Can anybody name my phobia? WARNING: Contains links to photos that may cause distress

Weidii · 17-04-2008 1:26pm #1

Hi,

As far back as I can remember I've always had a gut-wrenching fear of things submerged in water. For example, sunken ships, bricks, ropes and even the undersides of boats. I'm also afraid of submarines and zeppelins.

I've got no fear of sharks or other fish (though the underside of a whale would scare the bejesus out of me) it's mostly inanimate objects which get me.

Anyone heard of this before or have any idea what it's called?

watna · 17-04-2008 1:53pm

I couldn't find a name for it but Thassalophobia is fear of the sea, but I couldn't see anything about fear of objects in the sea.

It appears you're not alone!

http://isitnormal.com/story/21930/

http://www.43things.com/things/view/572072/go-on-a-phobia-conquering-adventure

Weidii · 17-04-2008 8:40pm

Yeah, it's definately not a fear of the sea itself, I love to swim and snorkel, I plan on doing some sub-aqua some day (though god help me if i come across anything other than sand under the water :rolleyes:)

Thanks for the information

rain on · 19-04-2008 12:39am

I have something similar.. I'm afraid of big things that are partly in deep water and partly out of it.. piers, cliffs, the sides of big boats, that kind of thing. Especially afraid of those things you get in the sea that mark rocks and suchlike. A mate of mine got left on a buoy in the middle of the harbour once as a joke and the idea of it really freaks me out.. being stuck on something that's connected to the bottom of the sea in deep water.. ugh!

Normal non-hollow piers are fine but the underside of the hollow ones are.. ugh horrible!

I think I sailed too much as a kid and had a few too many nightmares involving water and being trapped in it under things.

Careful now
Nasty!

LadyJ · 19-04-2008 1:43pm

rain on, please link to images and indicate that they are not safe for people with extreme phobias. Some people can't even look at pictures without freaking out. If you had posted a picture of a spider like that without warning, I'd have killed you. Consider this a warning.

Please read the charter.

Thanks.

rain on · 19-04-2008 6:24pm

LadyJ wrote: »

rain on, please link to images and indicate that they are not safe for people with extreme phobias. Some people can't even look at pictures without freaking out. If you had posted a picture of a spider like that without warning, I'd have killed you. Consider this a warning.

Please read the charter.

Thanks.

Apologies. I didn't seriously think that anyone would be scared by a picture of a buoy.. the things freak me out no end but it's only being near them, not looking at pictures of them.

Point taken though. I can't even look at pictures of spiders without my heart nearly stopping.

Weidii · 22-04-2008 4:18pm

rain on wrote: »

A mate of mine got left on a buoy in the middle of the harbour once as a joke and the idea of it really freaks me out..

Funny you should mention that actually, a couple of years ago while I was snorkelling in Greece with my sister she made me swim out to a buoy with her and touch the underside of it. I did that without freaking out too much, but I couldn't look at nor touch the chain attaching it to the bottom. Afterwards I panicked and belted it to shore, and I certainly didn't go near it for the rest of the holiday, but I think exposing yourself like that from time to time does help a little.

It's interesting to see that some others have the same(ish) phobia as mine, I'd love to get everyone who has it to write down past experiences that they think may have led to their phobia and then compare notes.

rain on wrote: »

Apologies. I didn't seriously think that anyone would be scared by a picture of a buoy.. the things freak me out no end but it's only being near them, not looking at pictures of them.

Yeah, pictures of buoys are ok, just don't go posting any underwater images of shipwrecks or submarines :P

rain on · 22-04-2008 4:58pm

Weidii wrote: »

It's interesting to see that some others have the same(ish) phobia as mine, I'd love to get everyone who has it to write down past experiences that they think may have led to their phobia and then compare notes.

It's a funny one alright. I definitely haven't always had it, only developed in my early teens after doing a lot of sailing in small boats. I think it's quite rational in a way; the things I'm afraid of (cliffs, piers, rock markers etc) are all things that you really don't want to be getting too close to if you're sailing (Coming alongside a pier in a medium or large boat is safe obviously, but I've accidentally gotten too close to piers designed for trawlers when I was in a tiny boat and it's not the most fun if you're an inexperienced sailor! I've heard of people falling down between the pier and the boat as well which could also be a factor as that's obviously dangerous). I don't think I have a problem with submerged ships and the like, it seems to be only things that are partly in and partly out of the water that get me. I have had dreams about being trapped under piers and stuff while swimming, which might have either been a cause or a symptom of the fear, I'm not sure.

It definitely only started after I started sailing in small (under 18 feet or so) boats though.

Yours does seem quite rational too in a way. The underside of a boat is really not a place you want to find yourself! Submerged boats could be quite dangerous too if you were to get stuck or trapped in one while diving, I don't think it's entirely weird to have a fear of them. Bricks and ropes and suchlike are a little more out there but maybe the fear started with the dangerous things and extended itself to everything submerged? Anything that's been underwater for a while can get quite gross and seaweedy too which could be a factor as well, what do you think?

Yoshiko Turada · 04-08-2008 11:01pm

I'm cringing just thinking about it. I've been searching for a name for this phobia. Why don't we give it a nickname of our own for now, so I can call it something other than "my horrible fear of submerged objects." The thing that bothers me the most is when you can see the buoy chord that goes all the way down so that you can't see it. I'm shaking as I type.

AnuKat · 04-08-2008 11:42pm

I'm terrified of anchors underwater, and the chain that leads down to them.

I haven't met anyone who feels the same, and anchors, specifically, I cannot find on any phobia list.

Like a lot of you, I love to swim, it's just this part of it that freaks me out...

I also don't like ships underwater, nor buoys, nor submarines... and the concept of a huge whale swimming under me also freaks me out.

I'd have to kill whoever would decide to leave me stranded on a buoy. That's hardly funny.

ilovetulips · 14-10-2008 3:30am

I am so glad I found this thread. People always laugh when I tell them I have a phobia of submarines. Not too keen on the underside of boats either.

passive · 14-10-2008 3:41am

AnuKat wrote: »

I'd have to kill whoever would decide to leave me stranded on a buoy. That's hardly funny.

I presume you mean as an alternative to being stranded on an oil rig or comfortable island, rather than when faced with the option of floating with nothing, or clinging to a giant squid?

And OP, Zeppelins only meet your criteria for being afraid if they are very, very badly flown... I suggest you cease worrying about them in this regard

bluecrabby · 29-10-2010 9:17pm

It's good to know I'm not the only one with this problem. I grew up on the water and am a very strong swimmer but have always had a phobia of submerged objects. My worst fear is swimming next to a huge boat like an oil tanker or swimming in the ocean and seeing a submarine beneath me. Just the thought of it makes me panic a bit.
Once when I was younger I was swimming in lake McDonald in Montana where the water is super-clear. My cousins dared me to swim around these three huge tree trunks that rose about 30 feet from the bottom to within a foot of the surface. I got about halfway to them before I lost it and panic-swam back.
Lately I've been trying to address my fear by exposing myself to the things that scare me. When I was in Hawaii last year I swam (alone) from the beach at Ala Moana to the reef. The channel in between was cut by the Navy and is very deep. The reef rises vertically to within a few feet of the surface. I actually selected this location on Google Maps in advance for exactly this reason. Swimming across the channel was difficult at first as you can't see the bottom and then the reef wall appears in front of you and drops all the way down out of sight. Once I got to the reef I realized I was too freaked out to go back and ended up staying out there way too long. At one point I thought I had the courage to go back but as I was peering over the edge, psyching myself up, a large (~3ft) tuna zoomed past and I lost my nerve. It's embarrassing to be terrified by a tuna but I guess that's what this board is for. When I finally got the nerve up and went for it I swam flat out and refused to look up. I ended up somehow swimming in a big circle in the channel and had to slow down and pay attention to where I was swimming to get back to the beach. I ended up with a horrible sunburn on my calves and back from being stuck out on the reef for three hours.
I also have taken to following big container ships and cruise ships on a jetski. They pass right by my house in Annapolis and I can get right next to them. I'm proud to say I don't get panicky near them anymore but I still don't like riding behind them as there are lots of little whirlpools that remind me of the giant propellers nearby.
I've even been trying to get SCUBA certified but the only place to do that around here involves doing your check dive in a quarry and I know the steep walls and submerged cranes would give me a heart attack.
I'm leaving next year on a sail around the world and know I will come face to face with my fear at more than a few points on my trip. I still haven't figured out how I'll react scuba diving near a shipwreck (my guess is not well at all) and I honestly have no idea if swimming with whales will scare me. I'm guessing the whales won't bother me too much as I have absolutely no fear of sharks or fish (except that damn Tuna in Hawaii). Sorry this post is so long but I've never really put these fears to words before.

CJhaughey · 04-11-2010 2:40am

Just a thought perhaps time in the water might help?
Not necessarily snorkelling in the sea (overpowering) but perhaps just snorkelling in a public pool where you can float in a shallow setting and get used to looking at things in the water that have a known distance.
Most public pools also have depth markings and these can help with references.
If you can acclimatise yourself to do that the next step maybe to spend time snorkelling in a shallow area in the sea.
You can find lots of interesting things to look at in rocky tidepool areas and these might be interesting enough to allow yourself to relax.

I dive a lot breathhold no scuba and I can agree that large objects underwater stir powerful feelings, I have often had to make myself relax in situations where I am diving onto a wreck or out of shallow water and into deeper water where I cannot see the bottom.
I think it is likely to be a primal feeling where we are instinctively wary of large forms in the sea that could be predators.

Bulbous bows on ships look organic and maybe therefore stir these emotions, likewise submarines although they are a kind of predator as well!
Could this be part of the problem?
If you look at most ships above the waterline they are made of straight lines and look manmade. However below the waterline they use curves and this may be a part of the phobia?

I don't have this phobia but I spend a lot of time in the water and am always aware that this is a latent trait in many people I dive with.

mkultra33 · 06-12-2010 10:46pm

Hi there!
I have the same phobia as you - this deepwater, oil-tanker swimming thing. So far, after a couple of days of research, I have no results as to what this phobia could be called. So, I think we should create a name. I was thinking 'Maremophobia' - as 'Mare' is the Latin for 'Sea', and 'Rem' the Latin for 'object'. I don't know about you, but this seems to have a decent ring to it! I'm as desperate as you guys and gals are for answers regarding this problem.
<mod snip>
Thanks

amdublin · 19-12-2010 1:27am

Okay so I was doing a search for Hawaii - just posted looking for holiday recommendations - and I found this.

I have this fear too. Think it is the creepiness/eeriness or fear of the unknown or something. I hate documentaries on the titanic where it just suddenly appears out of the depths.

I am a really strong swimmer and have done scuba no problem. It tends to be dark cold water with things submerged in it that freak me out.

Ha ha funny finding this! I feel your pain people!!

Swuzzie · 07-03-2011 1:27pm

I have this phobia too, i think mine began when i was told that grates on the bottom of swimming pools can trap ur hair and drown u

i want to get over this as it affects my life so much

cocoshovel · 12-03-2011 1:49am

I have this fear too. Things such as the chains of buoys going down into the depths of the ocean. Submerged pipes, especially large ones on the sea floor.
Things like rocks, and ship wrecks don't really make me feel nervous though.

The thought of swimming at the beach or something and going a fair distance out and touching my leg off some huge oil pipe scares the **** outta me!

elcowboyspace · 27-04-2011 5:16pm

Man I really owe you a kick in the nuts for that image. I get this too. And Im a "pro" scuba diver. Never much liked the idea of ropes, chains, pipes, or cables underwater. I had the absolute crap scared out of my diving in the west of ireland about a year ago. We were under about 16-18 metres of water going along a sandy bottom with some rocks,kelp and seaweed, usual stuff, crabs and the like, all of which i am fine with when all of a sudden I come across A MASSIVE SECTION OF METAL SCAFFOLDING AND PLATFORM Seemingly built on the sea bed and rusting away. Frightened the crap out of me I can tell you. But still your image of swimming out and then touching your leg off a massive pipe is much worse. Especially if you have a mask on and can look down at the things.

triseke · 28-04-2011 9:53am

I dont feel so wierd now. I have a fear of the sea, not so much the water itself, more like the depth of it. I cant watch those documentaries by david attenbourogh as they freak the hell out of me!

Couple this fear with underwater caves, and im a mess when im near the ocean!

elcowboyspace · 28-04-2011 10:16pm

No it appears that you are not alone. While I dont think that you get exactly the same thing as me ( as I have no problem with the depth and in fact quite like caves ) there are definately a substantial number of us around the world who have some inexplicable fear/phobia of things underwater or of the vastness and invisibleness of "depth". Strange one really, nice to know that its human thouhg eh?

Jules646 · 26-04-2012 10:04pm

Weidii wrote: »

Hi,

As far back as I can remember I've always had a gut-wrenching fear of things submerged in water. For example, sunken ships, bricks, ropes and even the undersides of boats. I'm also afraid of submarines and zeppelins.

I've got no fear of sharks or other fish (though the underside of a whale would scare the bejesus out of me) it's mostly inanimate objects which get me.

Anyone heard of this before or have any idea what it's called?

I have submechanophobia- a fear of submerged man-made objects. This includes anything from old shopping trollys to fridges to bouys, ships and submarines. The larger the object the worse it is. If it's partially submerged it's even worse and so the worse thing ever is a ships hull. I can't look at pictures of shipwrecks or partially capsized boats and I can't even think of the word submarine without hyperventilating. My phobia has grown through association to all things nautical- even out of the water. For example, I saw a ships propellor on a trailer on the motorway and shot across 3 lanes to avoid it. Weird tho- I can go on a boat (cos I can't see the hull) and quite enjoy this after the initial freak out at being led onboard blindfolded, but if another ship sails nearby I have a heart attack. If i ever saw a real submarine i would die. If im stressed i dream of being in a dock. I cant go near canals incase someone has dumped an old fridge in there and i can seeit iust under the surface I sometimes freak myself out looking at my legs in the bath if my knees are sticking out of the water too. Anyone else?

mrsherself · 13-08-2012 2:37am

I don't think this is a weird fear at all! It's a fear i don't have, but just from hearing your descriptions, it's freaking me out! Seriously! So obviously it's not that weird. Ugh I hope I don't get the phobia now too!!!

blackpowder · 30-08-2012 9:44pm

the german ~seamen who were in the wolfpack u boats in world war 2 had the very same fear being trapped in a submarine if hit by a mine ,wow its a scary thought even to think

Califf Toten · 28-12-2012 7:23am

Huh im not alone yeah this one freaks me out i just don't no what the hell it is. I havent always been freaked as bad as i am now but i have know i dea were it started. Its odd to me that i fear this my fear is basically large man made objects under water but hears the kicker even if it was 100ft tall at the deepest part of the of the ocean all rusted up and creecking but it was a square like object all placid it wouln't bother me but the ships like WWII ships and newer freak me out all underwater rusted and creeking and the windows in them i think its the shape of mechanical objects that freack me out by why is it that only in water i freak????

Ayyitstj · 26-06-2013 8:50pm

I am deathly afraid of submerged buoys,sticks,logs,anything that I touch under water that I cannot see I will immediately freak out

KTRIC · 11-07-2013 12:57pm

Old boats, particularly trawlers in dis-repair scare the f*ck out of me !! Dont know why !!

Miss Lockhart · 21-07-2013 3:23am

I have this too - weird to come across this thread!

For me the larger the object and the deeper it goes the worse it is. It's also much worse if it's out of place - I actually cope ok with ships that are afloat. Very large semi-submerged objects are worst.

The first time I remember it bothering me was seeing the ship rise up in the film Raise the Titanic.

I recently went on a trip to a little island near Edinburgh and had to pass the Forth bridges and sailing under them and seeing their pillars freaked me out. Pictures of the wrecked Costa Concordia on the news are bothering me also.

Another thing that bothers me is kinda stupid but the scene in Planet of the Apes with the Statue of Liberty. Again I think it's the idea of something so big and man made just coming up from the depths unexpectedly.

My family think this is the stupidest fear ever.

ervj · 29-08-2013 9:28pm

Glad I found this thread - was having a conversation with my mate who shares the same inexplicable fear that I do - man made objects submerged in water. Just reading this thread has made me feel seriously uneasy.

I haven't figured out what may have started it - I remember always feeling very unnerved by weirpools when I was young. There was this one we used to walk past frequently that had loads of rusty pipes going into the water and I'd never be able to look at it.

Like someone else said, my worst fear would be a large boat going past me while swimming or looking down and seeing a submarine. There are two incidents of experiencing the phobia I can remember both when I was on holiday in Crete (separate years). The first was that I was swimming in the bay - not a problem as the water was really clear and you could see right to the bottom (just making sure I stayed away from the boats along the pier. Next thing I know I turn around and there's this huge boat about 15 metres away from me pulling into the bay. Think I nearly drowned having a panic attack. Second was when I was out sailing one of those mini catamarans. We went out a lot further than we should have and the weather turned bad, so we decided to turn back, but my friend saw a bit of debris floating in the water and being a staunch environmentalist, steered to go collect it. We were basically a metre from it when he realised there was a long line of them and they were bits of polystyrene holding up a fishing net.

Cue him turning the rudder out of panic and the boat turning over right over the net. I dont even want to recollect it as it's making me shudder but we managed to get the boat turned back up and get back to shore. Haven't been sailing since and don't intend to

furryatp · 31-08-2013 4:20am

I came across this thread after googling my strange fear of buoys. I never thought of looking up my life-long fear until now, and it's really cool to see that so many other people share it! I read through the posts, and I feel like it goes beyond buoys. The thought of being in the water near a partially-submerged man-made object freaks me out! I have no problem with pictures though.

Strangely enough, I feel like if I had scuba gear, I would love to explore a wreck at the bottom of an ocean or lake, but getting near or on one that is sticking out of the water? NO WAY!

Buoys are the worst for me though. Not so much the top, but the chain below is frightening to me. Strangely, smaller ones are worse (the ones that are like 2 or 3 feet tall) rather than the big, data-collecting ones in the ocean that you can actually stand on (though they do make me a bit uneasy).

I too love swimming and most other water sports. When I go tubing or skiing and I fall into the water (usually deep enough so you cant see the bottom) I have no problem. Even when the boat turns around to pick me up, I feel nothing about it, though it isn't a huge boat. Something like a cargo barge going past while I'm in the water does not sound fun.

I can't imagine where this fear stems from, as I have had no traumatic experiences involving any of the objects I mentioned above.

Halfdude · 17-02-2014 1:45pm

Oh man this is cool, I had no idea this had a name till now. I actually didn't even know it was a phobia, for a long time I assumed most people got freaked out by sunken ships and stuff, and that it was only really brave people that actually dived to them and stuff. But yeah I was surprised to find out that I'm kind of in a minority, so weird!

I'd like to know what caused me to be this way, I think a phobia is caused by some kind of trauma isn't it? I always kinda wondered if Jaws was to blame for it, I remember my parents watching it when I was little, and I remember that part where Richard Dreyfuss' character is searching the underside of that boat and that dead body of Ben Gardner floats out of the hole. I remember that scaring me quite a bit. I always wondered if that's why I was afraid of underwater ships and stuff, just the way things move underwater, the floating feeling of helplessness like if something grabbed you you had nothing to grab onto to help yourself.. it's all overwhelming.

What's weird though is all through my childhood I was fascinated by sunken ships! I was an avid Titanic fanatic, I also used to watch this show on the Bermuda triangle and loved seeing all the creepy wrecks! They're the exact thing I'd be terrified to explore in real life, but seeing it on TV.. it's not as bad and is kind of a trill.. and it is interesting.

Warning contains footage of wrecks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCcWpmRMONs&t=3m40s

I really wish I could nail down what it IS exactly that scares me, but it almost feels like it's a combination of a lot of things. I agree with other people, the underside of boats and propellers, trash and stuff underwater even small things. I still wonder if it's just the look of it, all that algae growing, the murkiness, it almost looks like a dead-body. That's why I wonder if I blame Jaws, because like I'm always worried some creature or dead thing is inside the boat, or hiding underneath it and is gonna float up out from under gah!

I remember when I was little, I was visiting someone's house that lived on a lake, they had a landing for the lake in their back yard. You could see it from the shore because it was shallow enough to see from the surface, but there was a metal row-boat that was sunk, it was only about 2-3 feet below the water but it'd been there long enough that it was all green'ed and covered with plants and algae and stuff. I was fascinated so I took my own row-boat and rowed out to it. I was almost over it, it was just about 3-4 feet below me and as I was looking down on it I felt myself start getting freaked out, my heart racing. I went to leave and my boat actually passed over it and got lodged on top of it! I heard the bottom of my boat scrape against it, I totally FREAKED out, I started screaming at my mom who was on the shore. I was able to get off of it fairly quickly, but I think the fear that my boat would sink and I'd have to be in the water with that sunken boat SCARED me!

It kinda sucks though, like I said, I'm scared but I'm also fascinated by sunken wrecks.. is sucks that I can never explore them myself. : /

Can anybody name my phobia? WARNING: Contains links to photos that may cause distress

Comments