Overcome Your Fear of Not Seeing the Bottom of the Water

Water is a normal thing to be afraid of – it’s possible to drown in it, currents could sweep you away, all sorts of creatures (known and unknown) live in it.

So it’s not unusual to have a fear of water.

This can take all sorts of different forms – some people seem almost allergic to water and avoid it at almost any cost. Others don’t like vast expanses of water or places where the water is too deep (or murky or both) to see the bottom.

This fear makes doing all sorts of things that other people regard as normal awkward or near enough impossible.

What can you do to overcome your fear?

You’ve already made a start by recognizing it.

Fear is odd in that it’s actually quite scared of you but, like all bullies, it puts up a façade and lets you think that it’s more powerful than it really is.

There are two main ways to get rid of any fear:

* Confront it head on – that works really well but most people don’t like to try it
* Chip away at the edges of the fear so that it gradually loses its power over you – that’s the approach that most people take. It works well, just taking a bit longer than the first option

If you’ve decided to gradually erode the edges of your fear, that’s relatively easy to do.

Most puddles and small ponds are murky and you can’t see the bottom, even though they’re not very deep. So start with those – maybe put your wellies on and actually paddle in them. Anything to get your mind used to the idea that water is your enemy. It isn’t! Around 60% of our body is made of water.

Once you’ve mastered these small areas, work up to larger ones. Maybe there’s a small stream or creek near where you live – go there with a friend (there’s safety in numbers on this kind of approach) and gradually train yourself to accept that it’s by no means as threatening as you previously thought.

Then work upwards.

If you’re near a ferry crossing, take it and instead of staying inside the craft while it makes its journey, stand on the deck (again, with a trusted friend as well as being close to the lifebelts) and see whether you can pluck up the courage to look over the edge.

If you’re in a tourist area like the Florida Keys, you can take a tour on a glass bottomed boat. The glass is really thick so you’re protected from the depths below. And glass bottomed boats don’t tend to go too far into the ocean as there are usually more fish to see in lesser depths.

Eventually – hopefully not too long after you start – you should have built up your immunity to the fear of large expanses of water and start to join in all the things you’d contrived to avoid because of your phobia.