Thalassophobia: Fear of the Ocean, Deep Water & Sea Creatures
In This Guide
What Is the Fear of the Ocean Called?
The fear of the ocean is commonly known as thalassophobia. Thalassophobia is a type of anxiety or specific phobia involving deep water, the sea, the ocean, or what may be hidden beneath the surface. Some people experience fear, dread or panic simply from seeing deep dark water, while others feel anxious about sea creatures, underwater depths or not being able to see the bottom.
Thalassophobia can have a significant impact on everyday life. If you have this phobia, you may feel anxious if you are near the ocean, driving along the coast, travelling in an aircraft going over the ocean or even just seeing images of the ocean or other large bodies of water on television or other sources.
People often search for this fear using terms such as:
- ocean phobia
- fear of the sea
- fear of deep water
- fear of the ocean
- sea phobia
Although these phrases all describe similar fears, thalassophobia usually refers specifically to an intense fear of large bodies of deep water such as oceans or seas.
For some people, the fear may be mild discomfort, while for others it can trigger severe anxiety symptoms including panic attacks, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, nausea or avoidance of beaches, boats and swimming.
In some cases, people may also experience megalohydrothalassophobia, which is the fear of large objects or creatures beneath the water, such as enormous ships, underwater statues, whales or deep sea creatures.
Symptoms of Thalassophobia
Symptoms of thalassophobia can range from mild to severe anxiety and panic. Some people feel particularly nervous when they are near deep water, while others may experience anxiety or fear simply from seeing a photograph or a movie showing the ocean.
Common symptoms of ocean phobia may include:
- Nausea
- Rapid heartbeat
- Shaking or trembling
- Dizziness
- Sweating
- Panic attacks
- Avoidance of the sea or deep water
- Fear or anxiety about sea creatures
- Fear of dark water
- Fear of drowning
How Severe Can Ocean Phobia Become?
Ocean phobia can affect your life significantly or it can be quite mild, causing only a little anxiety and fear that can be tolerated. If you have ocean phobia quite severely, activities such as travelling on a ship, ocean liner or boat may feel impossible for you because of the intensity of the fear.
Thalassophobia can involve several different fears, and manifests differently for people. Some people are particularly afraid of drowning, or fear what mysteries might be hidden under the water, including darkness, sea creatures and the unknown. For many people, the sheer depth and vastness of the ocean is terrifying.
What Causes Thalassophobia?
Ocean phobia can develop for a number of different reasons. It may originate from a frightening incident involving water, or from something you saw or heard about. A fictional event such as a movie or tv show that had a profound effect on you can also create a strong fear response. Sometimes there is no obvious cause and the fear may develop gradually without a specific cause that can be identified.
Fear of the ocean is of course also influenced by our survival instinct. The deep, dark water can represent real potential danger, so some caution is natural. With ocean phobia, the anxious response can become exaggerated and extremely intense, occurring even when there is little or no real danger. Some people with ocean phobia also have a family member with this phobia or a similar fear and may have developed some of the fearful reactions during childhood.
Possible Causes of Ocean Phobia:
- A traumatic or frightening event involving water
- Having a family member with ocean phobia
- Being generally more prone to anxiety and fear
- Having other phobias
- Hearing about other people’s frightnening experiences (including fictional)
- A strong natural fear response to danger
What is Megalohydrothalassophobia?
Megalohydrothalassophobia is a fear of large objects or creatures beneath the water. It is a related phobia overlapping with thalassophobia, especially where the fear is focused don size, depth and what is beneath the waters surface.
People with this fear may find looking at an ocean from the shore quite tolerable, but swimming in the sea or travelling on water may feel out of the question because it is so frightening. Triggers can be sea creatures such as sharks, whales and other large items such as shipwrecks or other large objects that may be there but unseen.
The experience of someone with megalohydrothalassophobia varies from person to person, with some people focusing on the darkness, the depth and vastness or of simply not know what lies beneath the surface.
What is the Difference Between Thalassophobia & Megalophobia?
Megalophobia is the fear of large objects or things, whereas thalassophobia is the fear of large bodies of water such as oceans, lakes and rivers. The vastness of the ocean is a significant part of thalassophobia. This may be one of the defining elements of a persons’ phobia, due to the size and depth of the water feeling overwhelming.
Megalophobia can involve large creatures or structures that are unrelated to the ocean. For example, megalophobia can involve fear of statues and tall buildings, whereas thalassophobia relates to the size, vastness, depth and hidden elements of the ocean.
Can Thalassophobia Be Treated?
Yes. Thalassophobia can be treated and improved for many people. Many people have fears about particular situations or objects, but being afraid of something does not necessarily mean it is a phobia. A phobia is generally more intense and tends to have a significant impact of everyday life. Phobias usually cause a person to go out of their way to avoid certain activities or situations because of their need to avoid the fearful situation.
Phobias can be improved with work, gradual practice and persistence. Treatments such as CBT, gradual exposure/desensitization, relaxation, hypnosis or a combination of them can help.
Anxiety
Phobias and fears can feel much more severe if you are also experiencing general anxiety. Anxiety can make you more alert to dangers and more likely to experience fight-or-flight responses to fearful situations. If you experience anxiety and would like to learn more about how to manage and overcome it please visit our comprehensive Overcome Anxiety article.
FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions About Ocean Phobia
What is the fear of the ocean called?
Fear of the ocean is called thalassophobia, a specific phobia of the ocean, deep water or the sea. People with thalassophobia may feel anxious about deep, dark water, sea creatures or what may be hidden beneath the surface.
Why am I scared of deep water?
Some people develop a fear of deep water after a frightening experience, while other people may fear the unknown dangers or creatures beneath the surface. Although some caution of deep water is a natural part of the body’s survival instinct, this fear can sometimes become excessive and trigger significant anxiety even when there is no immediate danger.
Can thalassophobia be cured?
Thalassophobia can often be treated and significantly improved. Many people are able to greatly reduce their fear of the ocean and deep water. Treatment may include relaxation techniques, CBT, gradual exposure therapy/desensitization or hypnosis to try to manage their anxiety and build confidence around water.
Improvement usually happens gradually, but with the right help and practice, many people can become calmer, more confident and more in control when near the sea or deep water.
What causes fear of the ocean?
Fear of the ocean can develop for many different reasons. Some people develop thalassophobia after a frightening experience involving water, such as a near-drowning experience. Others may develop a fear of the unknown aspects of the ocean, including deep, dark water, sea creatures or not being able to see what is beneath the surface. Sometimes there is no obvious cause.
What is megalohydrothalassophobia?
Megalohydrothalassophobia is the term for the fear of large objects or creatures beneath the water. This can include fear of large sea creatures, such as whales sharks, and large items or underwater structures in the ocean. This fear may be especially strong if the object is difficult to see, and involves the fear of the uncertainty of what is underneath the water.
Is fear of the sea common?
Fear of the sea is relatively common, but the intensity varies considerably from moderate fear or intense terror. While there is some natural caution around deep water that can exist without thalassophobia, a phobia of water is much more intense and usually involves avoidance.
What is fear of underwater creatures called?
There is no specific term for fear of underwater creatures. It is often linked to thalassophobia, which is fear of the ocean or deep bodies of water. Some people may also experience megalohydrothalassophobia, involving fear of large objects or creatures beneath the water.
Sharks, jellyfish, whales, eels and other underwater creatures are common triggers. The fear can also be connected to darkness, uncertainty, and simply not being able to see what is there under the water.
Treatment For Thalassophobia
Thalassophobia can be treated and significantly improved in many cases. The approach used depends upon the severity of the symptoms and how much it limits or affects your day to day life. Treatment can involve psychological therapies, desensitization/gradual exposure, and other types of support.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Gradual desensitization
- Hypnotherapy
- Relaxation/ Meditation
- Journaling
- Medication
- Support groups
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Ocean Phobia
With CBT the focus is on understanding the thoughts, responses, and feelings you experience as part of your fear, and helps you find practical ways to manage those fears. It can involve working on gradually desensitizing yourself by slowly facing situations that cause you to feel fear. Usually you begin with something that is relatively easy to build your confidence, such as looking at an image of the ocean. Gradually you progress and face more difficult and challenging fears. This process can be taken at a pace that works for you without being too overwhelmed with fear or anxiety.
Gradual Desensitization for Ocean Phobia
You can do gradual desensitization on your own or with a friend or loved one to support you. You could start out by looking at photographs or television programs that involve the ocean, sea or large lakes and rivers. You can use calming breathing techniques to help you manage your anxiety as you try ever more challenging scenarios, eventually doing something that once felt impossible for you. It is important to take it slow. With time and patience your anxiety may reduce at least to a more manageable level.
Self Hypnosis for Ocean Phobia
Hypnosis can be used to help reinforce calmer, more helpful responses to triggers. Hypnosis recording use deep relaxation, and positive suggestions to support these changes. It is important to use a hypnosis audio on a regular basis.
Relaxation or Meditation for Ocean Phobia
When you have a phobic reaction and you experience all those anxious feelings and possibly panic attacks, what is happening is that the stress response is extremely high. Lowering you natural stress and anxiety level to a lower baseline level can be helpful to some people as it makes it easier to calm down again if you get upset. You could learn meditation or use an audio recording. You could practice breathing exercises or chanting silently in your mind to calm yourself. These methods may not be overnight cures but they will help longer term if you stick at it.
Journaling for Ocean Phobia
Journaling can be helpful. The process of journaling and writing out your thoughts, insights, feelings can help you to understand the way your mind works, what helps you and what triggers you. Getting to understand your reactions better is also a path to a more mindful way of being. Being mindful will help you to stop just reacting thoughtlessly to the constant thoughts flowing though your mind, instead you step back and begin to react calmly and in a more positive way.
Medication for Ocean Phobia
Medication can help too. If you feel this is what you need, see your doctor and explain the situation. They may do a formal diagnosis and perhaps give you some medication to help in specific situations you might have coming up.
Support Groups for Ocean Phobia
Perhaps you feel that talking about this problem with other people who are having similar experiences may be helpful to you. Perhaps you can learn from others, ways of managing the phobia. Look out for a support groups either in person or on the internet or telephone. Alternatively you could talk one to one with someone such as a psychotherapist or counsellor. click here to go to a website where you can sign up for various support groups.
What is a Phobia & How is it Different from Fear?
A phobia is an intense fear reaction to a perceived danger that is out of proportion to any real risk or danger. The reaction is much more developed and intense than a simple fear response. With fear reactions, once you realize any perceived danger has passed, you can calm yourself down fairly quickly. That is not so easy with a phobia as the reaction tends to be much stronger. You can read more about phobias in general on the NHS website
With a phobia the body’s response is triggered easily through thoughts or anticipation of the feared situation, as well as experiencing it directly. If you have a phobia of the ocean, sea, lakes and rivers. (thalassophobia) and you find yourself in a situation where you are near a large body of water, you may experience intense anxiety and perhaps even a panic attack. This is part of the body’s Fight-or-Flight Response to perceived danger but tends to be excessive with phobias and the reaction is often out of proportion to the actual danger.
Avoidance and Phobias
Many people with a phobia try to avoid situations where they are facing their fear because naturally they do not want to feel those terrible feelings of anxiety and intense fear. However, avoiding the things that frighten us to this extent actually makes it worse. You may feel anxious at the very thought of going near the ocean or a large lake and it feels like it makes sense to avoid it at all costs. Gradually facing fears safely and appropriately, can help to reduce the fear response. Gradual exposure or desensitization is often used in the treatment of phobias.
How Does it Feel to Have a Phobic Reaction?
A phobic response can cause you to experience a surge of anxiety and fear. The physical and emotional symptoms you may experience are:
- Feeling of dread
- Severe anxiety
- Dizziness
- Lightheadedness
- Nausea
- Feel very hot or cold
- Trembling
- Physically tense
- Difficulty concentrating
- Increased heart rate
- Sweating
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling out of control
- Feeling detached
Doctors and mental health professionals can diagnose a phobia. You may recognize it if you have an intense fear, if that fear is persistent, intense and out of proportion to the actual danger of the situation. If your fear is persistent and does not improve and is affecting your life, considering speaking to your doctor.
Self Hypnosis Downloads for Ocean Phobia and Fear of Water
Self hypnosis recordings can be used to help you as you try to change the fear responses. Hypnosis uses deep relaxation techniques that many people find very calming. The positive hypnotic suggestions then help reinforce healthier responses to fears.
We have a self hypnosis recording specifically for fear of water that focuses on being on a beach and being able to go into the sea, You can read more about Overcome Fear of Water if you wish to find out more.
This self hypnosis audio is designed to help you feel comfortable near water, specifically the sea on a beach. We also have a general recording called overcome fear, and a relaxing stress reduction hypnosis recording that can help too. Our Ocean Phobia Hypnosis is available to preorder – Overcome Ocean Phobia
Explore More Anxiety & Phobia Resources
Many fears and phobias are linked to anxiety. You can explore my Anxiety Hypnosis Downloads & Guided Meditations to discover recordings, articles and free resources covering anxiety, panic attacks, phobias and related concerns.