, which would result in drafts, can produce intense anxiety, nausea, headaches, catastrophic thoughts, accelerated pulse and a feeling of suffocation in the phobic.

Causes of anemophobia

Nobody is born with a phobic disorder, so these irrational fears are learned . Anemophobia often originates after a traumatic experience, which is not always consciously remembered. This learning occurs through the association of an originally neutral stimulus with one that provokes the fear response. For example, a person may have had an emotionally negative experience on a windy day that impacted him or her so much that on subsequent windy days he or she may remember that traumatic experience. This type of learning is called classic conditioning. If you want to know more, you can read our article: “Classic conditioning and its most important experiments”.

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

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

Symptoms of this phobia

Everyone experiences fear of the wind in their own way; however, the symptoms are usually general to any type of phobia. The only thing that changes is the phobic stimulus that produces it.

The 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 thoughts and death. Physical symptoms are dry mouth, nausea or difficulty in breathing. As for behavioural 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 widely used is cognitive behavioural therapy. Within cognitive behavioural techniques we can find relaxation techniques and exposure techniques.

In the treatment of phobias, a technique is applied that has proven to be very effective. It is systematic desensitization. It consists of exposing the patient to the phobic stimulus in a gradual manner, but before this, the patient must have learned a series of coping strategies , among which are included the previously mentioned relaxation techniques.

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

Phobias and new technologies

Today, 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 pockets thanks to the use of smartphone applications . These apps contain, for example, virtual reality, augmented reality, useful information on phobias and record sheets.