F40.220
BillableFear of thunderstorms
HCC Category Mapping
RxHCCHCC 133 — Personality Disorders, Anxiety, and Other Specified Mental Disorders
0.000What This Code Means
An intense fear of thunderstorms that causes significant anxiety and avoidance of outdoor activities during storms.
Coding Tips
- •This falls under natural environment type phobias
- •Document whether fear is of the storm itself, lightning, or loud noises associated with storms
Clinical Significance
Fear of thunderstorms (astraphobia) is a specific phobia in the natural environment subtype involving intense fear or anxiety related to thunderstorms, lightning, or severe weather events. This can be clinically significant when it leads to severe avoidance behaviors during storm seasons. It does not map to any HCC and is not risk-adjusting.
Documentation Requirements
- ✓Marked fear or anxiety specifically about thunderstorms or severe weather
- ✓Disproportionate fear response relative to actual danger
- ✓Consistent anxiety response triggered by storms or storm forecasts
- ✓Avoidance behaviors (e.g., refusing to leave shelter, excessive weather monitoring)
- ✓Duration of 6+ months
- ✓Clinically significant distress or functional impairment
Commonly Confused Codes
F40.228 (Other natural environment type phobia) — Use F40.220 specifically for thunderstorm phobia; F40.228 covers other natural environment fears like water or darknessF40.241 (Acrophobia) — Fear of heights is a separate natural environment phobia with its own codeF41.1 (Generalized anxiety disorder) — GAD involves chronic worry across many domains; astraphobia is situation-specific