8 Phobias That Are Guaranteed To Make You Feel Uncomfortable
3. Thalassophobia
Thalassophobia is a intense fear of the sea and often works alongside submechanophobia. This can vary to also include deep water, vast areas of water, sea creatures, waves and even fearing the distant sea from land. This fear differs from aquaphobia (fear of water) as it mostly centres around a large area of water that is deemed unsafe by the sufferer, to which they may go to extreme lengths to actively avoid at all costs.
The phobia, much like many others, is usually first triggered by a past traumatic experience - whether this be to the point of drowning in sea or simply having a memory of being scared whilst swimming because they saw something within the water. For extreme sufferers, even looking at a picture of the sea, driving past the beach or flying over the water in a plane can trigger the anxiety.
If the person with the fear is put in to the sea, they can feel claustrophobic and feel like something bad will happen. Some studies suggest that water related phobias such as this one are most common amongst women.