Thalassophobia is the fear of large bodies of water such as the oceans, sea, lakes, ponds and pools.
A person suffering from Thalassophobia may panic by seeing the vastness of the ocean and sea. A person suffering from Thalassophobia can also be afraid of sea creatures. I have also written an article on emetophobia, click Here to check out the article.
Symptoms
Symptoms may include the following:
- Rapid breathing
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea
- Sweating
- lightheadedness
- Feeling of anxiety
Causes
A person is likely to develop different phobias because of the following reasons
- Seeing something traumatic can hurt your mind and develop different phobias such as Thalassophobia
- Hearing traumatic stories from others can also cause you to develop phobias
- Genetics also plays an important role in a person's mental health and it can be the reason for different phobias.
According to DSM-5, to be diagnosed with Thalassophobia, a person should feel the followings
- The fear of water should be persistent, excessive and unreasonable.
- The fear should be felt every time, every person is exposed to deep or open water
- The person should avoid open or deep water
- The fear should be present for six months or longer
- The fear should interfere with the normal life of an individual [Wikipedia].
Treatment
There are some therapies and medications to overcome Thalassophobia.
Some of the following Therapies are as follow:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a therapy that helps the patient to learn to identify and control disturbing thought patterns into positive behaviour.
- Exposure Therapy
In Exposure therapy, an individual is exposed to the environment to which he is afraid. This helps to make the patient understand that the situation is not as dangerous as he thinks it is.
- Medication
Anti-depressants such as SSRIs can be useful in reducing the symptoms such as anxiety and fear. Many other anti-depressants are also used in treating Thalassophobia.
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