<a href="https://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/phobiaimages.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5034" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/phobiaimages.jpg" alt="phobiaimages" width="211" height="239" /></a><a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/phobias/basics/definition/con-20023478" target="_blank">An overwhelming and unreasonable fear </a>of an object or situation that poses little real danger but provokes anxiety and avoidance.

Unlike the brief anxiety we all feel when faced with giving a speech or taking a test, true phobias causes intense physical and psychological reactions that affect your ability to function normally.

Phobias are common. We all have a fear of something in varying degrees. Hopefully not too many are debilitating.

My phobia is claustrophobia. Not too bad, but you’ll not find me under houses or in rooms without windows or doors for very long. =)

Mostly, the names of phobias fascinate me. The list is long. You can check it out <a href="http://phobialist.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.

<em>Ablutophobia</em>- Fear of washing or bathing.

<em>Coimetrophobia</em>- Fear of cemeteries.

<em>Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia</em>- Fear of the number 666. (Try to pronounce that one!)

My favorite has to be <em>Phobophobia</em>- Fear of phobias.

Just joking. I do recognize that phobias are real.

For instance, <em>ASTRAPHOBIA</em>- fear of lightning and thunder.

Our little Buster suffers from this. He looks pretty relaxed, but let a storm come through and that changes.<a href="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/buster-resting.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-5036" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/buster-resting.jpg?w=150" alt="buster resting" width="150" height="119" /></a>

It is a phobia shared by many dogs according to the <a href="http://www.iowavma.org/?180">Iowa Veterinary Medical Association</a>.

<em>Behaviorists are not yet sure what part of the storm frightens dogs most, whether they’re reacting to lightning flashes, the sound of thunder, wind blowing around the house, or the sound of rain on the roof. Some dogs even start to pace and whine half an hour or more before a storm. They may be reacting to a sudden drop in air pressure or the electrical charge of the air. </em>

A very clever entrepreneur invented a thing called a thundershirt to relieve the animals’ suffering. An ingenious marketing technique to name the cure after the cause, don’t you think?

We haven’t tried the product with Buster through the shirt has been proven to work for many animals.

I’m Buster’s thundershirt.

Whenever a storm is coming, Buster moves from his place approximately four feet away next to my desk, which puts him within a short jump to my lap.<a href="https://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/buster-by-desk.jpg"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-5037" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/buster-by-desk.jpg?w=112" alt="Buster by desk" width="112" height="150" /></a>

The first clap of thunder he jumps up and cuddles in my lap. <a href="https://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/buster-on-my-knee.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-5038" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/buster-on-my-knee.jpg?w=112" alt="Buster on my knee" width="112" height="150" /></a>

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It works for him and, fortunately, since he’s so small I can still keep working.

Plus these mountain thunderstorms drop the temperature at least ten degrees and I get a chill. Buster is like an electric blanket on my lap.

Do you or your pet have a phobia? How do you cope?