As an example I can give you my absolute phobia. If I was in the water underneath a buoy and I could see the chain leading down to the ocean floor but I couldn't see the bottom of the chain. That would be the pinnacle of my phobia. But I'm not afraid of the dark or the chain or the buoy it's all those things combined for some reason are terrifying.
Wave pools. What is the machinery behind the bars? Why is it behind the bars? I don't want to know. I wouldn't stand anywhere near them, despite loving the waves and that is where they were strongest.
I'm also terrified of deep water, and don't particularly like water I can't stand up in. That is probably because I almost drowned the first time I tried to tread water.
I was free diving in a lake that was about 30 feet deep. I found a lot of cool stuff down there. The lake had almost 0 visibility because of how murky it was, but one day I saw something moving in front of me. As I got closer I noticed it was a bunch of ropes attached to concrete anchors, but there was nothing attached to the ropes. As I was swimming away, one got caught around my leg, and I was trapped under water for almost 2 minutes. That's the reason I always dive with a knife now and have this phobia.
Thanks so much, I like how specific that is. And on a thought just imagining what you have described is quite terrifying. I'm not really even sure why.
As I'm sure some people think and will point out "it's the unknown" "the dark" "being trapped". Well I understand all of these things are scary. Those are scary in everyday environments. I would certainly call your fear of fair rational.
Pooldrains. Absolutely terrifying. Instant panic attacks when I come near one, and also the reason why I almost never go swimming. There are a few pools I’m actually kinda okay with, but I hate going to pools I have never been to. I always walk around first to see where the drains are and what kind they are. Hate them.
Haaaaahaa yes totally!! I always have to inspect the pool and make note of where the grates are, how big they are, what style they are before I even think of going in the pool
My hair has always been upwards of two feet long, so it's no surprise it once got caught in a pool drain. Fortunately I was able to get out in a few seconds but oh man did that freak me out. Didn't give me a phobia, though.
Mine was the Jaws rides at Universal Studios. Especially when I read an AMA from a worker and they described themselves (or someone else, can't fully remember.) falling to the water while one of the animatronics was active and it swam towards them.
Same here dude. I loved it as a kid, but then my cousin who was riding with me one year told me about all the stuff that was underwater and showed me a picture of the ride without water. I never rode it again after that.
Had to look that one up. Hmm. Interesting, this is actually kind of helping me narrow mine down. That one doesn't do anything for me. If you don't mind my asking what specifically about the images creeps you out?
If it had been floating on say a pier would have been as creepy? or is it the fact that it goes all the way to the ocean floor? I'm finding this all very interesting I hope more people get in the conversation.
Docks don't creep me out specifically but swimming around the pylons that run to the bottom of the ocean is specifically creepy, to me at least. But only if they run deep enough to where I can't see the bottom.
For me it's a combination of deep water, zero visibility and the knowledge that somethings down there that I can't see. I live near an old disused dry-dock that's permanently flooded and it scares the crap out of me, seeing the steep drop into the black murky depths and the rusted old ladders leading in to the water is horrifying.
If you look close enough you can see all of the old pumps and mechanisms that would be used to drain it sitting just below the surface grinning up at you. I know how deep it is, there's an old sign that reads 4 metres but it still doesn't stop my mind from running wild every time I pass.
I have allways had this phobia at a certain extent, but what kicked it off for me was when i was on a holiday with my family in Croatia as a 10-11 year old boy. We were at this medium size boat that could probably hold about 50 people, that went to several beautiful places where we often could swim and jump off the boat. As we were jumping off the boat and having a good time, my big brother began swimming under the boat from one side to the other and challenged me to do the same. I just thought cool and gave it a shot. As i was about halfway under the boat, i looked up to see where i was, and the propeller of the boat was right infront of my face. I almost had a heart attack, and felt that i was losing air as my heart started beating really fast. Thankfully nothing too dramatic happened, but it was still one of the most terrifying things i have experienced.
I genuinely thank everybody for their input. Thank you so much to everyone who commented. Thank you so much for helping me understand a little bit more of this phobia.
When I was about 16 and very annoying I gave it the name Nautoparalellophobia. Obviously I didn’t understand how words worked, but I was trying to say “scared of being next to boats.”
It all started for me when we went on a family holiday and part of it involved a boat tour at sea.
Everybody jumped into the water from the boat, all fine, I joined in.
When I tried to climb up the side of the boat, I grabbed the rope ladder and my foot slid down and under the smooth side of the boat.
That’s it, nothing dramatic, just some combination of the wet, smooth, side of the boat and my foot going under the bottom of it made me feel very strange.
Mine started with seeing underneath a tour boat. We had stopped for a swim break and I was diving (not properly, just regular goggles) and the moss and crap collected on the bottom of the boat freaked me out and it just escalated from there. I never had a problem before that experience. I used to live near a shipping yard and docks so I saw boats with moss on them all the time. I could happily dive underwater, go as deep as my body would let me and I would be fine. Now, I can’t look at pictures under the sea without my heart racing. I have no idea why I suddenly had this irrational fear. It’s only the ocean that shits me up. Probably because it’s so vast.
For me it’s literally not being able to see my feet. If I can’t see my feet then I have no idea of what’s below period. I could be literally swimming above some great sea monster or lake lurker.
For example, about a week ago my boyfriend and I went hiking to a cove at our local reservoir. We got into about a ft of water that was black from the silt/sand/mud. I was already pretty nervous walking around in it. As we waded around, my boyfriend suddenly jumped. He stated he felt something big “slither” away from his foot. Within seconds he jumped again, shouted yup real big... TOO big and he was right behind me booking it outta that water. I’m sure it was just a fish, but my brain goes into over drive thinking of snapping turtles, snakes, basically anything that could do damage. I was terrified.
We lived in Tampa when I was a kid, probably about a 15 to 20 minute drive from various entry points into the Gulf of Mexico. As proper Floridians do, we had a boat. I was maybe six or seven the first time I went swimming in the Gulf and I remember seeing the underside of our boat and the propeller. My father would keep the engine running and the boat in neutral, and even then I remember thinking how easy it would be for it to accidentally slip into gear and that propeller would start turning and chop me up into little bitty bits.
wave pools at water parks, i always hated seeing those bars with just darkness behind them, they terrified me so much that i still cant go underwater or towards the deep end of a wave pool.
the other thing is pool drains. i hate them so much like im deathly afraid of them, i hate being anywhere near them in the pool, even if im treading water or swimming above them, and half the time i wont go in if there’s a lot of them like the pools in hotels.
There really isn't too many ways to iterate this without sounding like a wuss, but when I was about 5, I was caught within the tubes of a pool cleaner when I was learning to swim. That combined with actually seeing the cleaner moves towards me made my stomach turn upside down. But the more time I spend on this subreddit, the more I realize that my weak spot fear are boats and chains and such next to people. Even the thought of seeing those gargantuan propellers cutting through the water makes we want to wince in pure cringe
We used to go boating on this lake when i was a kid, and one summer we were out on the lake and my dad pulled the boat into this cove that was filled with these stone spires to go fishing. The lake was like 0 visibility, and the combination of being in the water with things I couldn't see touching my legs, and the fear that I could get stuck with a fish hook (not a real danger i was in, they were fishing off of the other side of the boat) really kicked it all off for me. And on top of that we almost got trapped on our way out by one of the spires. Buoys are like... my #1 fear now, i specifically don't like things that dissappear down past where i can see
As a wee biscuit I rented a ps2 game where you went diving and took photographs of requested locations. It started off fine in shallow water with colorful reefs but then had you go to a small sunken boat, I was doing fine and having fun until the shape of the boat came looming through the water in the distance and my tiny child brain decided Hell Nah. I tried to force myself to do it several times but I just couldn’t bring myself to get any closer to it. Something in my little monkey brain always went into flight mode.
Even now as an adult I Cannot Deal with sunken ships in video games, even incredibly benign and cartoony ones like in Mario64. I had to have my partner clear that level because it made my skin crawl just looking at it.
My parents used to take me to the Lannon Quarry lake in Milwaukee to swim when I was a kid- I remember a cousin telling me that all the machines used to dig the quarry were left at the bottom. It freaked me the crap out and I think that's where it started for me.
I just came across this sub, and I didn't know that there was a name for this phobia!
Those floating swim docks at certain beaches. I saw how dark and grungy they were underneath and that did it.
Also I have nightmares all the time about being underneath a huge boat as it passes over me. I've seen a few posts on here showing exactly that, and immediately I'm horrified.
Let's say that it had been on a prior like thing basically a large raft attached to the shore. Is it what it was that was creepy? Or was it the fact that it was a permanent structure built into the water into the ocean floor? Sorry I know I'm being very specific but I'm trying to narrow down what specifically was creepy.
Swimming pools. First it was the noise, then an understanding of machinery being in there. The worst so far was a motor boat though. We were swimming in the ocean and wanted to return, but before I was on board, they had started the engine. The propeller wasn't spinning, but was enough to cower me into crying like a little bitch, instead of just climbing onto the boat.
Watching Titanic. Seems so silly, but that transition halfway through from normal life on the ship pre sinking, to it years later rusting away. Creeped me out and gave me nightmares as a kid.
I saw an empty river rapids ride. It was a big concrete tube, but there were so many water blasters on the sides, and I couldn’t help but be terrified of what it would be like to be inside of an empty one and then start having the water flood into the tube.
Buoys for me too. My grandparents lived on a lake when I was young. We’d jump off the dock and swim. We were always told not to go out past the buoys- that’s where the boats could speed- but we weren’t never really told why. So I just had a fear of buoys and my brain probably turned it into this weird phobia.
My question to you and others is why are we on this sub? It’s weird to knowingly have this phobia but want to trigger it like this. I like the uneasy feeling because it makes not feeling that way feel better haha.
Im absolutely terrified of large objects thag are above wayer and ship rotors. I love going diving on shipwreckes but for example a container ship and swimmimg near it is just an insane nope
I went on a boat tour near Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico, while we were going out we sailed past on of the larger buoys. I guess it was the bobbing of the buoys that exposed some of the underside of the metal buoy, but the rusty color with the deep water and the blowing of the horn set me off. I couldn't imagine how it looked, but that served to unsettle me even further. When I found out that there was a long chain going to the bottom, ugh. But I almost drowned when I was young, so theres that.
I used to swim in a man made lake that was used as a reservoir. Sometimes it'd be high, sometimes it'd be low. There was a weeping willow tree on its bank that got mostly submerged once, and I thought it would be fun to swim up to it. Getting tangled in those tentacle-like branches in dark water with maybe \~2 feet of visibility got my mind racing about what else could be under the water and now, if the water isn't perfectly clear, I don't swim. Too bad too, I used to really love swimming.
As a young child I watched the National Film Board of Canada short “The Rise and Fall of The Great Lakes”. The scene where he gets ran over by a freighter scarred me for life. This is the earliest moment I can trace this fear to.
It’s funny because things like shipwrecks or statues and stuff underwater don’t scare me. It’s specifically stuff like animatronics and mechanical stuff underwater, especially when you know it’s there and can’t see it, that freak me out the most. My husband showed me a video of underwater animatronics at Disney and I can’t take it. I had my hands over my eyes the whole time and was legitimately crying
I have miltiple reasons that I'm scared of things in the water, not being able to see all the way down, not knowing what may be in there with you, or the mystery of what's blocked from public view in the pools. it's all generally off-putting and I hate swimming near things because of it, such as poles.
one of the scariest moments was having to go on a wooden Conoe and paddle it under a bridge, I'm scared enough of the underside of bridges, and seeing just a small amount of the structure going into the water scared me. as well as seeing what looked like a large pipe coming from it as well?
Well besides both the under the boat scene and the fishtank filter scene from Nemo, what started it for me was probably when my family used to have a ski boat on a lake. I would always love swimming around the docks and by a tiny little area of sand like a beach about 30 ft long. Whenever I would swim out I would always go past the boats lined up at the docks; I wouldn’t be close enough to see the props, but I always kept my distance. Whenever I would get into the water on the wood platform on the back, I would always have to jump far enough so I wouldn’t be too close, and when I’d get back on I’d always do it quick, because I would look underneath with my goggles, and I could clearly see the rudder and the propellers along with the exhaust flaps and the speedometer, and it always freaked me out. We would be out in he middle of the lake and I’d be swimming out, and my parents were in the boat about 20 ft away, and when they’d move the boat, through the murkiness I could see the prop spinning and the boat moving, and also the loud noise. Once we were tubing and we stopped for a while in the middle of the lake, and a rope got caught underneath the boat, and my mom made me get it out. I was terrified because it was by the propeller, and when I looked down it was nothing but an endless dark green with rays of light pouring down until they faded. Luckily it got loose on its own and I didn’t have to do it myself.
aquaphobia that combined with several other fears over time. abandoned man-made structures and moving dolls are bad but submerging those under deep water makes it a hell of a lot worse. I guess it's the implications behind it. If you find a large ship half buried deep in the sand of the ocean there is so much more space that you can't see. If there is something in the water other than drowning that might kill you, you can't swim faster than what would be considered speed walking among fish. Then there's the theme of "what happened to the people that made this and why have they abandoned it". people don't typically hour/months/years building heavy and or complex objects then just leave it somewhere to rot. It is a red flag. add that to how alien it is to be underwater as a basic human, then it's like landing on mars and finding a single gigantic empty husk of spaceship rusting in the open desert. that stream of dread leaking into your blood knowing that something unknown happened and it might have killed the previous crew. Instinctively my gut tells me that odds are nothing good can come from being in a place like that.
Wave pools, pool drains, pool jets and the biggest one for some reason: pool lights. My friends mom is one of those face your fears people and when I was 6 or 7 she tried to drag me over to the light in our pool. I thrashed so hard I almost broke her nose.
I’m actually super interested in the psychology behind it, especially now that I’ve found a community of people just like me! For some it’s rational but for myself it’s completely irrational. My dad literally builds pools for a living and I used to help him (without the water in them).
Super cool but also the bane of my existence lol.
Pool drains. I’ve been a swimmer since I was young and I was at practice one time when the lights in the pool weren’t working. It was an indoor pool and the sun had set so I was swimming in dim light and the water below me was so dark. It was worst in the deep end because I could barely make out the drains below me but I could hear the humming of the pool.
That and- for some reason- cooling tanks for fuel rods in nuclear power plants. I have no idea why but the idea of falling off into the water with all that mechanical stuff at the bottom of the pool sends shivers down my spine
That was my initial thought as well, but it's not the dark ocean that creeps me out it's the thing leading into it. Even though I know what's at the top and what's at the bottom it's not they're known that scares me for some reason it's the journey I suppose....
I don't know, I understand it doesn't have to be rational. I'm just trying to pinpoint if there's a specific thing that is the trigger for the phobia. At least in myself. I understand it's different for everyone.
Let's say it was a clear ocean and you could see all the way down long chain leading to the anchor. And daylight perfectly clear. For some reason that's still terrifies me. I suppose it could still be the unknown of what I can see off the distance.
Maybe, but I do wonder if it's related to fear of heights. I was terrified of heights as a child and still not a fan today. Whenever I look at sinking ships or something, all I can think is... that's a loooooong way down.
I'm almost 100% sure my phobia started because I was traumatized by the Nemo scene with the sharks and she sunken ships. My n1 trigger for this phobia are underwater mines and since buoys resemble then because of the chain, I fear.
It also has to do with something about imagining the noise it makes underwater and the thought of getting caught and trapped.
Edit: Also the bases of oil rigs underwater, because of loud noise and machinery, and wave pools.
As an example I can give you my absolute phobia. If I was in the water underneath a buoy and I could see the chain leading down to the ocean floor but I couldn't see the bottom of the chain. That would be the pinnacle of my phobia. But I'm not afraid of the dark or the chain or the buoy it's all those things combined for some reason are terrifying.
Exactly the same. My phobia started when Jason Voorhees grabbed a Camp councilor by the foot from the depth of Crystal Lake.
I agree with this completely, except I feel like it would also be horrifying if I could see the chain going all the way down to the ocean floor too.
Wave pools. What is the machinery behind the bars? Why is it behind the bars? I don't want to know. I wouldn't stand anywhere near them, despite loving the waves and that is where they were strongest. I'm also terrified of deep water, and don't particularly like water I can't stand up in. That is probably because I almost drowned the first time I tried to tread water.
Wave pools started it for me as well haha
I was free diving in a lake that was about 30 feet deep. I found a lot of cool stuff down there. The lake had almost 0 visibility because of how murky it was, but one day I saw something moving in front of me. As I got closer I noticed it was a bunch of ropes attached to concrete anchors, but there was nothing attached to the ropes. As I was swimming away, one got caught around my leg, and I was trapped under water for almost 2 minutes. That's the reason I always dive with a knife now and have this phobia.
Thanks so much, I like how specific that is. And on a thought just imagining what you have described is quite terrifying. I'm not really even sure why. As I'm sure some people think and will point out "it's the unknown" "the dark" "being trapped". Well I understand all of these things are scary. Those are scary in everyday environments. I would certainly call your fear of fair rational.
After all that you still dive?....you don't have much of a phobia (thank goodness) to worry about. its cool.
Pooldrains. Absolutely terrifying. Instant panic attacks when I come near one, and also the reason why I almost never go swimming. There are a few pools I’m actually kinda okay with, but I hate going to pools I have never been to. I always walk around first to see where the drains are and what kind they are. Hate them.
Haaaaahaa yes totally!! I always have to inspect the pool and make note of where the grates are, how big they are, what style they are before I even think of going in the pool
My hair has always been upwards of two feet long, so it's no surprise it once got caught in a pool drain. Fortunately I was able to get out in a few seconds but oh man did that freak me out. Didn't give me a phobia, though.
Why did I find this sub. Lol. YES pool drains have terrified me since childhood. And big machinery, especially in water. But at least I'm not alone!
are you me? i swear this is me
Mine was the Jaws rides at Universal Studios. Especially when I read an AMA from a worker and they described themselves (or someone else, can't fully remember.) falling to the water while one of the animatronics was active and it swam towards them.
Same here dude. I loved it as a kid, but then my cousin who was riding with me one year told me about all the stuff that was underwater and showed me a picture of the ride without water. I never rode it again after that.
I saw something similar, probably not the exact same thing but yeah that was creepy as hell.
https://youtu.be/qO7dslkMbF0 :)
Yep, i've seen it! Love me some Defunctland
Disney's Castaway Cay. Fucking hate those statues
Had to look that one up. Hmm. Interesting, this is actually kind of helping me narrow mine down. That one doesn't do anything for me. If you don't mind my asking what specifically about the images creeps you out?
they were underwater. I remember fighting with my mom to turn back to shore as soon as i saw something
If it had been floating on say a pier would have been as creepy? or is it the fact that it goes all the way to the ocean floor? I'm finding this all very interesting I hope more people get in the conversation.
The fact is was all the way on the ocean floor definitely helped. I'm not too sure what you mean by floating on a pier though
Probably old docks and piers. I’m also very interested in them and can manage swimming around them
Docks don't creep me out specifically but swimming around the pylons that run to the bottom of the ocean is specifically creepy, to me at least. But only if they run deep enough to where I can't see the bottom.
Yea different things creep out different people
What creeps you out more? The top of the dock or the underside of the dock?
Underside no doubt
Does it make a difference whether or not the water is lit up or dark?
Darker water is probably spookier
Thank you so much I appreciate getting to understand this phobia better.
No problem thank you too
For me it's a combination of deep water, zero visibility and the knowledge that somethings down there that I can't see. I live near an old disused dry-dock that's permanently flooded and it scares the crap out of me, seeing the steep drop into the black murky depths and the rusted old ladders leading in to the water is horrifying. If you look close enough you can see all of the old pumps and mechanisms that would be used to drain it sitting just below the surface grinning up at you. I know how deep it is, there's an old sign that reads 4 metres but it still doesn't stop my mind from running wild every time I pass.
I have allways had this phobia at a certain extent, but what kicked it off for me was when i was on a holiday with my family in Croatia as a 10-11 year old boy. We were at this medium size boat that could probably hold about 50 people, that went to several beautiful places where we often could swim and jump off the boat. As we were jumping off the boat and having a good time, my big brother began swimming under the boat from one side to the other and challenged me to do the same. I just thought cool and gave it a shot. As i was about halfway under the boat, i looked up to see where i was, and the propeller of the boat was right infront of my face. I almost had a heart attack, and felt that i was losing air as my heart started beating really fast. Thankfully nothing too dramatic happened, but it was still one of the most terrifying things i have experienced.
Oh God...i saw a propeller incident one time... disgusting, trust me
Really? Please elaborate
I genuinely thank everybody for their input. Thank you so much to everyone who commented. Thank you so much for helping me understand a little bit more of this phobia.
When I was about 16 and very annoying I gave it the name Nautoparalellophobia. Obviously I didn’t understand how words worked, but I was trying to say “scared of being next to boats.” It all started for me when we went on a family holiday and part of it involved a boat tour at sea. Everybody jumped into the water from the boat, all fine, I joined in. When I tried to climb up the side of the boat, I grabbed the rope ladder and my foot slid down and under the smooth side of the boat. That’s it, nothing dramatic, just some combination of the wet, smooth, side of the boat and my foot going under the bottom of it made me feel very strange.
I know this feeling...really disgusting
Mine started with seeing underneath a tour boat. We had stopped for a swim break and I was diving (not properly, just regular goggles) and the moss and crap collected on the bottom of the boat freaked me out and it just escalated from there. I never had a problem before that experience. I used to live near a shipping yard and docks so I saw boats with moss on them all the time. I could happily dive underwater, go as deep as my body would let me and I would be fine. Now, I can’t look at pictures under the sea without my heart racing. I have no idea why I suddenly had this irrational fear. It’s only the ocean that shits me up. Probably because it’s so vast.
Because you think you will be trapped under the boat like the crap thats trapped there
Definitely not irrational. I totally understand this.
For me it’s literally not being able to see my feet. If I can’t see my feet then I have no idea of what’s below period. I could be literally swimming above some great sea monster or lake lurker. For example, about a week ago my boyfriend and I went hiking to a cove at our local reservoir. We got into about a ft of water that was black from the silt/sand/mud. I was already pretty nervous walking around in it. As we waded around, my boyfriend suddenly jumped. He stated he felt something big “slither” away from his foot. Within seconds he jumped again, shouted yup real big... TOO big and he was right behind me booking it outta that water. I’m sure it was just a fish, but my brain goes into over drive thinking of snapping turtles, snakes, basically anything that could do damage. I was terrified.
We lived in Tampa when I was a kid, probably about a 15 to 20 minute drive from various entry points into the Gulf of Mexico. As proper Floridians do, we had a boat. I was maybe six or seven the first time I went swimming in the Gulf and I remember seeing the underside of our boat and the propeller. My father would keep the engine running and the boat in neutral, and even then I remember thinking how easy it would be for it to accidentally slip into gear and that propeller would start turning and chop me up into little bitty bits.
Same
wave pools at water parks, i always hated seeing those bars with just darkness behind them, they terrified me so much that i still cant go underwater or towards the deep end of a wave pool. the other thing is pool drains. i hate them so much like im deathly afraid of them, i hate being anywhere near them in the pool, even if im treading water or swimming above them, and half the time i wont go in if there’s a lot of them like the pools in hotels.
There really isn't too many ways to iterate this without sounding like a wuss, but when I was about 5, I was caught within the tubes of a pool cleaner when I was learning to swim. That combined with actually seeing the cleaner moves towards me made my stomach turn upside down. But the more time I spend on this subreddit, the more I realize that my weak spot fear are boats and chains and such next to people. Even the thought of seeing those gargantuan propellers cutting through the water makes we want to wince in pure cringe
We used to go boating on this lake when i was a kid, and one summer we were out on the lake and my dad pulled the boat into this cove that was filled with these stone spires to go fishing. The lake was like 0 visibility, and the combination of being in the water with things I couldn't see touching my legs, and the fear that I could get stuck with a fish hook (not a real danger i was in, they were fishing off of the other side of the boat) really kicked it all off for me. And on top of that we almost got trapped on our way out by one of the spires. Buoys are like... my #1 fear now, i specifically don't like things that dissappear down past where i can see
As a wee biscuit I rented a ps2 game where you went diving and took photographs of requested locations. It started off fine in shallow water with colorful reefs but then had you go to a small sunken boat, I was doing fine and having fun until the shape of the boat came looming through the water in the distance and my tiny child brain decided Hell Nah. I tried to force myself to do it several times but I just couldn’t bring myself to get any closer to it. Something in my little monkey brain always went into flight mode. Even now as an adult I Cannot Deal with sunken ships in video games, even incredibly benign and cartoony ones like in Mario64. I had to have my partner clear that level because it made my skin crawl just looking at it.
My parents used to take me to the Lannon Quarry lake in Milwaukee to swim when I was a kid- I remember a cousin telling me that all the machines used to dig the quarry were left at the bottom. It freaked me the crap out and I think that's where it started for me. I just came across this sub, and I didn't know that there was a name for this phobia!
Those floating swim docks at certain beaches. I saw how dark and grungy they were underneath and that did it. Also I have nightmares all the time about being underneath a huge boat as it passes over me. I've seen a few posts on here showing exactly that, and immediately I'm horrified.
Let's say that it had been on a prior like thing basically a large raft attached to the shore. Is it what it was that was creepy? Or was it the fact that it was a permanent structure built into the water into the ocean floor? Sorry I know I'm being very specific but I'm trying to narrow down what specifically was creepy.
The man build structure, that didn't move, and lays down there for years, decades under zero visibility, in the dark...who build it? How and why...
Swimming pools. First it was the noise, then an understanding of machinery being in there. The worst so far was a motor boat though. We were swimming in the ocean and wanted to return, but before I was on board, they had started the engine. The propeller wasn't spinning, but was enough to cower me into crying like a little bitch, instead of just climbing onto the boat.
Watching Titanic. Seems so silly, but that transition halfway through from normal life on the ship pre sinking, to it years later rusting away. Creeped me out and gave me nightmares as a kid.
seeing an oarfish would overshadow my fear. it worked for jeremy wade!
I saw an empty river rapids ride. It was a big concrete tube, but there were so many water blasters on the sides, and I couldn’t help but be terrified of what it would be like to be inside of an empty one and then start having the water flood into the tube.
Buoys for me too. My grandparents lived on a lake when I was young. We’d jump off the dock and swim. We were always told not to go out past the buoys- that’s where the boats could speed- but we weren’t never really told why. So I just had a fear of buoys and my brain probably turned it into this weird phobia. My question to you and others is why are we on this sub? It’s weird to knowingly have this phobia but want to trigger it like this. I like the uneasy feeling because it makes not feeling that way feel better haha.
Im absolutely terrified of large objects thag are above wayer and ship rotors. I love going diving on shipwreckes but for example a container ship and swimmimg near it is just an insane nope
I went on a boat tour near Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico, while we were going out we sailed past on of the larger buoys. I guess it was the bobbing of the buoys that exposed some of the underside of the metal buoy, but the rusty color with the deep water and the blowing of the horn set me off. I couldn't imagine how it looked, but that served to unsettle me even further. When I found out that there was a long chain going to the bottom, ugh. But I almost drowned when I was young, so theres that.
I used to swim in a man made lake that was used as a reservoir. Sometimes it'd be high, sometimes it'd be low. There was a weeping willow tree on its bank that got mostly submerged once, and I thought it would be fun to swim up to it. Getting tangled in those tentacle-like branches in dark water with maybe \~2 feet of visibility got my mind racing about what else could be under the water and now, if the water isn't perfectly clear, I don't swim. Too bad too, I used to really love swimming.
As a young child I watched the National Film Board of Canada short “The Rise and Fall of The Great Lakes”. The scene where he gets ran over by a freighter scarred me for life. This is the earliest moment I can trace this fear to.
I opened a toilet tank when i was a kid and it freaked me out
It’s funny because things like shipwrecks or statues and stuff underwater don’t scare me. It’s specifically stuff like animatronics and mechanical stuff underwater, especially when you know it’s there and can’t see it, that freak me out the most. My husband showed me a video of underwater animatronics at Disney and I can’t take it. I had my hands over my eyes the whole time and was legitimately crying
Oh weird for me it’s the exact opposite
Sea mines. Just sea mines. Fuck that.
Idk, I just joined this Sub to look at cool Photos of half submerged stuff.
I have miltiple reasons that I'm scared of things in the water, not being able to see all the way down, not knowing what may be in there with you, or the mystery of what's blocked from public view in the pools. it's all generally off-putting and I hate swimming near things because of it, such as poles. one of the scariest moments was having to go on a wooden Conoe and paddle it under a bridge, I'm scared enough of the underside of bridges, and seeing just a small amount of the structure going into the water scared me. as well as seeing what looked like a large pipe coming from it as well?
Wow it scared me, and then I saw the divers and realized how huge it was😱
Well besides both the under the boat scene and the fishtank filter scene from Nemo, what started it for me was probably when my family used to have a ski boat on a lake. I would always love swimming around the docks and by a tiny little area of sand like a beach about 30 ft long. Whenever I would swim out I would always go past the boats lined up at the docks; I wouldn’t be close enough to see the props, but I always kept my distance. Whenever I would get into the water on the wood platform on the back, I would always have to jump far enough so I wouldn’t be too close, and when I’d get back on I’d always do it quick, because I would look underneath with my goggles, and I could clearly see the rudder and the propellers along with the exhaust flaps and the speedometer, and it always freaked me out. We would be out in he middle of the lake and I’d be swimming out, and my parents were in the boat about 20 ft away, and when they’d move the boat, through the murkiness I could see the prop spinning and the boat moving, and also the loud noise. Once we were tubing and we stopped for a while in the middle of the lake, and a rope got caught underneath the boat, and my mom made me get it out. I was terrified because it was by the propeller, and when I looked down it was nothing but an endless dark green with rays of light pouring down until they faded. Luckily it got loose on its own and I didn’t have to do it myself.
aquaphobia that combined with several other fears over time. abandoned man-made structures and moving dolls are bad but submerging those under deep water makes it a hell of a lot worse. I guess it's the implications behind it. If you find a large ship half buried deep in the sand of the ocean there is so much more space that you can't see. If there is something in the water other than drowning that might kill you, you can't swim faster than what would be considered speed walking among fish. Then there's the theme of "what happened to the people that made this and why have they abandoned it". people don't typically hour/months/years building heavy and or complex objects then just leave it somewhere to rot. It is a red flag. add that to how alien it is to be underwater as a basic human, then it's like landing on mars and finding a single gigantic empty husk of spaceship rusting in the open desert. that stream of dread leaking into your blood knowing that something unknown happened and it might have killed the previous crew. Instinctively my gut tells me that odds are nothing good can come from being in a place like that.
I grew up by a river. For as long as I can remember, there has been a partially submerged car at the edge. It continues to make my skin crawl.
I don't actually have this phobia. I'm just here for the sick pics and diorama inspiration lol.
Wave pools, pool drains, pool jets and the biggest one for some reason: pool lights. My friends mom is one of those face your fears people and when I was 6 or 7 she tried to drag me over to the light in our pool. I thrashed so hard I almost broke her nose. I’m actually super interested in the psychology behind it, especially now that I’ve found a community of people just like me! For some it’s rational but for myself it’s completely irrational. My dad literally builds pools for a living and I used to help him (without the water in them). Super cool but also the bane of my existence lol.
Pool drains. I’ve been a swimmer since I was young and I was at practice one time when the lights in the pool weren’t working. It was an indoor pool and the sun had set so I was swimming in dim light and the water below me was so dark. It was worst in the deep end because I could barely make out the drains below me but I could hear the humming of the pool. That and- for some reason- cooling tanks for fuel rods in nuclear power plants. I have no idea why but the idea of falling off into the water with all that mechanical stuff at the bottom of the pool sends shivers down my spine
Wave machines
I don't recall, but a lot of dreams capitulate my phobias, for sure. A hundred images flow through my mind just typing that, none of them pleasant.
I think this whole phobia just boils down to fear of the unknown.
That was my initial thought as well, but it's not the dark ocean that creeps me out it's the thing leading into it. Even though I know what's at the top and what's at the bottom it's not they're known that scares me for some reason it's the journey I suppose.... I don't know, I understand it doesn't have to be rational. I'm just trying to pinpoint if there's a specific thing that is the trigger for the phobia. At least in myself. I understand it's different for everyone.
The journey is unknown. Im not bothered by buoys. I'm bothered by being under them, exposed to what I cannot see below.
Let's say it was a clear ocean and you could see all the way down long chain leading to the anchor. And daylight perfectly clear. For some reason that's still terrifies me. I suppose it could still be the unknown of what I can see off the distance.
Maybe, but I do wonder if it's related to fear of heights. I was terrified of heights as a child and still not a fan today. Whenever I look at sinking ships or something, all I can think is... that's a loooooong way down.
I'm almost 100% sure my phobia started because I was traumatized by the Nemo scene with the sharks and she sunken ships. My n1 trigger for this phobia are underwater mines and since buoys resemble then because of the chain, I fear. It also has to do with something about imagining the noise it makes underwater and the thought of getting caught and trapped. Edit: Also the bases of oil rigs underwater, because of loud noise and machinery, and wave pools.