Deep Water Freaks Me Out

I also have a phobia of deep water, but only when it's narrow. Not being able to see to the bottom in clear water is terrifying, but murky water makes it easy to pretend it's just eight feet. I saw a picture of the deepest swimming pool on earth from the top and completely freaked out. I have a separate fear of BEING deep under water and of being crushed by waves, but I'm fine with deep lakes, bays, and rivers (ocean is scary if the waves are big). I was so scared in Life of Pi, and not because of the tiger.

That is a really common phobia.

I have a similar phobia, I have a phobia of deep water that I can't see the bottom to (basically the same thing as you). I just can not swim in deep unclear water,I have tried but then I hurry back to the shallow water.

I have the same phobia as you. You are not alone

Me too, like I'm freaked out that something will touch me or eat me. Worst thing that could possibly happen= being stranded in the middle of the ocean.

I love the ocean, I even intended to be a Marine biologist. Then I found out I was afraid of it. Hahahah! I'm just so afraid of what's underneath. I'd freak out at the thought of swimming in a place full of corals in low tide without slippers.

I have the same fear. 😳. I think of the creatures that live deep within those waters. Like giant squid or something. Omg. Uh!

FYI, deep water phobia is a type of bathophobia by the way.

Ithink that is common,i myself have the same fear,i don't have meny but that is one for sure,and i know how to swim.

i have a definate fear, not quite a phobia about the same thing. And i once fell through the ice on a lake at night, that did NOT help.

The best way to lose that fear is to jump head first into the ocean but... Refine your own reality. Work on your subconscious and you'll get rid of that fear. It has helped me shake off some bad memories. I had the same exact fear you have. Then I had to abandon my country on a tractor innertube and spend two weeks lost on the Fla. Straits when I was your age in 1994. Sharks, little girl's body floating on the ocean (it was a mass exodus), huge waves, fear of death or eaten by sharks, no food, dehydration, etc.. Then Guantanamo Naval base's concentration camps for two years. Redefine your own reality. Study the subject. Work on that. Good luck.

I understand your feeling of phobia, of not knowing why you have it, not understanding the implacable feelings that arise, and not even wanting to confront it in spite of all the well-wishers who encourage us to rid ourselves of it ensuring it will be easy. There are a few circumstances in life when I've believed there must be past lives, and a phobia is one of those.

Mine is to do with cars. I hate cars. It's clear to me that I'm afraid of dying, or becoming a vegetable, in a car accident. Have I before? My first driving lesson I just sat in the driver's seat and cried, unable to even turn the key and start the car, allowed to go home after an hour of that. Though I soldiered on and got my license, I hated driving and let my license expire. Just the thought of getting in a car as a passenger is upsetting and the conditions must be right for me to do it. It hasn't been easy turning down all those ride offers, insulting people who can only conclude I'm judging them to be bad drivers, and adding hours onto my travel time as well as costs. Living in a society that exalts vehicles, loves them more than life itself, correlates a car with freedom and goes into debt to have one has made my phobia into a monster. When I walk outside I see vehicles littering the streets, ubiquitous garbage; and as I walk or cycle, they are always in the way, dominating and often threatening. Drivers are 'king of the road' and they take that for granted. You not contained in tons worth of a metal box are a nuisance who should be in your own car elsewhere. If you are not in a car you are practically invisible or like a loud alarm going off - watch out for the person walking on the side of the road we couldn't be bothered to build sidewalks for since only this weirdo walks. You are not normal or sensible or any kind of real choice others would make.

But like with everything, there's an upside. I walk and cycle a lot, experiencing all the delights of slow movement, the sights and smells and interactions of a human pace. I'm fit and healthy, both feeling and looking good. I actually see not driving as a gift in the final analysis. If more people had my phobia, we'd have less pollution, decrease our need for gas, slow our world down, enjoy what's around us, and need a whole lot less money each month. Even ignoring what I gain, think about what I'm saving - not only the car payment, gas, and maintenance but license, registration, insurance, parking and tickets, and possibly my own life.

I'm like that too. I don't like falling from heights. Of course I can put my finger on exactly why - it always hurts way more than I thought when I hit.



Now fear of deep water - that's just cool. Imagine what's down there - at some point it does end, you know, every 33 feet adds the pressure of another atmosphere, and depending on the weather, you can't see much of anything after you're down 100 feet. I've heard of sinkers - people who float like lead - but you don't really see them all that much. Even skinny people float if they learn to relax.



So you don't want to get too far from the boat, because it's easy to get lost - the sea is NOT FLAT, and of course hypothermia is not intuitive. But it's really an amazing mystery - a submarine only a football field below you can be totally lost - and if it goes down just a mile - not a short commute - it collapses like an egg with all that pressure. I must say, damage control has got to be some of the scariest stuff in the world, with all that salt water flooding, bad chemicals, sudden spatial disorientation, and electrical hazards - makes the rifleman's life look cushy.

I'm almost the opposite. If I'm too close to water and too high above it with any chance of falling or being pushed in I'd rather it be deep enough to dive straight in and with no obstructions under the surface that someone could hit when going in. I've read about too many guys diving or falling into what turned out to be shallow waters and breaking bones, getting knocked unconscious and drowning, etc. including broken skulls and necks.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "afraid of 'deepness'".. People generally know what the issue is, and what to do in order to move beyond it - often its just a case of having a look-see..



You're definitely NOT "stuck" with it - it is actually quite easy to move beyond it ("fix" it, get rid, whatever term suits you)...



I say this, because this is what I do for a living!... You're talking either a specific phobia, or a generalised phobia.. As a rule, depending on life circumstances (i.e. current levels of stress), a specific phobia can be pretty much released in 3 to 4 weeks, with a one hour a week session! There are ways of being free of phobias / irrational unexplained fears... if you really want to be that is! :)

Maybe a fear of the unknown?

i feel the same way, exactly the same way. Whenever a see someon in the water on tv i freak out and imagine myself in the water. i can barely even go in the pool. and i hate walking on the floor of anything in a body of water, it creeps me out especially if something brushes up against my leg. I get creeped out so easily by it and i just thought i was wierd like that. i avoid even going into water unless it is a crystal clear pool. it just something ive never liked

i feel the same way, exactly the same way. Whenever a see someon in the water on tv i freak out and imagine myself in the water. i can barely even go in the pool. and i hate walking on the floor of anything in a body of water, it creeps me out especially if something brushes up against my leg. I get creeped out so easily by it and i just thought i was wierd like that. i avoid even going into water unless it is a crystal clear pool. it just something ive never liked

I once had a freeky moment that happened when I was arsing about on holiday. We were on a ferry in the mediterranean and it had mored up to allow people to swim to the shore if they wanted to. I decided to go to the very top deck and dive in from the hand rail. Since this was about 3 decks above the waterline it was quite a high dive and my wife and kids were all imploring me not to.



As I hit the water I penetrated rather deep then had this bright idea to swim under the keel of the ferry to come out the other side, just to worry the pants off my family. (Yeah jeuvenile and so wrong at so many levels but this was a spur of the moment idea.) Now here's the thing as I got to the other side of the ferry I looked up and, although I was pretty deep (at a guess about 20 feet below the surface) that didn't bother me at all.



Then this wall of rock came into view. The water was crystal clear and with my eyes I followed that rock face down deeper and deeper into the darkness. I suddenly got a panic attack just from the sheer depth of the water. I'd never known that kind of feeliing before. Being frightened just by the depth of the water. I wasn't afraid of any of the wildlife that may be in the water and I'm a good swimmer so being out of my depth is no problem. It was just the sheer depth of water below me that blew my mind.



I ascended and managed to board the ferry again and absolutely everyone was on the other side looking out for this poor chap that had gone in and never surfaced. The crew were running around like headless chickens getting life rafts launched, my kids were in an absolute frenzy and were upset for the rest of the day so, one way or another it was a really BAD idea. But the thing that sticks in my head is that feeling of the fear of deep water.



I've never had it since, even in deep water. I suspect that, without something that I can focus on, there is no way of knowing how far my sight is penetrating the water. This isn't a problem. Once I have something that I can see (such as a rock face) to confirm just how incredibly deep it is, I find it freeky.

I am scared of the deep ocean,but I would only be scared if I was in the deep ocean,I don't mind pictures,just being in the deepness would freak me out.

I am the same. I own a boat and when swim off the boat I am not far from it. Being in the ocean can freak me out, but again I manage my fear.