63 Uncomfortable Water Pics That Make You Feel Small In The Worst Way (New Pics)

There is nothing shameful about being scared. Fear is an innate part of human life, and it protects you from potential dangers. Even phobias, irrational fears, are quite common.

For example, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reports that around 9.1% of American adults have had specific phobias in the past year. Around 12.5% of the US adult population experiences specific phobias at some point throughout their lives.

Meanwhile, 19.3% of adolescents aged 13 to 18 had a specific phobia.

However, phobias can affect different people, well, differently. For some, they are a mild inconvenience. For others, the effects are so debilitating that it makes daily routine more difficult, limits their options, and reduces the quality of their life.

Based on the data from NIMH, of the adults with specific phobia in the past year, around 21.9% had serious impairment. Furthermore, 30% had moderate impairment and 48.1% had mild impairment.

People develop phobias due to a combination of factors, ranging from their genetics to their upbringing and past experiences.

In a nutshell, thalassophobia is the intense, persistent fear of deep bodies of water. These sources of fear can be, for example, the ocean or a lake. It can also be something like a murky and particularly deep swimming pool.

You are more likely to develop fears related to bodies of water if you have had traumatic experiences. For instance, you may have struggled, drowned, or needed rescuing while swimming or diving. Or you had a nasty, dangerous trip while sailing on a boat.

How you were raised matters, too. For example, if your relatives kept telling you horror stories about the dangers of water, you’ll likely be more wary of it as well. Parents can also pass their irrational fears down to their children, even if their kids don’t initially have the negative associations.

You are also more likely to develop phobias if you have a more anxious, sensitive, or negative personality, as well as keep hearing stories about water accidents, for instance, on the news or social media.

On the genetic side of things, it is likely that many of your ancestors were cautious around deep water, and they may have passed on these traits to their descendants.

On the flip side, if you have a healthy relationship with bodies of water, you can recognize the danger they pose without becoming paralyzed when you’re near them or looking at their photos.

For some people suffering from thalassophobia, it is the vastness and overwhelming scale of open water that scares them. For others, it might be the (real or imagined) dangers that lurk just beneath the surface.

This is distinct from aquaphobia, the irrational and intense fear of water. Aquaphobia might mean that the person is terrified of baths or even splashing, not just deep water and swimming pools.

On the physical side of things, someone with thalassophobia can feel the following symptoms when they are near a vast body of water, are exposed to content about it, or are even simply imagining it:

1. Dizziness
2. Nausea
3. Lightheadedness
4. Rapid breathing and a shortness of breath
5. Racing heart
6. Sweating

On top of this, you can also experience emotional symptoms such as anxiety, detachment, feeling overwhelmed, and a desire to escape.

You might also feel a sense of imminent doom.

For some individuals, their having thalassophobia will barely affect their routine. For others, it can severely lower their quality of life. You may, for instance, suffer from sudden panic attacks, chronically feel anxious or depressed, feel lonely and socially isolated, and misuse substances to cope with your fear.

This is unhealthy. Thankfully, thalassophobia, like many other phobias, can be treated.

One way to help, for example, is to desensitize yourself to your triggers by gradually exposing yourself to the source of your fears. This can involve both real-life exposure and virtual exposure.

Another approach is to try cognitive behavioral therapy, aka CBT. This type of therapy, the American Psychological Association explains, focuses on changing your thinking patterns. Namely, you learn to recognize how your distorted thinking can create problems, understand your behavior and motivations, use your problem-solving skills to cope with tough situations, and develop confidence in your abilities.

How do these photos of mysterious, deep, open, and dark bodies of water make you feel, Pandas?

Do you think you have thalassophobia, and if so, how does it affect your daily life? Thalassophobia aside, what other irrational fears do you have?

What scares you the most? (Yours truly, for instance, has acrophobia, the fear of heights.)

Keep scrolling and diving deeper, and share your insights and experiences in the comments section at the bottom of this list.