Thalassophobia (fear of the sea or ocean): symptoms, causes and treatment

Despite the fact that the human being is an animal species adapted to terrestrial life, the seas and oceans are very present in our lives.

The simple fact that most of our planet's surface is covered by seawater means that we must adapt to the presence of these large liquid surfaces, large masses that can be used to navigate and to find natural resources in it, but that in certain contexts can be a threat.

In this article we will talk about the facet of the ocean that we experience with the greatest sense of danger and anxiety: thalassophobia.

• Related article: "Types of Phobias: Exploring Fear Disorders"

What is thalassophobia?

The concept of thalassophobia refers to a type of specific phobia in which what produces extreme fear is the ocean or the sea. That is to say, that a person who experiences this mental alteration will feel terror and great anxiety due to the simple exposure to this environment, sometimes even though you're not really close to it and you're just watching a video of this huge mass of water.

Being a phobia, that level of discomfort must be clinically significant (which means that there is a clear and evident deterioration in your quality of life that prevents you from doing many things and frequently leads to suffering) and appears in contexts in which the ocean or sea does not pose a reasonable danger or aim.

Obviously, if we are about to fall off the keel of a ship we will surely feel terrified, but the people with thalassophobia feel a similar way simply by looking at the ocean or a body of water similar. As the anxiety disorder that is thalassophobia, its mechanisms go beyond rationality.

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Symptoms

As we have seen, thalassophobia is a specific phobia that appears when the subject is exposed to stimuli that it interprets as the signal that there is an ocean or a sea nearby (or when it directly sees these masses of water). For the rest, its differences with the rest of phobias of this type disappear, which means that the symptoms are typical of these anxiety disorders and that only varies what triggers.

In summary, it can be said that the main symptoms of thalassophobia are the following: tachycardia, sweating, tremors, catastrophic thoughts, stress crisis, loss of control over one's own movements, and a great sense of danger.

At the neurobiological level, this unjustified state of alert implies the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, the which prepares the person to react to the slightest stimulus and predisposes the behavioral reaction of the flight.

At the behavioral level, the person tends to react in two ways: fleeing uncontrollably and almost automatically, and avoiding exposure to phobic stimuli to prevent the appearance of these anxiety attacks in the real or fictitious presence of the ocean.

Causes

In the same way that it happens with the rest of phobias, there is no clear cause that causes the thalassophobia, but rather there is a multiplicity of factors that can have as a consequence its appearance.

First of all we must consider the possibility of having lived through traumatic experiences. These are experiences where a very unpleasant emotional imprint is associated with a variety of stimuli which, when perceived, can trigger in real time the experimentation of a physiological and emotional state similar to what was felt in the original traumatic experience.

For example, having nearly drowned, or having lost someone loved in this way, can predispose you to experience this anxiety disorder. In addition, the biological aspect must be taken into account, and more specifically genetic predispositions to react with large amounts of anxiety in situations in which it is felt that there is or will be a loss of control. In phobias, one of the most common stress mechanisms has to do with the expectation of suffering an anxiety attack, which which generates a self-fulfilling prophecy loop effect and that unpleasant experience that was feared and expected becomes a reality.

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Differences with other similar anxiety disorders

There are two phobias that are similar to thalassophobia: bathophobia, or fear of depths, and hydrophobia, or fear of water. Although in practice it is very frequent that the stimuli that trigger them are almost the same, there are nuances to take into account.

Thalassophobia occurs in the real or imaginary presence of seas and oceans, that is, masses of water that normally extend to the horizon, and that we can feel very close despite the fact that we are separated by kilometers from its shore. The fear is of these bodies of water themselves, regardless of their depth.

In hydrophobia, on the other hand, the fear is of water, which can appear very far from the seas and oceans: for example, in caves, restaurants, swimming pools, faucets, lakes, etc.

In batophobia what generates terror is the notion of depth. That is to say, the sensation that there is a mass of matter of precarious stability that separates us from the bottom of an abyss. This experience can appear in the sea, but also in the snow, on the sand or even in a ball pool.

• Related article: "Batophobia: (fear of depth): symptoms, causes, diagnosis and treatment"

Treatment

Fortunately, thalassophobia has a good prognosis in most cases, since specific phobias respond very well to psychological treatment. After several sessions and some activities to be carried out independently, the majority of cases in which this class of anxiety disorders occur give transition to relatively rapid improvement, to the point where the level of anxiety caused by the phobic stimulus is no longer clinically significant.

One of the techniques that psychologists use the most to treat thalassophobia is The exhibition, which consists of exposing the subject to what he is afraid of in a controlled manner, and having set a series of objectives. As progress is made, the difficulty of these experiences increases, which in most cases occur under the direct supervision of the mental health professional.

You can work using real landscapes in which there is a sea or ocean, or experienced simulations through virtual reality glasses, although at first it is also common to use only the imagination.

Bibliographic references:

• Robert Jean Campbell (2009). Campbell's Psychiatric Dictionary. Oxford University Press. pp. 375.
• Snyder, Kari (2003). "Attack of the Water Monster". Boating. New York: Hachette Filipacchi Media. 76 (4): 44.
• Robert Jean Campbell (2009). Campbell's Psychiatric Dictionary. Oxford University Press. pp. 375.