My Nine Year-old Girl Is Afraid of the Wind

You don't give enough information about exactly what about the wind she is afraid of. Is she afraid when she sees it, feels the wind or in general. My son used to be afraid of the wind (he has minor sensory issues) but what we realized is that he didn't like the feel of the wind blowing into his face and ears. We got him a hat that also covers his ears (with flaps) and that helped him. Good luck.

She has a phobia of wind. It's a real fear. The best way to help her is with exposure therapy. You may be able to read about it and do it yourself or you will need a behavioral therapist to help her. Good luck. We have lots of anxiety in our house.

Clever girl.

1 gets you 50 she was paying attention to all of the storm damage and news this past year.

What works with my 9yo is the "And then what?" game. You break things down into pieces to find out the actual fear... and then you look at ALL the various options for what to do. AKA empower them.

So lets say it WAS all the images of destroyed houses and lost things this past year. Fear of losing people and things she loves. So lets say a tornado DOES happen (ignore the california nearly never gets tornados aspect, because the winds DO get strong in many parts of Californa). What do you do? Where do you go? How do you protect yourself?

Take it down to LOTS of different aspects (like for those who lost their homes... talk to her about insurance, and hotels, and rebuilding for all the big stuff... and ALSO show her how people protect the things they love most. Lovies come WITH the kids when they go to the cellar or the shelter. Pets DON'T get left behind. Safe deposit boxes hold valuables (including pictures, and there's cloud backup for pictures as well).

LOTS of things are scary just because we don't know what to do, and we imagine the worst.

So play the "And then what?" game and map out all the things we just KNOW as adults as how things are handled. You don't want to lose your doll... and there's a tornado. THEN WHAT? What do you do?

Then you can introduce her to things like aerodynamics (show her some videos of windtunnels with smoke, and how cars are designed to cut through the wind), show her some storm chasers... and how people can and DO get really close to major wind ON PURPOSE. On the ground and satellite imagery.

In order to be afraid of something one of two things needs to happen :

- Either you don't understand it at ALL
- Or on a gut level... you understand it FAR BETTER than most people

In either case, knowledge is power. If it's the SECOND... she may well turn into a storm chaser herself. When you really, REALLY understand something... but don't have all the extra knowledge (standing on the shoulders of giants) most people become terrified... because all the possibilities in their imagination just fly apart and they have no knowledge to contain their imagination.

I can understand what you are saying. My 6 year old daughter has become terrified of the wind too. If it is windy, she just wants to lay on the couch under the covers. We have had 3 trees fall in the last 4 years also. One fell on a power line in our front yard and we were out of power for about 4 days. Another one fell on our front deck and destroyed it. The third one fell on the house and came through the bathroom ceiling. We have had some trees cut down the last couple of years, but we still have many more around and can't afford to have them all cut down. I don't really like the wind either, but I am not really scared of it. Good luck to you.

I suggest you needn't do anything about it. Sympathize with her. She'll come to realize that the wind is harmless.

I don't know what you mean by being off track for 3 weeks. If you mean she's not in school, I don't understand what that has to do with her fear.

Later: I wouldn't cancel a necessary medical appointment because of her fear. Calmly and sympathetically guide her to the car. I wouldn't ever lie to her about it being calm at 3. She loses trust in your word.

Calmly talk with her about why she's fearful. Follow Julie B's advice.

Fear this strong should be discussed with her doctor.

So has she always been afraid of the wind?

Is this something new?

Did you ask her what about the wind scares her?

Does she always try to get out of going to the doctor?

What have you done in the past when it was windy?

Okay I just made my ten year old read this and even she doesn't understand what you are saying, could you perhaps explain better?

Oh, well in that case Genna said to tell her the wind is nothing to be afraid of....and I owe her an apology because I said that can't possibly be the right answer.

Oh when I was a child I found reading books on meteorology helped. If I understood what I feared it wasn't so scary. :)

I'm not sure what the "off track for 3 weeks" means, but I also find wind to be creepy and annoying. I cannot STAND it! However, I'm not "afraid" of it -and I understand I have to put up with it on occasion. Talk to her. Ask her calmly and without judgment what about the wind scares her. Ask her what she thinks is going to happen if she goes out in the wind. Explain to her, that like rain, wind happens and we have to deal with it sometime -like it or not.

I hope you won't think this is crazy, but there are several homeopathic remedies that address this condition. Look at the wensite www.abc homeopathy.com. If you post a question, they will respond. I was skeptical at first, but it has worked for so many ailments for my family.

Hi M.,

I was terrified of the wind as a child. My fear was that the tall tree in front of our house would blow over and would crush the house. I never admitted this fear to my parents; I finally grew out of this fear on my own, but not until I was a teenager and learned more about the biology (flexibility) of trees. I suggest you ask your daughter what it is that scares her about the wind. If it's something concrete, see if you can help her understand why the winds we're experiencing right now aren't strong enough to do whatever it is she fears.

ask her what the wind symbolizes to her.... could be the sound brings up something scary for her.... my son who is 10 does not like the wind.... it causes him to become uneasy... he is by no means a squirmy kid, but the wind when powerful sounds destructive to him... he said it sounds startling... and catches him off guard... and therefore, he feels powerless over it... (esp in the night)

Has she been exposed to terrifying winds, like a tornado or hurricane or seen the news about such?

I think you need to address her fears and get her into behavioral therapy for this phobia. If it is bad enough to cancel an appointment, it is interfering with her life.