Aquaphobia and its causes. The article will discuss the types of such a fear of water and ways to eliminate the problem that has arisen. Hydrophobia is a fear of water, which puts a person into a stupor at the mere sight of it. In some cases, taking a bath for people with a voiced problem is a painful process that can even end in an attack of panic and tantrum. To eliminate such a pathology, it is necessary to understand all the nuances of its formation and development.
Causes of hydrophobia
There is no such thing as smoke without fire, so psychologists have characterized the factors in the formation of the fear of water as follows:
- Fetal hypoxia … Even before birth, a child may already be pre-programmed for this pathology. Lack of oxygen in the womb very often provokes the emergence of such a thing as aquaphobia in the baby.
- Accident … With the mentioned factor, it is not necessary to remember the notorious "Titanic" and its sad history. For some people, it is enough to see a drowning person in order to then refuse the opportunity to visit a pond or pool for life. If there has already been an accident on the waves or the person does not know how to swim at all, then the phobia will only get worse.
- Failed attempts to teach how to swim … Some parents consider themselves to be great specialists in this field and want to make an amphibian human out of their child in an accelerated version. However, having swallowed liquids with such training, the child ultimately receives hydrophobia instead of pleasure from contact with water. This often happens in children who are simply thrown into the water by their parents, arguing that “they will float anyway, the water will support”.
- Unsuccessful intake of liquid food … You also need to be able to eat, which is repeatedly confirmed by experts. If, when using the same soup, a person chokes, then this can end not only with fright, but also with hydrophobia.
- Fear of depth … Not every person can boast that he can feel calmly being in the sea far from its coastline. In most cases, hydrophobia develops precisely because people are simply afraid of depth. They are frightened by the fear of the unknown under water, and the lack of solid soil, and the unpleasant sensations when diving (a feeling of fear of lack of air, pressure on the ears).
- Watching disaster films … The cinema sometimes does not skimp on the bloody details of some natural disasters. Shipwrecks very often become a plot for cult films, because this phenomenon has a rather strong effect on the human psyche. However, in some situations, overly impressionable people begin to fear water after watching such films.
- Fear of the inhabitants of the water element … In this case, I recall the next episode of the cult movie "Jaws", where the son of the protagonist, after suffering stress, stopped perceiving water as a safe object. Some people are terrified of sharks and other marine predators, even though they have never seen them. This phobia begins to be associated with the sea or ocean itself, which ultimately leads to hydrophobia.
- Fear of thunderstorms … Thunderclaps are not to everyone's taste. This phenomenon is especially frightening for children who hide under the blanket when nature is raging in this way. In this case, the thunderstorm begins to be further compared with water, which erupts in the form of rain on the ground during a voiced natural disaster.
- Bermuda Triangle Syndrome … Some people develop hydrophobia after learning about certain abnormal facts. If especially impressionable persons begin to speculate for themselves incredible details to the already existing facts, then the formation of hydrophobia in them cannot be avoided.
- Rabies and tetanus … In this case, it is immediately worth making a reservation that we are no longer talking about a phobia in its pure manifestation. Hydrophobia in the case of the aforementioned diseases is already beyond the scope of the work of psychotherapists and requires immediate hospitalization of the victim in an appropriate institution.
Note! The voiced factors that provoke fear of the water element, in most cases, are a controlled process by the person himself. Such a phobia is very often contrived by poor fellows who like to exaggerate and complicate everything.
Varieties of hydrophobia
Fear of water sometimes has rather bizarre forms, which experts have identified in the following classification:
- Batophobia … With this pathology, a person will be afraid to be in any body of water that has a solid size. In this case, we are talking about the fear of depth, which some persons cannot overcome.
- Thalassophobia … Many people dream of summer and the opportunity to visit a seaside resort, which, however, is not limited to this particular time of the year. At the heart of the sounded pathology is precisely the non-perception of the sea, which is revealed in a complete unwillingness to get to heavenly places.
- Ablutophobia … In this case, we will talk about children who are terribly afraid of the well-known Moidodyr. With such a phobia, the younger generation flatly refuses to wash, which causes their parents to panic. Every person needs daily hygiene procedures, therefore, the voiced problem is a rather serious nuance in raising a child.
- Chionophobia … Literally, this phobia can be called a fear of snow, which is quite unusual. It occurs less often than the same brontophobia (fear of a thunderstorm), but it can deliver a maximum of negative emotions to a person.
- Patamophobia … People with the voiced problem begin to panic openly even at one sight of a stormy stream of water. They should not go hiking in the mountains, where this happens quite often.
- Omnophobia … The expression "I love a thunderstorm at the beginning of May" cannot be called a good statement for a person with a similar pathology. People of this kind are terrified of rain, so they carefully study the weather reports in order to barricade themselves in the house in case of probable precipitation and stock up on food for a month.
- Antlophobia … Even a faucet that is leaking can irritate people with a similar problem. They are already initially scared to death by the fact that they may witness a flood or flood. Everywhere they see an excessive amount of water, which they can not tolerate.
The main symptoms of the development of hydrophobia in humans
Some people do not believe until the last that they have such a complex. However, any sane person will always understand that something strange and unacceptable is happening to his body. As practice shows, the symptoms of hydrophobia usually look like this:
- Water aversion at the tactile level … In this case, even the very thought of contact with water causes protest and even aggression in a person. People with a similar problem cannot even brush their teeth, because they have already formed hydrophobia in its pure form.
- Fear of depth … As already mentioned, not all people like to frolic in the sea, where even a scuba diver cannot reach the bottom. It is for this reason that some people flatly refuse to visit sea resorts.
- Fear of open water … With this pathology, it is enough for a person to see the sea or ocean to literally fall into a stupor. If such people do not see the coastline, then their hydrophobia begins to progress in an active mode.
- Nausea and dizziness … When a person is afraid of something, it definitely affects his general well-being. People with a voiced phobia begin to have headaches and gagging when they are likely to come into contact with water.
Some skeptics consider these symptoms to be an insignificant problem. However, this statement is absolutely not true, because hydrophobia prevents a person not only from enjoying the seascapes, but also in some cases from performing basic hygiene procedures.
Ways to combat your fear of water
It is necessary to definitely get rid of this pathology by any possible methods for this. Water is the basis of life for everything on earth, so the fear of it cannot be considered a normal factor in an adequate person.
Independent actions to eliminate hydrophobia in humans
Not in every case, you should immediately seek help from psychotherapists if there is no reason for obvious panic. Phobia in the form of a fear of water can be removed by the following actions, multiplied by the person's desire to overcome their fears:
- Direct contact with water … You should understand to yourself that you do not need to be afraid of her. It is necessary to start with the smallest in the form of the "Stream" exercise. At the same time, it is enough to pour water from palm to palm in order to feel the structure of this liquid at a tactile level. Then you can soak your feet in the coastal wave and admire the sea or river views.
- Visit to the water park … Such an event must be carefully thought out in advance. Undergoing hydrophobia treatment cannot be limited to just seeing water. It is recommended to take drastic measures so that the problem disappears without a trace. For a start, it's enough just to watch how people are having fun on such attractions. Then you can join them yourself in order to get further pleasure from contact with water.
- Swimming pool visit … It should be remembered that it is definitely not possible to splash around with a dolphin in it right away. To begin with, you can afford water procedures once a week for 10-15 minutes, then prolonging such a pleasure up to an hour. After the disappearance of a strong manifestation of aquaphobia, it is recommended to visit the pool every other day.
- Essential oil baths … In this case, we can safely say that the pleasant will be combined with the useful. This approach to solving the problem will allow you to develop a positive attitude towards water, which has a pleasant smell and has a calming effect.
Tips from psychotherapists to eliminate hydrophobia in humans
If independent attempts to get rid of the voiced problem have not yielded results, then it's time to seek help from specialists. In most cases, while working with a patient, they resort to the following methods of influencing him and his psyche:
- Art therapy … Such a fashionable method of dealing with sounded pathology among psychologists is a rather productive tool that has proven itself well among aquaphobes. It is based on the decoding of the emotions that were captured in the drawing. It is necessary by means of a pencil or paints to show your attitude to water and the reason for fears in front of it.
- Sessions with a psychotherapist … A heart-to-heart conversation with friends is no substitute for the qualified help of a specialist. In a conversation with him, the cause of the resulting phobia, which complicates a person's life, will be revealed. In some cases, one session is not enough, because the problem of existing hydrophobia can be of a deep nature.
- Hypnosis treatment … In especially severe cases, a specialist can offer this method of dealing with the described negative phenomenon. You should not be afraid of such an approach when eliminating the fear of water, because very often it is he who helps to identify the origins of the occurrence of aquaphobia.
- List of situations … To do this, you need to take a piece of paper and make a list of all the negative emotions that arise from the sight and contact with water. It is desirable that there are ten of them and they are located in an increasing order with respect to the non-perception of the sounded factor. Then you need to burn this piece of paper in order to end once and for all with unpleasant experiences and emotions.
How to get rid of hydrophobia - watch the video:
When asked how to overcome the fear of water, you need to honestly admit to yourself in the existing problem. After that, you should understand for yourself that water does not pose any danger to both human life and health.
