So, what is the fear of depth called, we will analyze the basic information about it and ways to combat the disease further, paying attention to the main nuances and features.
Fear of depth: definition and types of phobia
Fear of depth, or bathophobia, is an overwhelming fear of being in a body of water (or a deep pool) above deep, dark water: this phobia can develop in both adults and children, most often as a result of previous traumatic experiences that have formed a negative image of the situation.
Bathophobia has several subtypes:
- Objective fear of depth develops in response to a very real physical threat to life or a previous negative image associated with water. For example, a person who does not know how to swim or dive, as well as a participant or witness to a tragedy may suffer from a fear of depth: an accident on the water, a deliberate attempt to drown, a catastrophe, a large-scale natural disaster (tsunami, flood);
- The subjective form of fear of depth appears without real reasons: it is characteristic of people with increased anxiety and prone to panic attacks;
- A destructive, destructive form of bathophobia is based on illogical fears associated with deep bodies of water, dense thickets of algae and underwater inhabitants. A destructive fear of depth is characteristic of people with a wild imagination. Based on stories they have heard or read about chthonic monsters, mermaids and mermen, films about underwater monsters and large-scale tragedies on the water (sinking of ships, floods, tsunamis, etc.), bathophobes build a negative image of the situation. The most impressionable people are so imbued with these fantastic images that they imagine, supposedly hear the sounds made by underwater inhabitants, and see their shadows in the water.
What exactly might a person suffering from bathophobia be afraid of:
- Algae Fear: A person may be frightened by the sight of underwater vegetation or fauna hiding in it. A person may also be haunted by the fear of getting entangled or lost in the thickness of algae;
- Fear of encountering underwater fauna: crustaceans, mollusks, jellyfish, echinoderms, small and large mammals or amphibians, etc.;
- Fear of scary underwater inhabitants: chthonic monsters, mythological creatures, monsters inspired by cinema and science fiction literature;
- Phobia of artifacts lost in the water column, sunken ships, remains of ancient civilizations;
- Fear of bumping into the body of a drowned man;
- Phobia of the unknown: a person is afraid of the depth of water because he does not know what it contains (one of the variations of the fear of death). It can occur in people who cannot swim and in experienced swimmers;
- Fear of losing control of oneself.
Conclusion
Now you know what the fear of depth is called, how you can distinguish it from rational fear, and what methods help you overcome bathophobia.
This phobia can be treated quite successfully with the help of psychotherapy, so experts do not recommend delaying seeking help, since bathophobia tends to develop over time. High-quality and timely psychoanalysis will help to identify the real cause of panic in front of bodies of water and ultimately overcome the fear of depth.
Reasons for the development of fear of depth
In most cases, a person develops a fear of depth after a traumatic event that occurred on the water. Such traumas are experienced most acutely in childhood: an unsuccessful first swimming experience, comic attempts by peers to drag a child into the water, and the presence of another person during drowning strengthens the negative image and forms a phobic disorder.
At the same time, a person suffering from bathophobia throughout his entire adult life may not even remember his childhood trauma. In this case, in order to “get to the bottom” of the root causes, you will need the help of a hypnotherapist such as Nikita Valerievich Baturin.
Possible causes of hydrophobia and bathophobia:
- Diseases associated with difficulty breathing, for example, rabies and tetanus. A person infected with rabies experiences excruciating pain and difficulty swallowing: the virus attacks the nerves that innervate the swallowing centers. In ancient times, this disease was called “hydrophobia”. Unreasonable fear of water is one of the late signs of infection: at this stage the mortality rate is 100%. The patient loses touch with reality, experiences horror even before an ordinary glass of water, and becomes aggressive;
- Mental disorders: hysteria and panic attacks can be both a consequence and the original cause of a phobia;
- Negative experience of learning to swim or dive. Often, in an attempt to stimulate children's natural instinct of self-preservation, parents or coaches immediately throw them into the deep. Depending on your emotional makeup and sensitivity, this situation can cause psychological trauma and panic fear of water;
- Watching films about disasters occurring on the water, or monsters hiding in the depths.
Fear of depth and aquaphobia are most common in emotional people who, due to the characteristics of their nervous system, have a high level of anxiety and are prone to panic attacks.
Phobia of deep water and fear of drowning, accompanied by nightmares, can be caused by psychological problems. Often the cause of such dreams is the excessive pressure of everyday problems, the fear of remaining unnoticed, hidden in the shadow of one’s partner or relative (in a dream this can be felt as an irresistible pull under water, further and further from the surface and sunlight).
How to get rid of bathophobia?
In order to overcome the fear of depth, you need to seek the help of a psychologist or psychotherapist. Together, you will find the root cause of the fear and begin to get rid of it. If what scares you most is the presence of dangerous aquatic inhabitants in the depths, then a specialist will help you figure out which of them live in the reservoirs of your area and whether they pose a danger to your life.
Regular sessions with a psychologist, as a rule, give good results in dealing with psychological trauma. But sooner or later, the theoretical experience gained will need to be consolidated in real conditions. Practical classes usually take place in a swimming pool in the presence of a specialist. A person suffering from bathophobia learns to dive headlong into water without experiencing discomfort. Then he tries to stay under water as long as possible, holding his breath. The main thing is to take your time and gradually get rid of fear.
Snorkeling or diving can also help treat fear of depth. Exploring the seabed can captivate you with its beauty and diversity, and the fear of depth will no longer bother the “former” bathophobe. Of course, such activities can be started only when the acute signs of the phobia are already in the past - otherwise a sudden attack of panic can threaten the life of the diver.
If the fear of depth is permanent and interferes with a person’s fulfillment in society, then experts recommend the use of medications that calm the nervous system together with psychological help.
If all of the above methods do not give positive results, this may indicate that bathophobia has taken on a more complex form. In this case, it requires longer psychological work. The main thing is not to let the bathophobe despair and support him in every possible way. Create for him the safest and most favorable atmosphere in which he will feel comfortable and protected.
Group exercises are very helpful in eliminating phobias; they help the patient understand that he is not alone in struggling with his disorder and instill hope for a speedy recovery.
Behavior of a person suffering from a fear of depth
Depending on the severity of the phobic disorder, a person may exhibit different behaviors. In difficult cases, bathophobes even find hygienic manipulations, such as washing or taking a shower, difficult: they try under no circumstances to close their eyes in order to control everything that happens to the body.
An important condition is that a person suffering from bathophobia will never voluntarily swim in opaque water: if it is a bathtub or a swimming pool, the bottom should be clearly visible and illuminated.
With this phobic disorder, people try to avoid visiting bodies of water: if they are forced to be near water (for example, on vacation with friends), they try to be as far away from it as possible or swim only on the shore.
If a person with a phobia of depth is forcibly dragged into water, he will panic: the severe shock may even cause him to lose consciousness. After such experiences, he often withdraws into himself: to the point of completely refusing any water procedures.
In an attack of panic, a person’s ability to reason sensibly disappears: at this time there is no point in convincing him that water itself supports the body and will not allow him to drown, or that sea monsters do not exist. The only goal of a bathophobe is to get away from the water as quickly as possible.
Psychotherapy
It is the best way to fight the disease. Sometimes the patient only needs an objective explanation of the reasons for the fear, sometimes long-term work is required. In any case, therapy is selected and implemented depending on the client’s personality.
- if this phobia is associated with traumatic experiences, then psychoanalysis will be a good method, which will lead to a deep understanding of the roots of the problem and will help a person rebuild his attitude towards fear, thereby overcoming it;
- group work will be a good coping method for people who feel alone in their fear; within the group, as a rule, one’s fear is discharged “outside” and divided among group members, which significantly reduces its influence on a person’s life;
- Emotional imagery therapy will be an excellent option for people whose fear has a specific appearance that appears every time they experience it. The uniqueness of the therapy is that it is fundamentally unimportant whether a person is afraid of a “big gray spot” at the bottom or a mythical creature hiding there. Within this approach, the client gets to know his fear and makes it his friend. It is important that after passing the stage of catharsis in the last sessions, a person feels relief already in the therapist’s office.
Physical and psychological manifestations of the disorder
Physically, bathophobia can manifest itself as the following symptoms:
- shortness of breath; difficulty breathing;
- feeling of lack of air, frequent shallow breaths: if a person’s breathing does not stabilize, insufficient intake of carbon dioxide into the blood can provoke hyperventilation and loss of consciousness;
- increased heart rate;
- severe muscle weakness or convulsive twitching of the limbs;
- numbness and tingling in the body;
- headache, heaviness and tension in the frontal lobe, pounding in the temples;
- dry mouth;
- nausea and vomiting;
- hyperhidrosis: in a state of panic, the head and palms sweat most profusely;
- increased body temperature, chills;
- dizziness;
- disorientation.
The growing feeling of the unreality of what is happening does not allow a person to think sensibly: in close contact with the source of his fear, he mentally transfers himself to another place and time, abstracts himself from what is happening.
Often people are not so afraid of drowning as they are of public opinion: their main fear is the loss of control over their body when coming into contact with water in a public place.
At the same time, panic attacks haunt a person not only in close proximity to water: he can become hysterical even when remembering or mentally imagining such a situation.
Symptoms of bathophobia
Symptoms of depth phobia vary from person to person and situation to situation. As with all other specific phobias, the symptoms of bathophobia include both physical and psychological manifestations and signs. Physical symptoms include:
- dizziness or lightheadedness;
- fog;
- feeling unsteady or weak;
- shortness of breath or feeling of suffocation;
- cardiopalmus;
- fast and deep breathing;
- high blood pressure;
- chest pain or discomfort;
- numbness or tingling;
- hot or cold flashes;
- trembling or shaking;
- heavy sweating;
- nausea or stomach upset.
