Have you ever felt terror or dread when seeing rain in the forecast? Do you feel anxious, nervous or panicky when it rains? If you answered yes to one or both of these questions, you may be experiencing a fear of rain.

Fear of rain can be scary and distressing. People with fear of rain may feel scared, nervous, anxious, or have a panic attack when it rains. The fear of rain may also make you want to escape, hide, or run away from the rain. Your fear may even make you want to avoid the outdoors altogether.

Having a fear of rain can be limiting. Some people are only afraid of severe rainstorms, while others fear drizzle. Avoiding rain can pose challenges to your everyday life. And it can even limit the things you can do regularly.

Are you ready to dive in and understand the fear of rain? In this article we’ll discuss what is the fear of rain, how you know if you have it, and where it comes from. Keep reading to learn how to overcome the Fear of Rain. Get relief from this phobia today!

What is the Fear of Rain?

Ombrophobia is the term for the fear of rain. Someone with this phobia may be afraid of light drizzle or severe rainstorms. They might think that rain is in some way harmful or dangerous. For example they may be worried about germs in the rain or even acid rain.

Ombrophobia is a type of anxiety disorder called a specific phobia. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a “specific phobia is an intense, irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger.” People who have ombrophobia may realize that their fears are irrational, but experience severe anxiety, panic, and distress if they even think about rain.

Fear of rain may be related to other phobias including:

Fear of flooding (Antlophobia)
Fear of drowning (Aquaphobia)
Fear of lightning and thunder (Astraphobia)
Fear of fog (Homichlophobia)
Fear of weather related to rain like storms, wind, thunder, and lightning (Pluviophobia)

Ombrophobia falls into the category of phobias called natural environment phobias. While we don’t know for sure how many people have ombrophobia, one study reported that storm phobia occurs in 2-3% of the general population.

How do I know if I have the Fear of Rain?

Ombrophobia is characterized by an irrational fear of rain, avoidance of rain, and severe distress, anxiety, and panic. Symptoms of anxiety and panic include:

Heart palpitations
Dizziness and lightheadedness
Nausea, vomiting, & upset stomach
Feeling hot, cold, or sweaty
Muscle tension & shakiness

People with phobias, like fear of rain, often go to great lengths to avoid facing their fears. With ombrophobia, constantly avoiding rain is pretty impractical and could significantly impact your life negatively. Ombrophobia might also cause people to do certain things such as:

Avoiding any outdoor activities if there’s a chance of rain
Constantly checking the weather forecast
Avoiding traveling to rainy places
Worrying about friends and family experiencing rain
Avoiding the outdoors altogether

If this sounds like you, you may be experiencing ombrophobia. A mental health therapist can help evaluate and assess if this is the case. Phobias, like ombrophobia, are treatable. It is possible to overcome your fear of the rain. Learn more about phobias and their treatment here.

Where does the Fear of Rain come from?

We often don’t know the cause of fear of rain for certain. And there is not a single cause for ombrophobia. However, as with other phobias, there can be a link between past experiences and developing a phobia. For example if you were in a torrential downpour, a dangerous rainstorm, or had a scary experience with rain in the past, that might increase the likelihood that you could develop ombrophobia.

How to overcome the Fear of Rain

If you think you have a fear of rain, but aren’t ready to start therapy yet, you can start gradually facing the fear on your own. Here are some tips for facing your fear of rain on your own:

Start small, with something that’s only a little scary.
Look at pictures or watch videos of the rain.
Gradually face your fear of rain, little by little.
Slowly place yourself in situations where it might rain.

For some people facing a Fear of Rain on their own might help reduce the anxiety and panic associated with rain. However, it can be hard to do on your own because ombrophobia can be very distressing. Seeking therapy from a mental health professional can help. Learn more about using therapy to treat phobias here.

Exposure therapy for the Fear of Rain

According to the American Psychological Association, exposure therapy is a specialized type of treatment that is designed to help people face their fears. When someone is afraid of something, like rain, they tend to avoid the feared situation. While avoidance can help reduce anxiety in the short term, it can actually make the fear (and anxiety) worse in the long term.

In exposure therapy, the mental health professional will help you break the pattern of fear and avoidance. They’ll work with you to “expose” you to the things you fear and avoid safely and gradually.

If you’re dealing with ombrophobia exposure therapy could include some of the following, depending on the severity of your specific fears:

Talking about rain
Looking at picture of rain
Watching tv shows and movies with rain
Imagining you’re in the rain
Going out in the rain

Exposure helps reduce fear and decrease avoidance over time. By the end of therapy you will be able to face your fear of rain with less anxiety, panic, and distress.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for the Fear of Rain

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy commonly used to treat anxiety, panic, worry, fears, and phobias. In CBT you’ll work with your therapist to learn about how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact to keep you feeling anxious. Your therapist will help you identify and change unhelpful patterns in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Changing these unhelpful patterns can reduce anxiety and bring you relief.

A common approach to treating phobias includes focusing on unhelpful thoughts and taking a cognitive approach to learning how to change them, while also practicing exposures to reduce avoidance of the feared situation, object, or event. In this way, CBT and exposure therapy can be combined to help you get relief from your phobia, like ombrophobia. Learn more about therapy for phobias here.

Summary

A fear of rain is also called ombrophobia. It is a type of anxiety disorder. Fear of rain is scary, distressing, and is usually anxiety-provoking. Whether you are afraid of severe rainstorms, light drizzle, or all rain, ombrophobia can impact your life significantly.

Working with a mental health professional can help bring you relief. The best treatment for the fear of rain is exposure therapy. It involves facing your feared situation (rain) gradually and repeatedly. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can also help with ombrophobia.

To learn more about how to get over a Fear of Rain (ombrophobia) in therapy, check out my CBT for Anxiety or Therapy for Phobia page or schedule a free 15-minute consultation today.

Phobias Explained: Fear of Rain