Fear of Water

Anne was just like any other 12-year-old. She was excited about her school trip to the beach. This was to be the first time, she would ever visit the beach. The excitement soon changed to anxiety and panic. This sudden change in behavior became apparent the minute the kids were taken near water by their teacher. Anne never ever knew she was scared of water. Only after she was so close to the open ocean, did she realize that water made her hysterical. Phobia for water is a persistent phobia that may be experienced in various ways. In Anne's case, she never ever had visited a swimming pool or open water body before in her life. Therefore, her fear of water remained present silently in her subconscious mind. She never feared a bucket full of water or bathtub filled with water. There are different cases and levels of water fear among people. This may interfere with their daily life and sometimes may go beyond their personal control.

What is Fear of Water
When one is scared of water it is called aquaphobia. It is a general phobia related to water or drowning. There are many ways in which this phobia may affect people. One of the most common phobias, it may crop up when the person has to enter a water body like a swimming pool, sea, ocean, or even a bathtub. They avoid traveling by boats and ships, as their aquaphobia sends jitters down their spine. This fear arises even when there is no immediate threat to life and limb by water. Getting splashed by water suddenly may also cause these people to get hysterical.

Causes
There are no specific causes of aquaphobia. This fear may arise due to an early childhood memory related to water. Maybe one had nearly drowned or seen someone drown. This may be a real life incident or maybe an image seen on TV. The fear of drowning may give rise to a phobia for water. It is water's nature to pull you under it. But, one needs to fight water and remain afloat. The lack of self-confidence that one can swim and remain afloat without drowning, may give rise to fear of drowning. Someone lost his everything in floods may develop a water phobia. Sometimes, fear of sharks and other water predators may scare one to enter a water body. One cannot say for sure what may trigger aquaphobia in one's mind.

Symptoms
Some people develop such an intense phobia towards water that they even dream getting drowned when asleep. They get up all breathless and sweating. Water makes them go insane, they just cannot bear the sight of water. Some of the symptoms of aquaphobia include breathlessness, excessive sweating, dry mouth, body shaking with fear, heart rate sky rocketing, the person is in a state of shock, inability to talk or think clearly, afraid to die, a full-fledged anxiety attack, insane behavior like screaming and throwing hands around, etc.

Does Rabies Cause Water Phobia
Rabies does lead to water aversion, that is called hydrophobia. However, a person or animal is not actually scared of water. The rabies virus affects the nervous system and salivary glands of the infected human or animal. This causes swelling of tissues that makes it very difficult to drink water. This pain actually causes the person or animal to avoid drinking water. The inability to quench ones thirst due to difficulty in swallowing causes hydrophobia.

How to Overcome the Fear
There are many therapies that help one overcome aquaphobia. These therapies include psychological therapies as well as hypnotic ones. One needs to build self-confidence and take small steps to overcome the phobia for water. Start by taking a walk along the pool or beach. Gradually, try to get your feet wet. Explain yourself, there is a term called buoyancy that will help you stay afloat and not drown. Take classes from an experienced swim instructor and begin to learn swimming. Adopt all strategies advised by the psychologist as well as your instructor to overcome aquaphobia.

Learn to face your fear. Do not allow it to grow on you and take over your life. Seek help and speak about your fear of water with friends. Gradually, with time you will be able to control your phobia and live a fear free life.