Shark phobia

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Name change for this one

Embarrassed to admit but I have a terrible shark phobia

I am 45 and it of course started with watching Jaws at a very young age.

I used to be ok snorkelling and swimming in tropical seas in my twenties but for some reason my phobia has worsened with age

I can no longer swim in a pool alone (even not alone my heart races in the deep end) I panic swimming in a lake unless I can touch the bottom. I will only paddle in the Mediterranean sea and just will not go swimming or do any water activity. I won't swim in the UK sea (but not hard as lots of sewage warnings near me)

I cannot do the above as a just visualise a shark behind me as it seems very graphic and real. The logic of a shark being in a pool /lake of course is ridiculous but I cannot stop the paralysing fear.

My children have teased me by showing pictures of open mouthed great whites and my heart feels like it stops .

Anyone else? can I overcome this somehow? I don't think it impacts my life too much and of course I can live without swimming but any advice would be appreciated!

@MrsTerryPratchett I don't hate sharks, I just have a phobia of them. When I'm not in the water, I am quite fascinated by them in general and find that the more that I learn about them the less the irrational fear looms. But I have an entirely rational fear of swimming in waters which are definitely frequented by sharks that have been known to attack humans (bull, great white, tiger, mako, and so on).

I wish all power to those who work on conservation and education regarding sharks.

Lordy me. I hear you!

Oh gosh I know!

Funnily enough I have no problem
Seeing my children in the sea - even my tiny daughter :-s
wonder if that says something about me !

I am sure . I know they are wonderful animals from prehistoric times and not evil killing machines tracking me down in my bath in a land locked county..

Sorry to hear this. Did you have a young formative experience about a dog coming to you? My friend is similar- an almost chemical /hardwired fear after a dog reared up when she was a toddler

I am so sorry but the velociraptor in your cupboard made me smile. Jurassic park was the culprit?!

Definitely the woods if alone but for me that feels plausible as a fear rather than a phobia??

i would definitely advise professional help to address the phobia: as well as hypnotherapy, you could also try EMDR or EFT. I’m sure there are other methods. You need to rewire your brain.

I have thought the same re dark, it's that tendency to expect the worse to come at you when you can't see what's coming isn't it!

I live near the sea and am learning to surf but sometimes the fear is almost overwhelming.... Even though I Know there is nothing in there that could seriously harm me 🤷🏼‍♀️ really frustrating.

Weirdly I'm the same in pools too 😂 but only if there's noone else in the water with me! Almost like if I'm with company or anchors my mind but alone it has free reign to terrify me (this is the same with the dark, woods, etc)...

I did actually get as far as making enquiries about hypnotherapy but the course I looked at was 450£!! 😱

I must admit that I have had the Jaws theme playing in my head on occasions while swimming and snorkelling in Australia.

You have my complete sympathy - our minds can be our own worst enemies!

It's interesting you say it's got worse as you get older. I've found the same. In my case it used to be that I "wasn't fond of heights" which recently has become "randomly gets panicky and can't move" if I'm up high. It's getting to the stage that I don't know if I should risk eg visiting a castle turret because I don't know how I'll react. I find it very annoying!

I'm sure there must be some way of calming down that initial panic. I should probably look into some of the therapies suggested on this thread.

@MrsTerryPratchett sharks are amazing, I had a fascinating with them & toyed with becoming a marine biologist. I’ve swam with the safe sort, etc but the fear re a GW, bull etc doesn’t go away.

There was a Bond film with sharks in a swimming pool which scared me!

I would definitely look into cbt or hypnosis. Baths are worth it! You can't really do exposure therapy like you can with spiders. I don't like not being able to see what is in the water, but it is more riptide or general threat, rather than a specific preaditor.

Phobias are irrational, but also sometimes phobias need a little bit more information... No fish can survive not only chlorinated pool water, but even the plain tap water. I have a freshwater aquarium with tropical fish, if I mess up the water change (forget to add de-chlorinator, conditioner or binder) fish immediately cling to the surface gasping for air or trying to jump out. Even if there would be a shark in a pool or lake, it would be a dead shark at the bottom. Harmless.
Also saltwater animals can't live in freshwater, their organs fail. Just like we can't breathe underwater or be in a space devoid of oxygen.

I was terrified of the wave machine grates at my local pool as a child. Not sharks though. I was convinced there was a "killer whale" living behind them. And the name terrified me.

NB. Am aware orca is the correct name these days. And that they don't (usually) kill humans.

Edited to add:

My phobias (heights, drowning, spiders) have definitely got worse as I've got older.

This is exactly like me, OP. Couldn't swim in the deep end of pools, wave machine grates scare the bejeezus out of me and don't even mention swimming in the sea!

However, in the past couple of years I've been building up to lake swimming. At first I just dipped. Then doing a very short distance along the bank with people beside me. I built up with the support of my local Bluetits group and now I can swim alone across the lake (but I still can only swim when other people are vaguely nearby).

It's been so liberating! I can recommend exposure to help, for sure. Not saying I don't occasionally feel jumpy when I swim but I'm so so much better now.

Bull sharks are found in rivers eg Amazon

@Trainerstrainers in brackish estuaries, where freshwater is mixed with plenty of sea water, yes. They go there to spawn.

I blame the movie Jaws for my fear of sharks. I remember as a kid being scared to even go to the toilet in case a shark came up it! The sight of the fin going through the water and the music terrified me.
I wouldn't go swimming in the sea just because its not really my thing but I can swim in a pool.
But if I was in America or Australia or somewhere exotic , then I definitely wouldn't go near the water and I wouldn't let my son swim in it either

I also have a huge shark phobia that stems from watching jaws as a child. I definitely don't do anywhere near the sea. Ankle deep paddling is the most I'll ever do.
I'm actually fine in swimming pools these days. When I was a child I was terrified of the deep end but my rational brain can cope with that these days.
However I struggle to look at photos of sharks. If I'm surprised by one (opening a newspaper and seeing a big open mouth or turn the TV channel and one is there etc) and I absolutely go into a weird shivery panic. Nothing else can cause that reaction in me. I feel physically ill and shaky.
However, I'm absolutely fascinated by sharks and I do watch documentaries etc. I just need to prep myself before hand. So when I start it I'll be watching from behind a pillow or my hands. But I guess it's like exposure therapy, after about 20 mins I can watch it normally. I do often still close my eyes when they swim at the camera with their mouths open though. And it's definitely great whites that I'm most scared of.
I think they're amazing creatures though and I would never want them to be killed. I just stay on the land far far away from them and I'm fine!

@Chypre I know that hence why I said they are found in rivers…

“The species has been spotted 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) up the Amazon River in South America and dwell in Lake Nicaragua, a freshwater lake in Central America. Bull sharks have traveled up the Mississippi River as far north as Illinois and are regularly spotted in India's Ganges.”

There were some in survived years in a golf course pond!

www.livescience.com/animals/sharks/the-strange-story-of-sharks-that-lived-in-a-golf-course-pond-for-20-years-then-vanished

Another one showing solidarity here!
The pools with the 'cage' that a great white is most DEFINITELY trapped in, just building up the strength to break out, of COURSE it is. Especially dark pools, the sea (I used to LOVE sea swimming too, I don't think mine is down to Jaws.

And we don't get many great whites in England.
I think it is fair to have a respectful fear of the sea (& an amazing song by the Gathering!) But the rest is just irrational, I know it is.

I also run thru woods and often decide there's definitely a bear chasing me (thanks, The revenant!), in a northern village in England. I've also got worse with heights (I get that horrible tingle in my feet] and motorway bridges.
It's odd. Our brains can be very primitive

Oh and dark pools are the worst. I almost had a panic attack in the holiday inn in Edinburgh!