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Astraphobia

2025-09-04T19:56:18Z

2800:E2:C180:CD5:A802:38E:48BB:C249:

{{short description|Fear of thunder and lightning}}
{{Infobox medical condition
| name =
| synonym = Astrapophobia, brontophobia,
ceraunophobia, tonitrophobia
| image = Lightning 14.07.2009 20-42-33.JPG
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Lightning strikes during a storm
| pronounce =
| specialty = psychology
| symptoms =
}}
'''Astraphobia''', also known as '''astrapophobia''', '''brontophobia''', '''ceraunophobia''', or '''tonitrophobia''', is the [[fear]] of [[thunder]] and [[lightning]] or an unwarranted [[fear]] of scattered and/or isolated [[thunderstorms]], a type of [[specific phobia]]. It is a treatable phobia that both humans and animals can develop. The term astraphobia comes from [[Ancient Greek]] ἀστραπή (''astrape''), meaning "thunder", and φόβος (''phóbos''), meaning "fear".

==Signs and symptoms==
A person with astraphobia will often feel anxious during a thunderstorm even when they understand that the threat to them is minimal. Some symptoms are those accompanied with many phobias, such as [[trembling]], [[crying]], [[sweating]], [[panic attacks|panicked reactions]], sudden feeling of using the bathroom, [[nausea]], feeling of dread, insertion of the fingers in the ears, and [[rapid heartbeat]]. However, there are some reactions that are unique to astraphobia. For instance, reassurance from other people is usually sought, and symptoms worsen when alone. Many people who have astraphobia will look for extra shelter from the storm.<ref>Johnson, Trevor "Fear of Thunder - Dealing With Astraphobia." Fear of Thunder- Dealing with Astraphobia. 30 Jan. 2009. EzineArticles.com. 14 Oct 2009</ref> They might hide underneath a bed, under the covers, in a closet, in a basement, or any other space where they feel safer. Efforts are usually made to smother the sound of the thunder; the person may cover their ears or curtain the windows.{{cn|date=July 2022}}

A typical sign that someone has astraphobia is a very heightened interest in [[Weather forecasting|weather forecasts]]. A person with astraphobia may be alert for news of incoming storms. They may watch the weather on television constantly during rainy bouts and may even track thunderstorms online. This can become severe enough that the person may not go outside without checking the weather first. This can lead to anxiety and in very extreme cases, [[agoraphobia]], the fear of leaving the home.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lalramengmawii|date=May 2020|title=A Case of Astraphobia Induce Severe Anxiety in Human|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/09ba39adc8791548abf8afebda49126b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=54977|journal=Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research|volume=12|pages=656–657}}</ref>

==Children==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2021}}
In 2007, scientists found astraphobia is the third most prevalent phobia in the US.<ref>{{cite book|title=Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior|publisher=[[Cengage Publishing]]|author=Dennis Coon, John O. Mitterer|year=2008|page=482|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vw20LEaJe10C&q=astraphobia+prevalence&pg=PA482|isbn=978-0-495-59911-1}}</ref> It can occur in people of any age. It occurs in many children, and should not be immediately identified as a phobia because children naturally go through many fears as they mature. Their fear of thunder and lightning cannot be considered a fully developed phobia unless it persists for more than six months. In this case, the child's phobia should be addressed, as it may become a serious problem in adulthood.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

To lessen a child's fear during thunderstorms, the child can be distracted by games and activities. A bolder approach is to treat the storm as an entertainment.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

==Diagnosis==
{{Empty section|date=July 2022}}

==Treatment==
The most widely used and possibly the most effective treatment for astraphobia is exposure to thunderstorms and eventually building an immunity. Some other treatment methods include [[cognitive behavioral therapy]]<ref>Fritscher, Lisa [http://phobias.about.com/od/phobiaslist/a/astraphobia.htm Astraphobia - Fear of Thunder and Lightning] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303184645/http://phobias.about.com/od/phobiaslist/a/astraphobia.htm |date=2016-03-03 }}. 30 Apr. 2011. About.com. Retrieved on 30 June 2014.</ref> (CBT) and [[dialectical behavioral therapy]] (DBT). The patient will in many cases be instructed to repeat phrases to themselves in order to become calm during a storm. Heavy breathing exercises can reinforce this effort.{{cn|date=June 2021}}

==Dogs and cats==
Dogs may exhibit severe anxiety during thunderstorms; between 15 and 30 percent may be affected.<ref name=drescher>{{cite web|url=http://live.psu.edu/story/41769/nw69|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121214221557/http://live.psu.edu/story/41769/nw69|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-12-14|publisher=[[Pennsylvania State University]]|title=Research aimed at finding way to soothe thunderstorm-stressed doggos|access-date=2010-05-21}}</ref> Research confirms high levels of [[cortisol]] – a hormone associated with stress – affects dogs during and after thunderstorms.<ref name=drescher/> Remedies include behavioral therapies such as [[counter conditioning]] and [[desensitization (psychology)|desensitization]], anti-anxiety medications, and [[dog appeasing pheromone]], a synthetic analogue of a hormone secreted by nursing canine mothers.<ref>{{cite web|title=There's Hope for Thunder-Phobic Dogs|url=http://vetmed.illinois.edu/petcolumns/petcols_article_page.php?PETCOLID=335&URL=0|publisher=[[University of Illinois]]|access-date=2010-05-23}}</ref>

Studies have also shown that cats can be afraid of thunderstorms. Whilst it is less common, cats have been known to hide under a table or behind a couch during a thunderstorm.<ref>{{cite web|author=Cato |url=http://our-cats.com/2010/08/thunderstorms-phobia-in-cats-cats-and-thunderstorms/ |title=Thunderstorms Phobia in Cats – Cats and Thunderstorms |publisher=Our-cats.com |date=2010-08-03 |access-date=2011-10-26}}</ref>

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.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

==See also==
* [[Lilapsophobia]]
* [[List of phobias]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Lightning]]
[[Category:Environmental phobias]]

Cornaceae

2025-09-03T22:19:19Z

2800:E2:C180:CD5:A802:38E:48BB:C249:

{{Short description|Family of flowering plants}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Cornus suecica Ume River.jpg
|image_caption = ''[[Cornus suecica]]''
|taxon = Cornaceae
|authority = Bercht. & J.Presl
|subdivision_ranks = Genera
|subdivision =
{{unbulleted list
|''[[Alangium]]''
|''[[Cornus]]''
}}
}}

The '''Cornaceae''', the '''dogwood family''', are a [[cosmopolitan family]] of [[flowering plant]]s in the order [[Cornales]]. The family contains approximately 85 species in two genera,<ref name="Christenhusz-Byng2016">{{cite journal |author1=Christenhusz, M. J. M. |author2=Byng, J. W. |name-list-style=amp | year = 2016 | title = The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase | journal = Phytotaxa | volume = 261 | pages = 201–217 | url = http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/download/phytotaxa.261.3.1/20598 | doi = 10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1 | issue = 3 | publisher = Magnolia Press | doi-access = free |bibcode=2016Phytx.261..201C }}</ref> ''[[Alangium]]'' and ''[[Cornus]]''. They are mostly trees and shrubs, which may be deciduous or evergreen, although a few species are perennial herbs. Members of the family usually have opposite or alternate simple leaves, four- or five-parted flowers clustered in [[inflorescence]]s or [[pseudanthium|pseudanthia]], and [[drupe|drupaceous]] fruits.<ref name=Kubitzki>Kubitzki, K. (2004). Cornaceae. In ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants Volume 6: Flowering Plants: Dicotyledons: Celastrales, Oxidales, Rosales, Cornales, Ericales'' (Kubitzki, ed.). Springer-Verlag, New York.</ref> The family is primarily distributed in northern temperate regions and tropical Asia.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Heywood|first1=V.H.|title=Flowering Plant Families of the World|last2=Brummitt|first2=R.K.|last3=Culham|first3=A.|last4=Seberg|last5=O.|publisher=Firefly Books|year=2007|isbn=9781842461655|location=Buffalo, New York|pages=112}}</ref> In northern temperate areas, Cornaceae are well known from the dogwoods ''[[dogwood|Cornus]]''.

The [[systematics]] of Cornaceae has been remarkably unsettled and controversial, and many genera have been added to it and removed from it over time. (One researcher called it a "dustbin".<ref name=Eyde1988>Eyde, R. H. (1988). Comprehending ''Cornus'' - puzzles and progress in the systematics of the dogwoods. ''Botanical Review'' '''54''', 233-351.</ref>) [[Molecular phylogenetics]] have clarified the relatedness of some associated genera, and at least nine genera that were previously included in Cornaceae have been eliminated from the order Cornales entirely,<ref name=Fan2003>Fan, C. Z., and Xiang, Q. Y. (2003). Phylogenetic analyses of Cornales based on 26S rRNA and combined 26S rDNA-matK-rbcL sequence data. ''American Journal of Botany'' '''90''', 1357-1372.</ref> but the circumscription of Cornaceae is still unclear. The [[Angiosperm Phylogeny Group]] usually defines Cornaceae as comprising the genera ''[[Cornus (genus)|Cornus]]'' and ''[[Alangium]]'' as well as five genera now separated into the family [[Nyssaceae]]. However, many of these genera are sometimes split off into their own families (e.g. [[Alangiaceae]]), and the usage remains inconsistent.<ref name=Fan2003 /><ref name=APGIII>{{Cite journal |last=Angiosperm Phylogeny Group |year=2009 |title=An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=161 |issue=2 |pages=105–121 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x |doi-access=free |hdl=10654/18083 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==Fossil record==
The oldest [[fossil]] that can be related to Cornaceae is †''Hironoia fusiformis'', an [[extinct]] taxon collected from the [[Futaba Group]] sediments at Kamitikaba, [[Japan]]. [[Synapomorphies]] of the fruits of the fossil occur also in extant Cornaceae. The age of the sediments is of early [[Coniacian]] to early [[Santonian]] (about 88 Ma).<ref>The Timetree of Life edited by S. Blair Hedges and Sudhir Kumar, OUP Oxford, 23. apr. 2009 - 576 pages, {{ISBN|0191560154}}, 9780191560156.</ref> Although the mosaic of characters in ''Hironoia'' precludes assignment to an extant genus, the fiber rather than sclereid composition of the fruit places it within the [[Nyssaceae]]-Mastixiaceae. Other possible Cornaceae from [[Cretaceous]] sediments include [[endocarp]]s resembling [[Cornus]] from the [[Santonian]]-[[Campanian]] mesofossil
assemblage of [[Åsen]]. In slightly younger [[Late Cretaceous]] sediments ([[Maastrichtian]]) four genera of [[fossil]] mastixioid fruits (''Beckettia'', ''Eomastixia'', ''Mastixicarpum'' and ''Mastixiopsis'') have been described from [[Germany]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Takahashi|first1=M.|last2=Crane|first2=P.R.|last3=Manchester|first3=S.R.|year=2002|title=''Hironoia fusiformis'' gen. et sp. nov.; a cornalean fruit from the Kamikitaba locality (Upper Cretaceous, Lower Coniacian) in northeastern Japan|journal=Journal of Plant Research|volume=115|issue=6|pages=463–473|doi=10.1007/s10265-002-0062-6|pmid=12579450 |bibcode=2002JPlR..115..463T }}</ref>

==References==
[[File:(MHNT) Cornus sanguinea - Inflorescence.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Cornus sanguinea]]'']]
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/orders/cornalesweb.htm#Cornaceae Cornaceae on the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website of the Missouri Botanical Garden]
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Angiosperm families}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q161403}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cornaceae| ]]
[[Category:Asterid families]]