n a 1996 paper in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, our lead author introduced "severeweather phobia" as a term, defining this condition as "an intense, debilitating, unreasonable fear of severe weather." The term "severe weather" was defined as severe thunderstorms or tornadoes. The exploratory study in 1996 of severe-weather phobia based its findings on interviews with 81 people who described themselves as severe-weather phobics. Sixty-five of the 81 subjects (80%) indicated that the onset of their phobia occurred as a result of a previous encounter with a severe storm (using the National Weather Service definition: winds at 58 mph or greater, or 0.75-inch or larger hail, or tornadoes). Phobics monitored the weather radio almost constantly and had anxiety even if the threat of severe weather was five days away or more; and they often thought about being injured or dying. The anxiety ceased as soon as the threat of severe weather was over. The subjects were embarrassed or very embarrassed about their phobia and were surprised to learn that others might also have the phobia. However, very few subjects had sought treatment of any kind. It is important to emphasize that these phobics were very afraid of severe weather. Many of them described themselves as barely able or unable to function prior to and during severe-weather events. Subjects described moving to other parts of the country and not picking up their children at school as two

Even 200 years following the conclusion of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, questions remain about whether Meriwether Lewis' death was a suicide. The purpose of this article is to consider this issue by examining historical evidence from a psychological perspective. A risk factor model for suicide assessment (Sanchez, 2001) is employed to evaluate the nature of Lewis' historical, personal, psychosocial environmental, and clinical risk factors as well as protective factors. The authors conclude that though there is some evidence to support a theory of murder, Lewis was at a high suicide risk at the time of his death, and that the preponderance of the evidence indicates that he died by his own hand.