Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder that is characterized by an excessive and unrealistic fear of a specific object, person, animal, activity, or situation. Unlike other fears that people usually manage to avoid directly dealing with, phobias related to the weather have much less control. Those who experience these fears describe what might happen, such as acrophobia, fear of wind or nepopophobia, fear of clouds.
Exposure therapy is the most common treatment for phobias in general and also for winter phobias. This process involves gradually exposing individuals to pleasant winds or light rain from light to heavy with the aim of instilling a feeling of security in a variety of situations. For example, checking the weather in the morning to know what to wear and whether to take an umbrella is a routine task for most people but can be a much more dramatic question for those who suffer from winter phobias. Unlike general anxiety disorders, phobias are usually related to something specific.
Phobias related to the weather are created and develop mostly due to the fear that the weather will interfere with daily life against the background of past cases in which the weather was experienced as a particularly negative and destructive factor. Another particular factor is related to genetics and several studies have found a certain degree of genetic similarities between relatives who share the same phobia.
In last year’s Netflix parody series “The Woman Next Door to the Girl in the Window”, we meet Anna (Kristen Bell) who avoids going outside when it’s supposed to rain due to her severe acrophobia. Her fear started after her daughter passed away and became so extreme that she refuses to drive long distances because she fears potential rain could cause her to pass out at the wheel. Instead, she prefers staying at home, spying on neighbors and drinking wine at all hours of the day.
Another woman named Catherine Clements does not leave her house while it is snowing and does not drive during cold days due