Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Thalassophobes, Help me understand/clarify if I am indeed one of you.


So I have a fairly strong anxiety/fear that I never really could name, until possibly now.Based on the definition of Thalassophobia, it sounds very close to my fear, however a large number of the images and vids posted in the sub dont really trigger me, so it makes me question if this is indeed my fear.Basically, the fear is (as the definition states) dark or murky water that I cant see the bottom from the surface, or the surface from the bottom.If the water is clear, and I can see from one to the other (top to bottom, vise versa) there is no fear at all. And to be completely honest I consider myself rather aquaphilac, in that I love being near or in water.So there is a conflict of interests.Some examples of things that trigger for me:The game Subnautica.So, I both love and loathe this game. As long as I stay within the top say... 50m of water, I am fine and really enjoy it. Even at night when its dark.However if I descend to the point where natural sunlight starts to darken dramatically, or am over an area of the ocean so deep you cant see the bottom, anxiety through the fricken roof.Another game that triggered for me was Soma, but only during scenes where you were outside of the structure and in the exposed water.That is a catch as well. My fear is significantly countered if I am in an enclosed space, even just the little tiny one man micro sub in subnautica. However as soon as my character is exposed directly to the water in the right depths or circumstances, super anxiety.To me, I think this fits this phobia quite well. However since the images dont seem to trigger me like these interactive experiences do, and since I do really love being in and around water, I have some mild doubt that it is quite right.I do not get triggered from space. So its not a big open dark void fear. Although in some rare cases, scenes of very dense fog or cloudiness which is also dark and seemingly very wide and open triggers a much more mild anxiety response. I suspect this is due to such scenes being very significantly similar to murky water.I dont think it is specific to sea creatures although depending on the creature they certainly dont help.

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