I loved the ocean as a kid, used to see to it as beautiful, always wanted to live on the ocean, take out a boat for a few days, and just chill. That was like my dreammmm growing up. Then me and my family went on an all round boat trip in the Red Sea when I was about 9, all of those hopes and dreams completely crushed as soon when I stepped on the boat, now this was what completely brought my fear on, because I never had it before, because I had never been in the ocean prior. I was just filled with unease. Everyone was loving it, but I wasn’t, I had multiple panic attacks, it was just being in the ocean and surrounded by this large quantity of something we don’t belong in, idk how to describe the feeling but anyone who has the fear knows what I’m talkin about. Nonetheless, I’m 19 now, and I can’t even go to the beach , it’s gotten bad, it’s the same thing with lakes. I live in a seaside town, so I miss out on alot of social events because of this, especially during summer when everyone wants to hang out at the beach and go for a swim. I just cannot bring myself to do it. I made this post as I see a lot of people really dumbing down and invalidating this fear, but it can affect your life and your mental health. Stay cool friends🙏🏻
“Something we don’t belong in.” Listen to your body and respect what it’s telling you. Because we do not really belong in there above our ankles.
Exactly. Most of the ocean is unexplored and there’s a reason for that.
Our distant ancestors literally lived in the ocean so idgaf
My dad died at sea when I was 3. I was terrified of the ocean. I've never learned to swim. I went to sea at 27. I was a deckhand. Just terrified. I eventually became a captain for 15 years and quit. I still can't swim and I'm still terrified of the ocean but I proved to myself I could do it. It's okay to be scared.
Learn to swim, it might save your life one day.
i'm so sorry for your loss
For me, it started with JAWS.
The shallow parts of the ocean are a beautiful experience. Once it’s deeper than where I can stand, I’m out. Screw that. That goes for rivers and lakes too. I went river rafting when I was a kid and that did it for me. I had my feet dangling in the water and felt something touch my leg. The immediate fear literally changed my life.
in my case, i made the mistake of watching a documentary with my family as a young teen about titanoboa and then immediately going swimming in the pool at night. the water was a murky, eerie, artificial green and i couldn't stop imagining that snake shooting out of the depths. that was it for me. being submerged in murky or dark water, any kind of water, whether i can touch the bottom or not, is an instant nope. i'll panic immediately. which honestly sucks because i used to love swimming when i was a little kid
Jaws certainly influenced me but if anything it has created a profound fascination with sharks and Ocean life.
Same. I just don’t want to be IN the water anymore. I watched Jaws a few hours before my sailing class and it was a poor choice as I was terrified during that lesson. To be fair, I was a child.
When I was about six years old, with my family in a small flat boat on a lake fishing trip, my older brother told me if I fell overboard, I'd get tangled up in the fishing lines at the bottom of the lake and die. I never ever went into a lake after that. Nope. Ocean shore OK, everything else, nope.
Same here. I went river rafting when I was a kid and I felt something touch my leg. That was it for me. I can’t do water that’s deeper than I can stand in.
I’ve only been to the ocean a handful of times because I live in a landlocked state. The one time I actually went into the ocean wasn’t too bad because it was a sandbar at high tide. Water only went up to my torso. I was asked if I wanted to go out farther and I immediately declined lol, kept thinking about that river rafting experience.
This was similar to how it started with me! My dad and I always talked about getting scuba certified when I was little. Three experiences showed me that wasn’t going to happen. 1. We went out in a boat. I did not have fun at all and found it terrifying. 2. We went snorkeling. Panic attacks like whoa. 3. I was playing a video game that had an underwater area and started having a panic attack. It was then that I was like oooooh, I’m scared of water. I can swim and do go in pools, but oceans or lakes are pretty much out for me. Dang. It was a bummer for sure.
I’m the same way. I am so fascinated by nature, but if I can’t stand upright in the water I’m not doing it. I tried to a few times, had my legs dangling off the side of the boat while I was on the river. I felt something touch my leg and I said, nope! Not for me. I’ll just stick to my documentaries, thanks.
Right?? My dad wanted help cleaning lily pads out of our pond once and I tried sooooo hard but every fish that bumped into me about gave me a heart attack!
In my youth I snorkelled in the sea, swam in rivers, lakes etc. I remember a light feeling of unease in water including when in swimming pools. As I've grown older I'm filled with such a sense of dread and horror at the thought of being in deep water, it turns my stomach at the thought of people bobbing about on the surface and worse still climbing out of the water and back onto boats.
Oddly, all the sense of dread focusses on being at the surface and I can happily watch people diving and such, like watching Ocean Ramsey swimming with Tiger sharks. With that in mind the sense of dread and alarm returned when she was swimming with White sharks.
I lived on the coast of a sea, and as a young kid I experienced very very high waves while I was trapped between some rocks and wall on the beach. I dream of big waves destroying my home town very often. I tried Better Help but it didn't work. 25 y after this I still dream the same dream.