Does anyone know of ways to overcome a fear of swimming in lakes or oceans? I am totally ok with deep water so long as I can see what is IN the water. Water that is dark or murky scares me to the point of horrendous panic attacks. I want to overcome these fears, but each time I think about swimming in a lake or going to the lake for boating, I totally panic. My fear is completely irrational though. I KNOW that there are no monsters in the water below me, but in my mind is this little voice telling me that something awful is going to touch me or pull me under. I am also terrified of stationary objects in the water such as dock supports or things that have been trapped underwater such as a crane in a quarry. Also debris from fallen bridges and the like. It's partly the sliminess from the algae that grows on them but there is something else too; something I can't quite pinpoint. However the panic attacks are nasty and I want to overcome this! Any suggestions or proven methods?

Raea

I have the same fear. I just called a hypnotherapist to see if she can help me. I panic when I think about swimming in the lake. We own a boat and our children love to water ski, etc. on the lake but I'm paralyzed with fear to do the same. I hate it because I've always been athletic and love to be outdoors but I cannot shake the panic feeling.

I am really struck by what you wrote about the crane, etc. I also have that fear. I don't understand it. I am not afraid of riding over a bridge but when I am in my boat underneath the bridge it's like I'm afraid of the "largeness" of the bridge and it's supports. I've also had this feeling looking at a electrical tower that was next to a river bank. I feel like I'm afraid of how big it is but I know that's not it.

Did you ever have a bad experience with swimming in a lake or ocean?

I saw "Jaws" when I was 5 and I think that has something to do with it. I swam in the ocean during a trip to Jamaica and was afraid until I used my mask to look under water. Then I felt much better. I don't know if it's the fear of the unknown or what. I mean I was still afraid of something coming up behind me. I also tried to waterski when I was 10 on a lake and I remember being afraid while sitting in the water by myself waiting for the boat to take off and drag me. I was also afraid when I fell into the water (off of the skis) and saw the boat riding away from me, leaving me behind. Even though I knew they would turn around and pick me back up. I wonder if this possibly has to do with seperation anxiety or something. I've read that children with phobias also tend to have seperation anxiety. And I know that when I was 5 years old I had a hard time with leaving my mother to go to school so much so that I would cry and say I was sick.

I am going to try the hypnotherapy and see if it works. At this point I have nothing to lose (except the cost of the session).

Sandy

That's very similar to what i have. Up until recently it was the only fear that I really had. It would only occur in deep water and in water I couldn't see. Even if it was just a swimming pool I would have that really anxious feeling if there were no lights on the pool or in the pool.

If it's night time I pretty much stay out of the water no matter what. I can just visualize something coming up towards me. I agree it's completely irrational. One time I had it in the ocean, because I was swimming underwater holding my breath following a sea turtle. I guess the current pulled me really far out or something because when I surfaced I was like a mile away from shore. I have no idea how I made it back because I was going crazy. I looked up and the surface was like 40 feet away then I started looking around and saw there was NOTHING for as far as I could see and I just started thinking about how quickly something could catch up to me from behind. I freaked out and surfaced then saw how far from the shore I was and it got worse.

I used to have dreams about my family getting killed by sharks. I think alot of phobias are due to distant memories from past life experiences. Of course that's just my theory there's not much to prove anything about past lives. That's what I blame for my phobia of water though.