I (23F) am having a hard time with these phobias that pretty much consume my mind. I’m having a hard time finding affordable help for these things.

My first phobia is thunderstorms. I only experience this one when I KNOW a storm is coming. I hate when thunder strikes close to my house, so when I storms I put in my earbuds and turn my music to full volume. I pull the covers over my head so I don’t see the lightning and lay there until it’s over. The whole time there’s a storm, my heart is beating through my chest.

This one is worse, and very odd. I feel really alone about this one and embarrassed that this one bothers me. I am afraid of smoke detectors. I’m constantly afraid my smoke detector in my apartment will start chirping because of low battery. When I walk under it, I walk FAST. I can’t even look at it. The thought of the sound makes my heart race really hard. When smoke alarms do go off, I cover my ears, and have a very extreme reaction. It feels like I’m going to have a heart attack. The simple solution is “take out the battery” but I don’t even have the courage to pull it out the wall and remove the battery.

I hate it so much. It’s so debilitating. I don’t know how to overcome it. I don’t have the money to do therapy. I don’t know what to do. I’m deciding to share because I need help. My second fear is more torture than anything else in my life. You can’t avoid smoke alarms. I feel like a scared child.