The thing about thalassaphobia for me is, the water doesn’t have to be deep, it just has to be dark enough to where you don’t know the depth and what lurks in it
I once had anxiety attack in a 5 ft pool, I knew there was nothing at the bottom, I could see the bottom, but that shadow. It was a low shadow and I literally panicked and hopped out the pool.
clever. exactly! that is the trigger. not knowing what that shadow was... we are not almighty as some of us think. and that is ok. we don't deserve better when we mess with the nature.
@@great_channel adaptable as in can adjust to different climates humans are almost perfect predetors because we can make tool ITS BIG BRAIN TIME we can go into water if needed just can't breath or survive very deep pressure
I'll never forget reading Robert Ballard's book about how they came to find it. There was a quote where he said they were scanning the ocean floor in Alvin the submersible and all of a sudden this giant wall appeared out of the darkness, it was the hull of the ship they had just found. Like that shit just freaks me out.
That's the exact same as me. Its why I made this video because I only found out that I had it about a month before the video when I was talking on Reddit about stranded deep
The wierdest thing is as a child i never felt this i would swim deeper and deeper farther from the beach till one day the thought wouldn't escape my mind when I would see darkness in the water below me i imagined big animals coming to grab me and now I could never imagine getting in at all.
The Whale scene in Adventures of Pinocchio (1996) live action perfectly exemplifies *thalassophobia,* so much so I'm pretty sure it would even make regular people that don't suffer from the phobia extremely uneasy. Not just because of the eerie overhead shot of the whale's *massive silhouette* gliding beneath the boat, but because the whale itself is a transformed human, the villian Lorenzini. So the sea monster is given *uncanny valley* traits, like human teeth and eyes.
The thing about the ocean for me, is that I am at 100% disadvantage compared to everything else in the water. I can’t even achieve the basic things like breathing in the water - even the tiny fish out-benefit me. It’s the most vulnerable I could ever be
@jack w I mean they have to be scared of it because they will DIE if they go on it. And if that’s not scary. I don’t know what it to fishes. (Don’t judge that I started a sentence with *and* I know your not supposed to do that)
Wow, this is the first time I have ever heard of sub-mechanophobia. I was always terrified of sunken man-made things, even when it came to toy boats in the tub. It makes my skin crawl, and I feel this sickening strange fear. I never knew it was a phobia until now. Shipwrecks and the like fascinate me, but I would probably vomit if I was ever actually near one.
Everytime I am was on the sea doing any sports or swimming had a feeling that something would grab my feet. I still managed to face the fear. Many years later I will not go to deep waters no matter what.
Yeah, if i was invulnerable id swim through all of the ocean knowing i couldnt die because its so fascinating with so many alien looking things/animals
@@Anastashya ya I would be worried about that but I wouldn’t b to worried about sharks because it’s rare that a shark will attack u but I know rare doesn’t mean it can’t happen
I’m a swimmer and when I’m in a pool, I swim completely fine, but when I can’t see below me I swim weird. I swim with my head above the water, even with goggles on, I can’t stand to put my head under water and look down
I mostly swim in lakes, I'm fine when you can't see the bottom, or can see it clearly, but when you can just barely see the rocks at the bottom of the lake then I really hate it. But as soon as you can't see the bottom, even over hundred of feet of water, I'm fine. Is that a thalassophobic thing or am I just wierd
@@altaccount4697 id say that’s more of the opposite, most people would not even look underwater in a lake, but I guess when seeing the rocks it would be. I can’t say for sure as I’ve never dived to the bottom of a lake due to its depth
This video was absolutely excellent, even though I spent most of the video cringing and shuddering due to the the footage. It nailed the description of this phobia right on the head!
I think empathy has a great deal to do with feeling fear whilst other people suffer in movies. I mean, people who do not suffer from thalassophobia may find a scene “boring” when people are floating in the middle of the ocean,surrounded by sharks. But if they found themselves and that position in real life, they would be terrified. Somebody with empathy towards the characters would also feel terrified.
Even as a kid, if the bubbles in my bathtub covered the surface, I’d stress out from fearing my bathtub would open up into a deep dark ocean. I’d panic and splash so I could see the bottom of the tub.
Omg I get that! I hated swimming in pools if it was dark just in case a massive vortex into another under water world pulled me in... or worse let something OUT! 🐊🐍🐉🦕🐋🦈🐙🦠😬😆
oh lol, me it was similar but not quite the same situation .- when I was a toddler or something, I’d always make sure that all the bubbles COVERED up the tub. Because when the bubbles disappear, I just feel that there’s a fish that’s gonna appear in the clear water , so I cover it up lol
I was swimming with my mates and we decided to go down further and we found lots of abandoned diver suits and it scared the hell out of me. I’m still thinking about those divers and what happened to them
The stories behind things often make them more haunting part of why sunken items are scary, we know they're not supposed to be there and have been sunken against their will
As long as there was no skeletons in them, its just weird, not necessarily scary. Then it would be lost/dumped stuff, not drowned people. Now if there WERE, that would be godawful, and also something you shouldve reported to proper autorities xx
I grew up on the coast of Florida and spent a lot of time at the beach and swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. I think I was maybe 8 years old when I was looking for star fish on the sandbar using a swim mask and snorkel, when I looked out towards the deep water from under the surface. The blackness of the depths beyond the sandbar and the sudden realization of the vastness of that body of water shook me hard. I couldn't get back to shore fast enough! Then of course seeing Jaws a couple of years later really cemented my phobia. Now as an adult I'm okay being ON the water in a boat but I do not care to be IN the water. Despite being a good swimmer, I don't let the ocean get further than my ankles.
For the fact that he’s trying to make a video that is gonna be watched by thalassophobes, this guy sure makes it a living hell to make it through this video without shitting yourself
Well I originally designed the video to simulate the phobia for people who don't have it so they would understand what it is. I did used to have an intro explaining this but it got cut to make the pacing better.
Oh wow! So this is actually a thing?! I'm excited for the entire video. Been scared of deepness too! Ive always thought it maybe pertains to my fear of heights. It's just the fact that there's so much space between me and the floor if it's just me. It just makes me feel like I could fall into the ocean. Odd, huh?
I only have mild thalassophobia, but I heard it described pretty well. It's not about what you can see in the water that scares you, it's about what you can't see.
I had an experience when I was twelve that gave me a healthy dose of being afraid of the sea. I went too far out, in a canoe, alone. It was a sea canoe as well, not something for beginners like me. Some idiot (an adult) had lent it to me, in Mallorca, and was meant to be watching out for me, but I got swept out. I could just about still see the shore, when I realised that I was caught in some kind of strong current. It was taking me out, and I was having trouble turning back. It struck me that I had done something very stupid. I tried not to panic. It was then that I realised I had attracted the attention of something underneath me. I couldn't tell what it was, or where it was, but I knew it was there. When I looked down, I saw nothing but deep dark water. But I could FEEL it there, underneath me. The bone freezing feeling was the worst fear I had ever felt. Then a bit of the darkness underneath me moved. I wasn't sure, at first, and thought I was just freaking out. Then I saw it properly, large, much bigger than my six foot canoe, and it had upright fins on its tail. It was a shark. I have no idea what type. Thankfully it did not seem to be interested in full on attacking me. I think, looking back, it was just curious. It made a few more passes under me. Sometimes I had to wait for what felt like forever whilst it dove down, before it came back up again. I could never *quite* see it fully. There was utter silence except for the lapping water. After a few more passes, it started bumping me each time it swam by. I tried to hit it with the paddle. Then it either nipped at the canoe or whacked it with its head, and I was knocked out. I freaked out, thrashing and trying to smack it with the paddle. I think I hit it in the eye by chance, because it was around the top of the head, and its reaction was immediate. I saw triangular teeth. Why it did not bite me I will never know. All of a sudden, it was gone. I saw it turn, swim away, and swim down. I could not get the kayak to turn back over in the water, nor could I climb on top of it, and trust me, I tried. I wanted out of that water. I expected it to be back any moment to bite me. That didn't happen. In the end, I had to turn the canoe around and start kicking back towards the shore, holding onto the end of it. When I got back I was so panicked that I ended up stepping on many sea urchins, trying to scramble out of the water onto nearby rocks. Still to this day I can't see images like this video without getting those same feelings. It's because it reminds me of the deep black water, the fear, the certainty I was going to die, and being utterly alone, and helpless. I did not know my fear had a name.
You described my fears perfectly ! It's nice to hear someone else describe the mind numbing fear that takes over , even during something as simple as a video game !! Thanx for the great video❤️
What really gets me is the damned seaweed. I've been a diver since 1970 and love it, but if I unexpectedly run into a large mass of seaweed, I blow bubbles out of my ass.
I've had this phobia my entire life. It started with swimming pools. I still panic in swimming pools to this day but the ocean... I'd rather have snakes crawling all over me than go for a swim or in a kayak in the ocean
Once I was swimming in a lake and I thought I stepped on my mom’s foot, I asked her and she was like no you didn’t step on my foot and UH yeah that horrified me because it felt exactly like a foot 🙃
@@PeakedInterest me too! i thought i stepped on a fish so i freaked out and laughed. since my friends were swimming behind me i asked them to look if i had a cut on my heel because it stings. i raised my foot and they screamed so hard in horror because the spikes were so long and still stuck on my heel. they picked it one by one
After watching Jaws as a young child, I developed the phobia, but I was fascinated by marine life and habitats. I took classes to earn a scuba diving license when I was in 8th grade because my brother and dad were doing it. Part of the course required beach dives, which were especially challenging because the sand and currents cause poor visibility. Also, one must walk into the ocean and swim past the surf line, before descending. On my first beach dive, we had surfaced and were just outside the surf line. I had that creepy feeling that something was underneath me. I looked down through my mask and saw a huge object moving. The water was dark and murky, but I could just make out a ray, larger than me, rippling just below my feet. Such an eerie, creepy image! What I couldn't see was scarier than what I could see, though. Fear of the unknown, threatening harm is the origin of this phobia.
Welcome to the channel, aside from scaring you I hope the video was enjoyable. I tried my best to capture how this phobia feels from everyone's perspective
i live in a country with a ton of lakes and not really anything dangerous living in them, only small sweetwater creatures that would be too frightened to ever approach something as big as a human. i have absolutely no fear not seeing the bottom of lakes when i swim in them, or knowing that it’s 10 meters (~30 feet) deep right below me. they’re safe and peaceful and one of my favourite things ever is floating on the still surface of a lake on my back in a way where my ears are submerged; all sound is muffled and my body weightless. it’s blissful. being in the ocean is the polar opposite of being in a lake to me. the water is never still like a mirror’s surface, there are always waves, there’s always the chance of dangerous seacreatures, and most importantly you can rarely see the other shore. in a lake you’re usually surrounded by landmasses on many sides; even if they’re too far away to swim to you can still SEE them. the ocean feels infinite in every direction, including down. any time i swim in an ocean it’s stressful and uncertain the entire time and i experience a mild but pressing sense of thalassophobia. it’s interesting, the absolute difference to me. i’ve seen a lot of comments talking about the problem being just any body of water that’s dark enough for you to not be able to see what’s in it. reading the first one i agreed, but then realized that i think thalassophobia really does exist not in just any waters, but only and exclusively in the sea, to me at the very least.
see I love the ocean and would love to work as a marine biologist I even fantasize about floating in the ocean happily... but I'm also terrified of the ocean and water in general 😭 even a small pool or lake and scare me and I have fears of tsunamis destroying my home even though I don't live anywhere near where they happen... the brain is very weird 😭
The dark and murky water is the absolut worse, when you don't know how deep it is and you don't know what's lurking. It's like you're walking in the woods at night, but you don't hear if something's coming towards you and it can come from pretty much from any angle
This feeling is pretty common. There is something really primal about seeing a dark, moving shadow in ocean water. It is common enough that people on my swim team as a kid admitted having by the “somethings down there and coming quickly” feeling in indoor swimming pools.
I don't have Thalassophobia per se, but I saw the film "The Poseidon Adventure" when I was a kid and it scared the living daylights out of me. To this day, I will NEVER EVER go on a cruise and I don't even like taking a ferry, especially if it traverses a deep body of water. My particular phobia (not sure if it has a name) has more to do with the fear of man-made objects malfunctioning, e.g. I don't have a fear of heights but I will NEVER walk onto a glass viewing platform on the side of a building, ride on a huge Ferris wheel or god forbid, go bungee jumping. Anyway, this was interesting. Thanks for the upload. Cheers from Oz! 🦘
For me im more afraid of lakes. The ocean is also horrifying but much more vast meaning that what ever creatures may be lurking can be miles and miles away complared to a lake where it can only possibly be so far. Quarry lakes are the worst, hundreds of feet deep, dark cold water and god knows what at the bottom.
I never knew I had this phobia, until my SO's family convinced me to swim out a bit deeper into the ocean during a beach holiday. It was great, because I was past the waves cresting, so I was just bobbing along gently, able to float. But then I looked down, and realised I couldn't see the bottom. It was too murky. I knew I wasn't too far out, that I was surrounded by friends and family, but the fact that I couldn't see the bottom, completely incapacitated me. I was hyperventilating so bad that I couldn't even swim back to shore. My partner had to literally haul me back towards the beach, where I sat and shook for two hours after.
I had a very similar experience a few years ago in the Maldives. I’m a strong swimmer because I competed all through high school but, open water has always made me very nervous. I still try to overcome my fear to do snorkeling activities around more shallow depths/coral reefs. My husband convinced me to do a very well known reef with a guide. I had very reluctantly agreed. What I didn’t know is that once we rounded a cove, a giant abyss is directly in front of you. It’s an enormous drop into the massive Indian Ocean. The temperature dropped instantaneously and what had been bright, colorful shallow water just a few meters behind me, was total darkness. My entire body froze after I balled up my legs and arms and started hyperventilating. I was taking in water but I was so panicked, I couldn’t bring myself loosen my clutch on my arms and legs to cough it out. I felt like I was going to drown right then and there. My husband and the guide hadn’t noticed I’d fallen behind so, it took a few minutes for them to swim back to me. It felt like a lifetime. Like your situation, they had to practically tow me in. And like you, I shook in panic for a few hours. I will never, ever do something like that again. I still have nightmares from time to time.
When I first started scuba diving I realized I was far less scared of the water since I could now see what was below me, and that was less scary than what I had imagined in my mind.
I remember swimming in Mexico and going off out pretty far without realizing it. When I put on my goggles I looked down and saw absolutely nothing, it was like fog underwater and I could barely see my feet. Your description of the fear we feel is exact. I swam back to the shore panicking and kept looking down around me at times of fear of having my feet touch something or seeing something come out of the darkness. When I could start seeing the bottom I was frightened at how deep it was and seeing boats and ankers down there frightened me even more, and the moment my feet touched the sand there wasn't any panic anymore. Just thought I'd share this.
Agree. I dont like calling it a phobia bc phobias are irrational fears. Theres nothing irrational about being scared of getting in the water with creatures that can eat u and u won't even see them coming until its too late. Its a valid fear and part of our natural instinct for self preservation. People that go into water like that without fear are the irrational ones, not us. No one would look at someone scared to get in a lion cage and tell them they are irrational while believing the guy standing in the cage is the normal one.
Absolutely terrifying! Well done documentary. As a kid, at night I believed at night my bedroom floor disappeared and turned into black ocean. Getting out of bed meant falling into deep, cold black water. I sleep with a bright night light.
The funniest part of my thalassophobia is just how ludicrously irrational it is - for instance, I grew up on a lake (literally, like in a houseboat/floating home), and yet have always been more afraid of swimming there where the water is definitely dark and deep but surely no sharks or anything lurk below, whereas whenever I’ve been somewhere like Mexico, Hawaii, etc, where the ocean is nice and warm and surely filled with sharks, I find myself not nearly as as afraid (prob not even as afraid as I reasonably should be) and have no problem swimming and playing in the surf for hours at a time. I blame the movie jaws, which I was of course forbidden from seeing when I was little but I knew my dad was going to be watching it one night so I snuck down from my room and hid behind the couch and forever ruined bodies of water for myself. In the beginning I was afraid of everything - bowls of soup, the bath, the water in the toilet (we also had a black toilet so it was a lot more scary than your usual white one which just doesn’t conjure the same fears of what might be lurking in its shallow water). I hope I can get over my thalassophobia someday, or at least mitigate it, but 30+ years of conditioned fear is a difficult thing to unpack, let alone unlearn….
My family and I went on a short vacation to a small beach resort on the south side of the island where we live. Its known for having beautiful colorful reefs and fish. We went snorkeling together and for the most part it was fun. We swam in the shallows, and it was a bright sunny day. But at some point in the swim, we reached the edge of the reef and the shelf plunged down into the deep black water. You could immediately feel a shift in the water's temperature. I was still maybe 2 meters away from the edge but I started feeling panicky. Imagine seeing colorful coral abruptly stop, and see inky blackness directly behind it. I'm staying in the shallows, thanks.
Although I get the fear I guess just like most fears they're linked to the fear of death, if I'm immortal and can fight whatever will attack me down there then I would be fine. Also, it's connected to the fear of the unknown, the light not reaching the deep water plays with your mind but if you can somehow see underwater clearly then it's not that scary anymore, thankfully sea creatures does, imagine if they didn't 😬.
One time my dad and I went out swimming, we discovered an underwater cave where the very top of the cave had air, where me and my dad investigated the cave. Then all of a sudden while I was swimming around, I spotted a a skeleton sticking out from the roof, seemingly stuck in the rocks. I panicked, thinking it was human at first then thinking it was from an animal. I cried, clinging to my dad thinking I was going to die. But no, it was just a piece of white rope. But I still remember the feeling of thinkibg I'd be trapped there forever and not knowing what was in the darkness surrounding me.
Sounds like a whole lot of bullshit.You don't just randomly find a submerged cave in your local lake. Also if it's an underwater cave in the way you describe it, it seems like it's a good 15-18 feet under water. Most people who aren't trained to hold there breath for long periods of time probably couldn't make the swim down into it, and then up to the top where the air pockets exist. Next time come up with a more believable story for your internet clout
For me it's the combination of depth, darkness of the water and the enormity of it. If it's a shallow pond or stream and i can see the bottom it's fine. I would say anything above knee level makes me feel uneasy. But it could be crystal clear, if it's a big body of just water it would also make me feel panicky. I have a fear of liminal spaces and a huge body of water looks like that to me. I don't have a real fear of sharks, more of weird underwater creatures.
Now I dont have Thalassophobia, the ocean fascinates me more than it does scare me. But the way you described the ocean, the deep water and the creatures that live in it...... It could put anybody off the ocean for good. Honestly this gave me chills.
That scene in Jaws that you said scared you the most, still to this day makes my heart skip a beat. Plus the part where he is searching Ben Gardner's boat.. Even though I know the shark doesn't appear in that scene I still get the feeling he is in danger every time I see it.
I’m fascinated by the ocean and have a healthy respect for it. But my younger brother, since birth, has been deathly afraid of it. I’ve always been near the experience of thalassophobia, and live just five blocks from the beach, so I can sometimes get random lurches of panic when my imagination is allowed to roam while I swim. One time a friend was taking selfies with his GoPro while surfing and he took one sitting on his board, when he looked at it later in the day he realized there had been a shark right next to his leg, that was dangling next to the board and in the water. I love sharks, and it didn’t do anything to him, but the fact that it was Right There and he didn’t NOTICE it made my blood pressure suffer. So I guess I have the fear occasionally, only while being irrational of course smh. Very good video, very informative, it helped me pinpoint the fear as some kind of pre-something anxiety, like the charged wait when you know a jumpscare is coming and yet nothing happens so the pressure is never released. Gut wrenching.
I remember I was on vacation when I was a kid, and we were at some lake with one of those platforms in the middle of it, not to far from shore but far enough that you had to swim a good amount to get to it. Me and my brother then swam out to it with no problems, and we just chilled for a bit until it was time to go. I started to get ready to jump off when I looked underwater and just saw dark murky water and a chain that was connected to a giant tire that held the platform in place. In that moment I immediately felt such a deep sense of dread and terror that I nearly collapsed. In that moment I felt that I couldn’t move or do anything, that I was just stuck there. Then I realized that I was going to have to swim back.
I hate the bottom of muddy lakes. Even if I'm only up to my knees in water, the second I step on something slimy I'm all NOPE! Noping on out of here to Nopeville.
Even a deep swimming pool or swimming over the large drain will scare me. This video made me feel nauseated and i remember being in a dinghy with my dad at sea and he rowed near a buoy and large boat and i freaked out...
I love goblin sharks!!!! It's so wild to me that when I was a kid, I had an ocean book with a pic of a washed up goblin shark that said something like "this is one of the only photographs of a goblin shark in existence" (it may have been an old book, but this was also early internet days too), and now I can see videos of these ghostly animals striking at prey in their environment. I am a huge cosmic horror fan, and ive always loved the ocean, especially the deep. I used to be scared of sharks as a kid, but they were also one of my favourite animals (still are!) Like I had so many shark nightmares, but at the same time would love watching docs about em, having a sharktooth necklace, petting the small sharks at an aquarium. So i guess it was an example of a healthy, rational fear, that never had a negative impact on my times having fun swimming at the beach. ...But giant squid???? nO FUCK THAT LMAO IM OUT I WOULD RATHER JUMP INTO A SHARK FRENZY THAN EVER HAVE A GIANT SQUID EVEN JUST LOOK AT ME WITH THAT COLD DEAD MUSHY EYE NUH UHH GOOD BYE I DO NOT WANT THE ABYSS TO GAZE BACK AT ME FROM A CREATURE THAT LOOKS LIKE THE EMBODIMENT OF A DALI PAINTING. THOSE EYES HAVE SEEN THINGS. INCOMPREHENSIBLE, HORRIBLE THINGS, THINGS THAT NO HUMAN BEING SHOULD EVER KNOW. SPERM WHALES ARE THE ACTUAL LAST BASTION AGAINST THESE HARBINGERS OF THE VOID, AND I HOPE WE NEVER HAVE TO FIGHT THAT BATTLE. But yeah. Goblin sharks are awesome and I'm so glad we're learning more about these elusive hunters all the time.
I have a "similar" one. And it's complicated to explain. I found out that I have "submechanophobia". Not the sea itself, I love swimming and I'm even a real good swimmer and diver. But "constructs" underwater... even pictures just make me freak and put me ill at ease. I can't watch the intro of Titanic for example. Wrecks, buildings, these things underwater just... brrr.
yes i relate to this too i am especially triggered by things such as underwater pipelines and drains or openings that have some type of connection i have trouble swimming in man made lakes or canals because the thought of submerged pipes or openings makes me so anxious
i love and fear the waters. if they are dark, or i am lost, and i am unaware of my surroundings, it’s the most terrifying experience. but on holiday swimming in the sea when it’s nice and sunny, with my family or friends, i feel at home. i also am a swimmer, but usually that’s in pools and i feel at home in there. it’s a strange thing for me.
I used to be a scuba diver (had to give it up due to ear problems) and on every dive I had a weird feeling as if there was something lurking behind me. Had it not been my ears that made me stop, I would have stopped diving because of this feeling. Now I know it's some kind of this fear... Thank you for making this clear to me! All the best from Germany :-)
i have an uncle that used to be a sailor and he lived with his mom when he came from his long tours on a shipping boat. when i was little i used to visit his mom and some times he was there, and i asked him about the sea and his experiences. he told me about times they had to take a different route because of indonesian pirates, about times they saw whales and other interesting stories. he always talked to me with a big smile on his face, but when he told stories about storms in the middle of the pacific, abut the strong currents on tierra del fuego, wich is the southernmost tip of chile, and the sea in general, he always had a completely serious face on him. i sometimes asked him what if you get killed by a wave or your ship sank, and he always said: "well, id probably die, but id rather die than live on the mercy of the angry sea" before you ask, no he did not end up dying, he simply stopped coming to my town for some reason, idk why hes a pretty weird guy
Thanks for that bit of terror ride. I was actually looking around the floor of my dark room at 4am while watching this. I can't even relax in a bathtub, how crazy is that.
I’m so glad I figured the name out for this I have a huge phobia of the ocean at night, dark water, pools with no pool lights at night, and dark pools (from the tile or how deep the water is)
aged 7, walked out of Sea, Skegness, Lincolnshire everyone starts freaking out. I look down. massive Jelly fish rapped around my waist. aged 13, saw friend pulled though canal Lockgates, and killed, river Trent, Newark upon Trent. Disappeared, and came up 3 days later by the Castle. I couldn't go anywhere, near a canal for 35 years. Horrific nightmares. Then 3 years ago, I faced my fears. I brought a Open canoe, buoyancy jacket and went for it. I've now been , whitewaters , lakes, reservoirs, sea and yes Canals. I'm made friends with the waters again.
I'm laying in bed watching this and I feel like something is going to come a grab my feet. The jaws part got me! Oh and the sailors being eaten by sharks. My absolute fear 😨 great video, I couldn't watch it all but I listened to it while reading the comments. Totally freaked out now.
I'm a thalassophobe so imagine how I feltaking it lol. There's another 20 or 30 video clips and hundreds of photos I had to look at before I found the ones which I wanted for this video.
My heart pounds so hard watching this. The anxiety I get from this wow. I can’t explain. I don’t mind the ocean as long as I can see below me once it goes to deep my mind goes to places. And I panic
Me who plans to become a marine biologist that includes learning how to scuba dive and other potentially life threatening things: Let me in sea daddy, I wanna do some science. Read more for cool fish facts. Also unless you're literally invincible you'll never ever meet the deep sea creatures. They'll die before they get anywhere close to the top due to drastic changes in temperature, pressure, and lack of food/becoming food. There is one that comes up during the night and fishermen go and scoop them up. I wanna say lantern fish but I might be wrong. They're like max a foot long and harmless. Huge benefit for the ecosystem but won't make a dent in the population due to the unbelievable amount of them. A long time ago a mass of them once got mistaken for the seafloor while maping because there are so many! They're great. Also most fishes won't eat you. Sand Tiger Sharks are docile around humans and are friendly. Just don't be aggressive cause then it will be aggressive back. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. If you've been on the eastern Pacific shore in the surf you've definitely had one close by you :) they're gonna hunt at night. That's partly why night swimming is dangerous. The first is the tide. Tide will kill you more than any fishes will. Also the giant or collassal squid isn't gonna eat you lol or be around the top. There's a reason they're mainly found around the bottom. Most whales won't eat you either, they're filter feeders and filter feeders can't eat you. Squid and whale might be curious. Other than orcas but why are you swimming with an orca.
16:56 when this picture popped up and the sound effects played., i had to pause for a minute my anxiety went up like crazy, good work dude, this represent the fear perfectly.
I panic if I can't feel tha floor in a swimming pool...if I can't see, that's a whole new level of fear. Needless to say, tha ocean scares tha hell outta me
I am with you 100%. I am both fascinated and terrified of the ocean. I watch countless videos of Sharks while thinking “Nope, nope, nope” the whole time. Whe I play games like Minecraft (modded) and just the thought of going in the ocean gives me a panic attack. I hate it.
This is such a weird video to watch as a person with next to no fear about the ocean asides from the healthy amount of respect you'd normally have for it lol
@@PeakedInterest oh yeah for sure, the bit where you went in detail about accidentally going into the deep end without warning made me shiver a bit since I've had a similar experience as a kid, the only thing that really scares me about the deep ocean is if I'm alone and you caught that feeling really well
If youre swimming in the open ocean then u don't have a healthy respect for it. Theres no way for u to get in the ocean and not drop far down the food chain.
okay so ik a lot of people think some of the scenes are scary and now say they have thalassophobia but the correct term for being scared of what lurks below would be megalohydrothalassophobia, fear of large underwater creatures or objects hope this helps
In my opinion, this is your best so far. You are really good, not only at storytelling, but the whole process of film-making. You are very adept at keeping the tension just right throughout, and the music, sound-effects and visuals work in complete harmony, never distracting from your narration. Really REALLY impressed, and hope you continue treating us to your high quality research and production! You deserve a huge following!
Broken coral? I'm curious what you mean by that like i live by the ocean but we don't have coral. Like can u tell me what that is, ik what coral is but i never knew about the "floating broken coral" part.
@@skydai5213 Lol no worries man. It's like, pieces of coral that have broken off a reef and kind of washed up. Seaweed may spook me because it feels like a jelly fish and we have those portuguese man of war fuckers, but the coral is always kinda hard and scares me more. Idk why haha.It rarely happens tho!
5:41 OMG ME TOO!!!!!! This scene is EXACTLY what haunts me and causes this reoccurring dream trapped at sea at night. Pitch black water, but when I look down at the ocean, I see glimmers deep deep down of giant, all white, sharks. A lot of people always say the shark looked/moved so fake in the JAWS movie. But I say, "COMPARED TO WHAT?!?!" Do they realize this was the movie that taught us how a shark looked/moved? It didn't matter how fake it looked COMPARED to the real thing, because this movie was our only source. Sometimes I would be so happy to be going to the beach, the invasive thoughts never showed up. Other times I'd be in the water, perfectly fine, then the scene at the timestamp would play in my head, and I'd start swimming out of the water with such panic and fear. This would EVEN HAPPEN IF I WAS IN A TINY POOL!!!
Thanks! I hate it
I love that phrase! You just became the pinned comment
jesus christ, pls calm down
😂😂😂
@@PeakedInterest omg thank youu (amazing job with the video btw)
@Mari Lima thanks for taking the time to watch and leave a comment.
The thing about thalassaphobia for me is, the water doesn’t have to be deep, it just has to be dark enough to where you don’t know the depth and what lurks in it
Dark or murky, either will fuck me up lol
when i was little and made soapy water in the bath i used to be scared shitless
Things like to lurk in water.
true....it's the dark blue for me
I once had anxiety attack in a 5 ft pool, I knew there was nothing at the bottom, I could see the bottom, but that shadow. It was a low shadow and I literally panicked and hopped out the pool.
The deeper the area below me swimming, the more gut wrenchingly terrifying.
Exact same for me
When its deep enough to feel different currents i get some so bad vibes like the lower cold current is where the big things wait
*some* sharks. There's quite a few that don't mind shallow water. The big dangerous ones though you only usually find out at deep sea
Even in a lake i just feel like something massive is lurking in the cold depths
BRUH IM EXACTLY THE SAME UGHHH
For me personally, it’s that sight of being right above the water and seeing the distorted and unclear image of something right below it
that’s exactly it
clever.
exactly! that is the trigger. not knowing what that shadow was...
we are not almighty as some of us think.
and that is ok. we don't deserve better when we mess with the nature.
5:41
Lawd...
“humans don’t belong in the ocean”
doesn’t get any more straight forward than that
Humans are adaptable.
@@erikseavey9445 ok then go swim in the middle of the ocean alone in the night and try to "adapt"
Exactly
@@great_channel adaptable as in can adjust to different climates humans are almost perfect predetors because we can make tool ITS BIG BRAIN TIME we can go into water if needed just can't breath or survive very deep pressure
@@BranBronzebeard701 yeah but try to survive in the middle of the ocean without any tool
The ocean to me is like space.
It’s not the fact that I’m in it, It’s the vast emptiness that scares you.
I feel the same way about space and have always drawn that same comparison.
Except it’s not empty....
Yeah the ocean isn’t empty at all
Yeah I don’t think people that have thalassaphobia have a fear of “emptiness” lmaoooo
Ye it's very empty dark and deep am scared of water because there are sharks octopus
the original photo of the Titanic wreckage discovery is by far the scariest Thalassophobia trigger for me. so vast, cold and alone.
Gay
Clearly you never seen the underwater pictures of a place called Great Blue Hole!
That sh*t looks terrifying af!
@@adarsh4764 remember scene from life of pi when he looks underwater and can see the whole ship
That was Sub-machinaphobia
I'll never forget reading Robert Ballard's book about how they came to find it.
There was a quote where he said they were scanning the ocean floor in Alvin the submersible and all of a sudden this giant wall appeared out of the darkness, it was the hull of the ship they had just found. Like that shit just freaks me out.
The worst thing is when the water is dark.. and you can't see whats under you from about waist down..
Totally agree
Indeed because hell no
That happened to me while spearfishing last season.I could not see my bright yellow fins underwater😆
😱
@@BariceRuleS OMG, I WOULDA BEEN OUTAAAA THERE- YOUR SO BRAVE LOL!
“This video is best experienced wearing headphones”
*takes headphones off*
Was it a bad video?
@@PeakedInterest no not at all! It was really good! The noises of the deep just scare me 😂
@@PeakedInterest It was an amazing experience Sir. I just found your channel, love it!
@@PeakedInterest No, the video is excellent. But I'd have done the same if I'd been wearing headphones. This is terrifying enough already lol
yep it made me more scared of swimming now!
The Idea that Something so huge could be so close to you and yet be completely hidden...
i've had this phobia all my life and I never knew what to call it, I just called it a fear of water and people just laugh.
That's the exact same as me. Its why I made this video because I only found out that I had it about a month before the video when I was talking on Reddit about stranded deep
Aquaphobia is the fear of water but thalassophobia is something more deep and primal
@@bornkst8078 its the fear of the deep sea and ocean
same issue here, now that i tell them the term for it they just go "what?"
then proceed to still laugh, as it is still just "fear of waters"
@Anonymous User well know you can point them in the direction of this video and maybe they'll understand it better
The wierdest thing is as a child i never felt this i would swim deeper and deeper farther from the beach till one day the thought wouldn't escape my mind when I would see darkness in the water below me i imagined big animals coming to grab me and now I could never imagine getting in at all.
Exactly!
PLEASE-
THIS IS WHAT I HATEEEEEEE
Me in the pool while looking at the depths of it imagining a shark or alligator coming at me-
My hyper active mind I swear 😂🤣
YE
weirdest
The Whale scene in Adventures of Pinocchio (1996) live action perfectly exemplifies *thalassophobia,* so much so I'm pretty sure it would even make regular people that don't suffer from the phobia extremely uneasy. Not just because of the eerie overhead shot of the whale's *massive silhouette* gliding beneath the boat, but because the whale itself is a transformed human, the villian Lorenzini. So the sea monster is given *uncanny valley* traits, like human teeth and eyes.
The thing about the ocean for me, is that I am at 100% disadvantage compared to everything else in the water. I can’t even achieve the basic things like breathing in the water - even the tiny fish out-benefit me. It’s the most vulnerable I could ever be
Totally feel that
I have thalassophobia and I’m also very scared of sharks 😃😐 like thanks
Are fishes scared of the land for the same reason?🤨
@jack w I mean they have to be scared of it because they will DIE if they go on it. And if that’s not scary. I don’t know what it to fishes. (Don’t judge that I started a sentence with *and* I know your not supposed to do that)
Well i hate ground worms, roaches, insects. I cant imagine what to meet in deep ocean. Worst case is jellyfish, sea snake, or even sharks
Wow, this is the first time I have ever heard of sub-mechanophobia. I was always terrified of sunken man-made things, even when it came to toy boats in the tub. It makes my skin crawl, and I feel this sickening strange fear. I never knew it was a phobia until now. Shipwrecks and the like fascinate me, but I would probably vomit if I was ever actually near one.
I used to love putting toys underwater. And burying them in order to dig them back up days later. 😂
It's not a fear of the sea itself but more like a fear of all of the things in it that can and will regard you as a snack or prey at any given time.
True
Everytime I am was on the sea doing any sports or swimming had a feeling that something would grab my feet. I still managed to face the fear. Many years later I will not go to deep waters no matter what.
Yeah, if i was invulnerable id swim through all of the ocean knowing i couldnt die because its so fascinating with so many alien looking things/animals
Like sharks 🦈
@@Anastashya ya I would be worried about that but I wouldn’t b to worried about sharks because it’s rare that a shark will attack u but I know rare doesn’t mean it can’t happen
I’m a swimmer and when I’m in a pool, I swim completely fine, but when I can’t see below me I swim weird. I swim with my head above the water, even with goggles on, I can’t stand to put my head under water and look down
Def a thelassophic trait
That’s why I prefer to swim backstroke even during the times when our pool is green/ murky
Me neither, I am also a swimmer and once the pool gets dark I leave, or I start panicking and choking.
I mostly swim in lakes, I'm fine when you can't see the bottom, or can see it clearly, but when you can just barely see the rocks at the bottom of the lake then I really hate it. But as soon as you can't see the bottom, even over hundred of feet of water, I'm fine. Is that a thalassophobic thing or am I just wierd
@@altaccount4697 id say that’s more of the opposite, most people would not even look underwater in a lake, but I guess when seeing the rocks it would be. I can’t say for sure as I’ve never dived to the bottom of a lake due to its depth
This video was absolutely excellent, even though I spent most of the video cringing and shuddering due to the the footage. It nailed the description of this phobia right on the head!
Video hasn't started yet and the "Welcome to Thalassophobia" thing already scared the heck out of me.
Hope you managed to make it through it
Yeahh
same I was only 5 mins in and wanted to leave my heart was beating fast this video is scary to me I'm like 18 mins in rn-
“Unreasonable” he says.
My fear of the DARK, NEVER-ENDING, DEEP, KILLER, ANGRY OCEAN IS PERFECTLY REASONABLE.
Love your profile pic 💛
@@jackiepeel7933 thank you! 😭 you’re beautiful and have a wonderful day
very reasonable when you are playing a videogame with godmode and mobs aren't attacking you, but you're still terrified.
I think empathy has a great deal to do with feeling fear whilst other people suffer in movies. I mean, people who do not suffer from thalassophobia may find a scene “boring” when people are floating in the middle of the ocean,surrounded by sharks.
But if they found themselves and that position in real life, they would be terrified. Somebody with empathy towards the characters would also feel terrified.
Even as a kid, if the bubbles in my bathtub covered the surface, I’d stress out from fearing my bathtub would open up into a deep dark ocean. I’d panic and splash so I could see the bottom of the tub.
Omg I get that! I hated swimming in pools if it was dark just in case a massive vortex into another under water world pulled me in... or worse let something OUT! 🐊🐍🐉🦕🐋🦈🐙🦠😬😆
@@SquirrelThis I like ur use of various emojis
@@lord5kfs cheers 🙃👍
I thought I was the only one who as a kid imagined a giant shark coming through my bathtub. Irrational but terrifying
oh lol, me it was similar but not quite the same situation .- when I was a toddler or something, I’d always make sure that all the bubbles COVERED up the tub. Because when the bubbles disappear, I just feel that there’s a fish that’s gonna appear in the clear water , so I cover it up lol
I was swimming with my mates and we decided to go down further and we found lots of abandoned diver suits and it scared the hell out of me. I’m still thinking about those divers and what happened to them
The stories behind things often make them more haunting part of why sunken items are scary, we know they're not supposed to be there and have been sunken against their will
Submechanophobia
Oh you already talked about it in the video a minute after this comment
Scary.
As long as there was no skeletons in them, its just weird, not necessarily scary. Then it would be lost/dumped stuff, not drowned people. Now if there WERE, that would be godawful, and also something you shouldve reported to proper autorities xx
I grew up on the coast of Florida and spent a lot of time at the beach and swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. I think I was maybe 8 years old when I was looking for star fish on the sandbar using a swim mask and snorkel, when I looked out towards the deep water from under the surface. The blackness of the depths beyond the sandbar and the sudden realization of the vastness of that body of water shook me hard. I couldn't get back to shore fast enough! Then of course seeing Jaws a couple of years later really cemented my phobia. Now as an adult I'm okay being ON the water in a boat but I do not care to be IN the water. Despite being a good swimmer, I don't let the ocean get further than my ankles.
For the fact that he’s trying to make a video that is gonna be watched by thalassophobes, this guy sure makes it a living hell to make it through this video without shitting yourself
Well I originally designed the video to simulate the phobia for people who don't have it so they would understand what it is. I did used to have an intro explaining this but it got cut to make the pacing better.
Yeah im not sleeping tonight
@@PeakedInterest I hope you know that you did a good job
@@PeakedInterest yes, you succeeded!
As a thalassophobe/megalohydrothalassophobe I agree. I am genuinely on edge watching this
It terrifies me not being able to see what's under the dark water
Me too. I hate it
@@PeakedInterest Don't worry, it's just Cthulhu.
Grow up.
Oh wow! So this is actually a thing?! I'm excited for the entire video. Been scared of deepness too! Ive always thought it maybe pertains to my fear of heights. It's just the fact that there's so much space between me and the floor if it's just me. It just makes me feel like I could fall into the ocean. Odd, huh?
I only have mild thalassophobia, but I heard it described pretty well. It's not about what you can see in the water that scares you, it's about what you can't see.
I had an experience when I was twelve that gave me a healthy dose of being afraid of the sea. I went too far out, in a canoe, alone. It was a sea canoe as well, not something for beginners like me. Some idiot (an adult) had lent it to me, in Mallorca, and was meant to be watching out for me, but I got swept out.
I could just about still see the shore, when I realised that I was caught in some kind of strong current. It was taking me out, and I was having trouble turning back. It struck me that I had done something very stupid. I tried not to panic.
It was then that I realised I had attracted the attention of something underneath me. I couldn't tell what it was, or where it was, but I knew it was there. When I looked down, I saw nothing but deep dark water. But I could FEEL it there, underneath me.
The bone freezing feeling was the worst fear I had ever felt. Then a bit of the darkness underneath me moved. I wasn't sure, at first, and thought I was just freaking out. Then I saw it properly, large, much bigger than my six foot canoe, and it had upright fins on its tail.
It was a shark. I have no idea what type. Thankfully it did not seem to be interested in full on attacking me. I think, looking back, it was just curious.
It made a few more passes under me. Sometimes I had to wait for what felt like forever whilst it dove down, before it came back up again. I could never *quite* see it fully. There was utter silence except for the lapping water.
After a few more passes, it started bumping me each time it swam by. I tried to hit it with the paddle. Then it either nipped at the canoe or whacked it with its head, and I was knocked out. I freaked out, thrashing and trying to smack it with the paddle. I think I hit it in the eye by chance, because it was around the top of the head, and its reaction was immediate. I saw triangular teeth. Why it did not bite me I will never know.
All of a sudden, it was gone. I saw it turn, swim away, and swim down. I could not get the kayak to turn back over in the water, nor could I climb on top of it, and trust me, I tried. I wanted out of that water. I expected it to be back any moment to bite me.
That didn't happen. In the end, I had to turn the canoe around and start kicking back towards the shore, holding onto the end of it. When I got back I was so panicked that I ended up stepping on many sea urchins, trying to scramble out of the water onto nearby rocks.
Still to this day I can't see images like this video without getting those same feelings. It's because it reminds me of the deep black water, the fear, the certainty I was going to die, and being utterly alone, and helpless. I did not know my fear had a name.
Damn that's f#### scary , it if was me .. id turned the canoe over because of me shaking 😰😰😰😰😭😭😭😭😭😭
You're sooo brave omgg
If I were you I would just cry and paddle as fast as possible out of the current and get to shore with an adrenaline rush.
Well this is going to scar me for life :)
@@uniquely_insane what exactly is he brave for?
You described my fears perfectly !
It's nice to hear someone else describe the mind numbing fear that takes over , even during something as simple as a video game !!
Thanx for the great video❤️
What really gets me is the damned seaweed. I've been a diver since 1970 and love it, but if I unexpectedly run into a large mass of seaweed, I blow bubbles out of my ass.
Made me crack
XDD
i wasn’t deep at all but started having an anxiety attack because of seaweed
Why is that? Interesting!
@@amberm2022 probably because of how seaweed can tangle around your leg or any other part of your body and trap you
@@nishanth1866 that’s so terrifying to imagine 😭
Even in public swimming pools I always feel like a shark is under me in the deep end
Yessss me too
Lol what kind of fear is is 😂😂
I always feel like there is a shark underneath my belly when I swim in pools
me too 💀
lmao yes, or crocodile
I've had this phobia my entire life. It started with swimming pools. I still panic in swimming pools to this day but the ocean... I'd rather have snakes crawling all over me than go for a swim or in a kayak in the ocean
Once I was swimming in a lake and I thought I stepped on my mom’s foot, I asked her and she was like no you didn’t step on my foot and UH yeah that horrified me because it felt exactly like a foot 🙃
That churns my stomach..🤢
Probably a fish
My dad has stepped on a fish before on accident lmao
I stepped on a sea urchin once...I didn't even know what happened.
@@PeakedInterest me too! i thought i stepped on a fish so i freaked out and laughed. since my friends were swimming behind me i asked them to look if i had a cut on my heel because it stings. i raised my foot and they screamed so hard in horror because the spikes were so long and still stuck on my heel. they picked it one by one
This is like when your foot is hanging off the bed with no blanket protection - but like 200X worse and also actually dangerous lol
Just as I'm reading this my foot is literally hanging off the bed 🛌
@@ReezLah. 👀
After watching Jaws as a young child, I developed the phobia, but I was fascinated by marine life and habitats. I took classes to earn a scuba diving license when I was in 8th grade because my brother and dad were doing it. Part of the course required beach dives, which were especially challenging because the sand and currents cause poor visibility. Also, one must walk into the ocean and swim past the surf line, before descending.
On my first beach dive, we had surfaced and were just outside the surf line. I had that creepy feeling that something was underneath me. I looked down through my mask and saw a huge object moving. The water was dark and murky, but I could just make out a ray, larger than me, rippling just below my feet. Such an eerie, creepy image! What I couldn't see was scarier than what I could see, though. Fear of the unknown, threatening harm is the origin of this phobia.
When he showed the clear water I was like: no no no no
Shark attack: AAHHHhHhHhhHh
Welcome to the channel, aside from scaring you I hope the video was enjoyable. I tried my best to capture how this phobia feels from everyone's perspective
@@PeakedInterest No its ok I enjoyed the vid and I think you will be able to reach high subs just believe in yourself
Thanks man. Hope you'll stick around to see more
He got me with the shark bite too! I blinked so hard hahaha
Amazing channel by the way I have just found it!
Thank you @Cesar
What the hell.. I'm just enjoying my morning coffee then decided to click this now I'm shaking in my boots expecting a piranha to jump out of my cup
Apologies for spoiling your coffee
Damn good for you tho keepin on
i live in a country with a ton of lakes and not really anything dangerous living in them, only small sweetwater creatures that would be too frightened to ever approach something as big as a human. i have absolutely no fear not seeing the bottom of lakes when i swim in them, or knowing that it’s 10 meters (~30 feet) deep right below me. they’re safe and peaceful and one of my favourite things ever is floating on the still surface of a lake on my back in a way where my ears are submerged; all sound is muffled and my body weightless. it’s blissful.
being in the ocean is the polar opposite of being in a lake to me. the water is never still like a mirror’s surface, there are always waves, there’s always the chance of dangerous seacreatures, and most importantly you can rarely see the other shore. in a lake you’re usually surrounded by landmasses on many sides; even if they’re too far away to swim to you can still SEE them. the ocean feels infinite in every direction, including down. any time i swim in an ocean it’s stressful and uncertain the entire time and i experience a mild but pressing sense of thalassophobia.
it’s interesting, the absolute difference to me. i’ve seen a lot of comments talking about the problem being just any body of water that’s dark enough for you to not be able to see what’s in it. reading the first one i agreed, but then realized that i think thalassophobia really does exist not in just any waters, but only and exclusively in the sea, to me at the very least.
see I love the ocean and would love to work as a marine biologist I even fantasize about floating in the ocean happily...
but I'm also terrified of the ocean and water in general 😭 even a small pool or lake and scare me and I have fears of tsunamis destroying my home even though I don't live anywhere near where they happen... the brain is very weird 😭
I have the same phobia so I totally understand. Where are you from?
Same like the ocean interests me but I also hate it but like the deep deep ocean where you have no idea what under there
Like in films when the camera goes under water I can’t watch it
Same
I relate to this very strongly
The dark and murky water is the absolut worse, when you don't know how deep it is and you don't know what's lurking. It's like you're walking in the woods at night, but you don't hear if something's coming towards you and it can come from pretty much from any angle
At 17:00, i legitamatly got terified. The sound effects you put in were perfect.
This feeling is pretty common. There is something really primal about seeing a dark, moving shadow in ocean water. It is common enough that people on my swim team as a kid admitted having by the “somethings down there and coming quickly” feeling in indoor swimming pools.
The scariest for me was the guy jumping off the tower. Guess I have a fear of heights? Lol
Acrophobia
Heights are really okay for me as I've lived in really high places and got used to it but the ocean is a NO for me
I don't have Thalassophobia per se, but I saw the film "The Poseidon Adventure" when I was a kid and it scared the living daylights out of me. To this day, I will NEVER EVER go on a cruise and I don't even like taking a ferry, especially if it traverses a deep body of water. My particular phobia (not sure if it has a name) has more to do with the fear of man-made objects malfunctioning, e.g. I don't have a fear of heights but I will NEVER walk onto a glass viewing platform on the side of a building, ride on a huge Ferris wheel or god forbid, go bungee jumping. Anyway, this was interesting. Thanks for the upload. Cheers from Oz! 🦘
For me im more afraid of lakes. The ocean is also horrifying but much more vast meaning that what ever creatures may be lurking can be miles and miles away complared to a lake where it can only possibly be so far. Quarry lakes are the worst, hundreds of feet deep, dark cold water and god knows what at the bottom.
That's a valid point. Well as valid as a point about irrational fears can be lol
Lakes are my problem too.... they terrify me but I'm good in the ocean
The thing about quarys is your supposed to watch out for shit like crocs and gators
I never knew I had this phobia, until my SO's family convinced me to swim out a bit deeper into the ocean during a beach holiday. It was great, because I was past the waves cresting, so I was just bobbing along gently, able to float. But then I looked down, and realised I couldn't see the bottom. It was too murky. I knew I wasn't too far out, that I was surrounded by friends and family, but the fact that I couldn't see the bottom, completely incapacitated me. I was hyperventilating so bad that I couldn't even swim back to shore. My partner had to literally haul me back towards the beach, where I sat and shook for two hours after.
By partner do you mean boyfriend?
@@justintime753 at the time yes, now husband, although I’m not sure why that’s relevant to the story lol?
@@Vee-Maxi I think some people just get weirded out when they hear partner.
@@sam8404 that’s so weird
I had a very similar experience a few years ago in the Maldives. I’m a strong swimmer because I competed all through high school but, open water has always made me very nervous. I still try to overcome my fear to do snorkeling activities around more shallow depths/coral reefs.
My husband convinced me to do a very well known reef with a guide. I had very reluctantly agreed. What I didn’t know is that once we rounded a cove, a giant abyss is directly in front of you. It’s an enormous drop into the massive Indian Ocean. The temperature dropped instantaneously and what had been bright, colorful shallow water just a few meters behind me, was total darkness. My entire body froze after I balled up my legs and arms and started hyperventilating. I was taking in water but I was so panicked, I couldn’t bring myself loosen my clutch on my arms and legs to cough it out. I felt like I was going to drown right then and there. My husband and the guide hadn’t noticed I’d fallen behind so, it took a few minutes for them to swim back to me. It felt like a lifetime. Like your situation, they had to practically tow me in. And like you, I shook in panic for a few hours. I will never, ever do something like that again.
I still have nightmares from time to time.
When I first started scuba diving I realized I was far less scared of the water since I could now see what was below me, and that was less scary than what I had imagined in my mind.
I remember swimming in Mexico and going off out pretty far without realizing it. When I put on my goggles I looked down and saw absolutely nothing, it was like fog underwater and I could barely see my feet. Your description of the fear we feel is exact. I swam back to the shore panicking and kept looking down around me at times of fear of having my feet touch something or seeing something come out of the darkness. When I could start seeing the bottom I was frightened at how deep it was and seeing boats and ankers down there frightened me even more, and the moment my feet touched the sand there wasn't any panic anymore. Just thought I'd share this.
Scary
Unreasonable? I think my fear is very reasonable thank you very much 😂
I've got it too, I know exactly how it feels ha ha
Agree. I dont like calling it a phobia bc phobias are irrational fears. Theres nothing irrational about being scared of getting in the water with creatures that can eat u and u won't even see them coming until its too late. Its a valid fear and part of our natural instinct for self preservation. People that go into water like that without fear are the irrational ones, not us. No one would look at someone scared to get in a lion cage and tell them they are irrational while believing the guy standing in the cage is the normal one.
@@lolasmom5816 exactly 😂😂
Absolutely terrifying! Well done documentary. As a kid, at night I believed at night my bedroom floor disappeared and turned into black ocean. Getting out of bed meant falling into deep, cold black water. I sleep with a bright night light.
No way? Really. I used to have blue carpet in my room and I used to imagine it was an ocean full of sharks
Great video, especially loved the soundscape.
Thank you. I planned the sound design very carefully so that's validation that I did a good job.uch appreciated
What’s the name of the song playing at the beginning?
Loved the way you narrated this. Really makes you respect the ocean, and in awe of its duality.
Thank you.
The funniest part of my thalassophobia is just how ludicrously irrational it is - for instance, I grew up on a lake (literally, like in a houseboat/floating home), and yet have always been more afraid of swimming there where the water is definitely dark and deep but surely no sharks or anything lurk below, whereas whenever I’ve been somewhere like Mexico, Hawaii, etc, where the ocean is nice and warm and surely filled with sharks, I find myself not nearly as as afraid (prob not even as afraid as I reasonably should be) and have no problem swimming and playing in the surf for hours at a time.
I blame the movie jaws, which I was of course forbidden from seeing when I was little but I knew my dad was going to be watching it one night so I snuck down from my room and hid behind the couch and forever ruined bodies of water for myself. In the beginning I was afraid of everything - bowls of soup, the bath, the water in the toilet (we also had a black toilet so it was a lot more scary than your usual white one which just doesn’t conjure the same fears of what might be lurking in its shallow water). I hope I can get over my thalassophobia someday, or at least mitigate it, but 30+ years of conditioned fear is a difficult thing to unpack, let alone unlearn….
My family and I went on a short vacation to a small beach resort on the south side of the island where we live. Its known for having beautiful colorful reefs and fish. We went snorkeling together and for the most part it was fun. We swam in the shallows, and it was a bright sunny day. But at some point in the swim, we reached the edge of the reef and the shelf plunged down into the deep black water. You could immediately feel a shift in the water's temperature. I was still maybe 2 meters away from the edge but I started feeling panicky. Imagine seeing colorful coral abruptly stop, and see inky blackness directly behind it.
I'm staying in the shallows, thanks.
bro same , the sudden change in temperature freaks me out 🥶
Exact same experience swimming at the Great Barrier Reef. Most terrifying experience of my life. Those underwater shelf’s are the stuff of nightmares
Although I get the fear I guess just like most fears they're linked to the fear of death, if I'm immortal and can fight whatever will attack me down there then I would be fine.
Also, it's connected to the fear of the unknown, the light not reaching the deep water plays with your mind but if you can somehow see underwater clearly then it's not that scary anymore, thankfully sea creatures does, imagine if they didn't 😬.
One time my dad and I went out swimming, we discovered an underwater cave where the very top of the cave had air, where me and my dad investigated the cave. Then all of a sudden while I was swimming around, I spotted a a skeleton sticking out from the roof, seemingly stuck in the rocks. I panicked, thinking it was human at first then thinking it was from an animal. I cried, clinging to my dad thinking I was going to die. But no, it was just a piece of white rope.
But I still remember the feeling of thinkibg I'd be trapped there forever and not knowing what was in the darkness surrounding me.
Doesn't sound too fun
Sounds like a whole lot of bullshit.You don't just randomly find a submerged cave in your local lake. Also if it's an underwater cave in the way you describe it, it seems like it's a good 15-18 feet under water. Most people who aren't trained to hold there breath for long periods of time probably couldn't make the swim down into it, and then up to the top where the air pockets exist. Next time come up with a more believable story for your internet clout
This video has solidified my resolve to never ever swim in the sea ever again. Im going to see my therapist
“humans don’t belong in the ocean”
Mafia: “i beg to differ”
LOL a great point indeed
hahahaha!!! :-D
🤣
For me it's the combination of depth, darkness of the water and the enormity of it. If it's a shallow pond or stream and i can see the bottom it's fine. I would say anything above knee level makes me feel uneasy. But it could be crystal clear, if it's a big body of just water it would also make me feel panicky. I have a fear of liminal spaces and a huge body of water looks like that to me. I don't have a real fear of sharks, more of weird underwater creatures.
Same for me, If I can see the bottom I'm usually fine unless the water is murky
Glad my power of “not giving a crap” makes me immune to this phobia XD
Now I dont have Thalassophobia, the ocean fascinates me more than it does scare me.
But the way you described the ocean, the deep water and the creatures that live in it......
It could put anybody off the ocean for good. Honestly this gave me chills.
Thanks, I guess that means I did a good job with the video since one of my goals was to help non sufferers of the phobia understand what it's like
When it comes to swimming, it's not what I can see that scares me... it's what I cant see in the water
That scene in Jaws that you said scared you the most, still to this day makes my heart skip a beat. Plus the part where he is searching Ben Gardner's boat.. Even though I know the shark doesn't appear in that scene I still get the feeling he is in danger every time I see it.
I’m fascinated by the ocean and have a healthy respect for it. But my younger brother, since birth, has been deathly afraid of it. I’ve always been near the experience of thalassophobia, and live just five blocks from the beach, so I can sometimes get random lurches of panic when my imagination is allowed to roam while I swim. One time a friend was taking selfies with his GoPro while surfing and he took one sitting on his board, when he looked at it later in the day he realized there had been a shark right next to his leg, that was dangling next to the board and in the water. I love sharks, and it didn’t do anything to him, but the fact that it was Right There and he didn’t NOTICE it made my blood pressure suffer. So I guess I have the fear occasionally, only while being irrational of course smh. Very good video, very informative, it helped me pinpoint the fear as some kind of pre-something anxiety, like the charged wait when you know a jumpscare is coming and yet nothing happens so the pressure is never released. Gut wrenching.
Thanks, one of my goals with this video was to try and describe what the phobia is and use sound and visuals to recreate the feeling of the phobia.
I cannot swim farther than I can touch the ground at the beach. I’m sure that a monster will attack me from below.
You sound exactly like me lol. I feel literally like I'm gonna vomit when I even look at deep water. This video was really hard to make
I won’t go in past knees lol
I remember I was on vacation when I was a kid, and we were at some lake with one of those platforms in the middle of it, not to far from shore but far enough that you had to swim a good amount to get to it. Me and my brother then swam out to it with no problems, and we just chilled for a bit until it was time to go. I started to get ready to jump off when I looked underwater and just saw dark murky water and a chain that was connected to a giant tire that held the platform in place. In that moment I immediately felt such a deep sense of dread and terror that I nearly collapsed. In that moment I felt that I couldn’t move or do anything, that I was just stuck there. Then I realized that I was going to have to swim back.
what im scared of is the ones that are lurking and touching my feet causing me to panic
I hate the bottom of muddy lakes. Even if I'm only up to my knees in water, the second I step on something slimy I'm all NOPE! Noping on out of here to Nopeville.
My heart keeps sinking everytime the camera is in the water 😭I felt like I was watching a horror movie😭😭😭🦈🕳️
Same btw do u play roblox? ☆
@@yannimations694 yes I do as you can tell by my pfp
same
Wanna be friends on roblox ? :D
Even a deep swimming pool or swimming over the large drain will scare me.
This video made me feel nauseated and i remember being in a dinghy with my dad at sea and he rowed near a buoy and large boat and i freaked out...
I love goblin sharks!!!! It's so wild to me that when I was a kid, I had an ocean book with a pic of a washed up goblin shark that said something like "this is one of the only photographs of a goblin shark in existence" (it may have been an old book, but this was also early internet days too), and now I can see videos of these ghostly animals striking at prey in their environment.
I am a huge cosmic horror fan, and ive always loved the ocean, especially the deep. I used to be scared of sharks as a kid, but they were also one of my favourite animals (still are!) Like I had so many shark nightmares, but at the same time would love watching docs about em, having a sharktooth necklace, petting the small sharks at an aquarium. So i guess it was an example of a healthy, rational fear, that never had a negative impact on my times having fun swimming at the beach.
...But giant squid???? nO FUCK THAT LMAO IM OUT I WOULD RATHER JUMP INTO A SHARK FRENZY THAN EVER HAVE A GIANT SQUID EVEN JUST LOOK AT ME WITH THAT COLD DEAD MUSHY EYE NUH UHH GOOD BYE I DO NOT WANT THE ABYSS TO GAZE BACK AT ME FROM A CREATURE THAT LOOKS LIKE THE EMBODIMENT OF A DALI PAINTING. THOSE EYES HAVE SEEN THINGS. INCOMPREHENSIBLE, HORRIBLE THINGS, THINGS THAT NO HUMAN BEING SHOULD EVER KNOW. SPERM WHALES ARE THE ACTUAL LAST BASTION AGAINST THESE HARBINGERS OF THE VOID, AND I HOPE WE NEVER HAVE TO FIGHT THAT BATTLE.
But yeah. Goblin sharks are awesome and I'm so glad we're learning more about these elusive hunters all the time.
I genuinely enjoyed reading this comment. I love sharks too, been a fan since I was 5
Unrelated , But , Giant Octopuses / Squids Are Called , Krakens
@@LAUGHING_G4S giant/colossal/titanic squid is a correct term aswell, im pretty sure krakens r mythical but u can call them that too
The capslock portion sent me. 🤣
I have a "similar" one. And it's complicated to explain. I found out that I have "submechanophobia".
Not the sea itself, I love swimming and I'm even a real good swimmer and diver.
But "constructs" underwater... even pictures just make me freak and put me ill at ease.
I can't watch the intro of Titanic for example.
Wrecks, buildings, these things underwater just... brrr.
Omg yes! I don’t know why but this terrifies me as well.
yes i relate to this too i am especially triggered by things such as underwater pipelines and drains or openings that have some type of connection i have trouble swimming in man made lakes or canals because the thought of submerged pipes or openings makes me so anxious
i love and fear the waters. if they are dark, or i am lost, and i am unaware of my surroundings, it’s the most terrifying experience. but on holiday swimming in the sea when it’s nice and sunny, with my family or friends, i feel at home. i also am a swimmer, but usually that’s in pools and i feel at home in there. it’s a strange thing for me.
Dunno why im watching this while having a phobia of the ocean, I guess that im scaring myself. Good video, keep it up👌🏼
Thank you
I used to be a scuba diver (had to give it up due to ear problems) and on every dive I had a weird feeling as if there was something lurking behind me. Had it not been my ears that made me stop, I would have stopped diving because of this feeling. Now I know it's some kind of this fear... Thank you for making this clear to me! All the best from Germany :-)
Something likely was watching u. It's more likely than not that something was watching u. Just a matter of whether or not it was big enough to eat u.
I just would like to thank you for this amazing video. Very well put together 👏👏👏
i have an uncle that used to be a sailor and he lived with his mom when he came from his long tours on a shipping boat. when i was little i used to visit his mom and some times he was there, and i asked him about the sea and his experiences. he told me about times they had to take a different route because of indonesian pirates, about times they saw whales and other interesting stories. he always talked to me with a big smile on his face, but when he told stories about storms in the middle of the pacific, abut the strong currents on tierra del fuego, wich is the southernmost tip of chile, and the sea in general, he always had a completely serious face on him. i sometimes asked him what if you get killed by a wave or your ship sank, and he always said: "well, id probably die, but id rather die than live on the mercy of the angry sea"
before you ask, no he did not end up dying, he simply stopped coming to my town for some reason, idk why hes a pretty weird guy
Interesting story though. I'd love to interview a pre 1950s sailor.
I'm scared of getting trapped in a ship slowly realizing that I wont survive I Either ger crushed or starve to death.
Same. That scares me so much!
Yum
yeah its some real life shit
Thanks for that bit of terror ride. I was actually looking around the floor of my dark room at 4am while watching this. I can't even relax in a bathtub, how crazy is that.
I’m so glad I figured the name out for this I have a huge phobia of the ocean at night, dark water, pools with no pool lights at night, and dark pools (from the tile or how deep the water is)
I hate it when i see pipes underwater.
Seriously hate it. My heart races every single time.
Like a length of pipe running through, or an open end?
Same
YES....or anything 'human made' under water is upsetting. Perhaps THAT'S what doesn't belong in the sea.....
@@cilli5866 both!
@Toothpaste & OJ hahahaha....great word...that fits perfectly...!! Nyms.
aged 7, walked out of Sea, Skegness, Lincolnshire
everyone starts freaking out. I look down.
massive Jelly fish rapped around my waist.
aged 13, saw friend pulled though canal Lockgates, and killed, river Trent, Newark upon Trent.
Disappeared, and came up 3 days later by the Castle.
I couldn't go anywhere, near a canal for 35 years.
Horrific nightmares.
Then 3 years ago, I faced my fears. I brought a Open canoe, buoyancy jacket and went for it.
I've now been , whitewaters , lakes, reservoirs, sea and yes Canals. I'm made friends with the waters again.
Wow this video is amazing...your work is top notch..the quality, & way you present everything really stands out..keep up the good work!
Thank you. Considering the effort that goes into each video that kind of comment is very reassuring
@@PeakedInterest This is your best content yet. More like this please!
This was absolutely fantastic. Thank you, and you're spot on about that shot in jaws being the scariest in the film. Alwayd chilled my blood.
Thank you
I'm laying in bed watching this and I feel like something is going to come a grab my feet. The jaws part got me! Oh and the sailors being eaten by sharks. My absolute fear 😨 great video, I couldn't watch it all but I listened to it while reading the comments. Totally freaked out now.
I'm a thalassophobe so imagine how I feltaking it lol. There's another 20 or 30 video clips and hundreds of photos I had to look at before I found the ones which I wanted for this video.
The images and the audio you used were so terrifying I was struggling to finish the video, a really great job doneee
Thank you, I really wanted to try and simulate the experience for people so it's nice to know I was able to do that
“Detecting multiple leviathan class lifeforms in the region. Are you certain whatever you’re doing is worth it?”
When it’s too dark to see under the water I feel like I’m swimming in the void in subnautica with the ghost leviathans
My heart pounds so hard watching this. The anxiety I get from this wow. I can’t explain. I don’t mind the ocean as long as I can see below me once it goes to deep my mind goes to places. And I panic
Sounds like you might have thalassaphobia too
It's truly amazing that you were able to make and edit all this! I could barely get through watching it. Stuff of nightmares ...
It was definitely one of the tougher videos to research and edit
Me who plans to become a marine biologist that includes learning how to scuba dive and other potentially life threatening things: Let me in sea daddy, I wanna do some science. Read more for cool fish facts.
Also unless you're literally invincible you'll never ever meet the deep sea creatures. They'll die before they get anywhere close to the top due to drastic changes in temperature, pressure, and lack of food/becoming food. There is one that comes up during the night and fishermen go and scoop them up. I wanna say lantern fish but I might be wrong. They're like max a foot long and harmless. Huge benefit for the ecosystem but won't make a dent in the population due to the unbelievable amount of them. A long time ago a mass of them once got mistaken for the seafloor while maping because there are so many! They're great.
Also most fishes won't eat you. Sand Tiger Sharks are docile around humans and are friendly. Just don't be aggressive cause then it will be aggressive back. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. If you've been on the eastern Pacific shore in the surf you've definitely had one close by you :) they're gonna hunt at night. That's partly why night swimming is dangerous. The first is the tide. Tide will kill you more than any fishes will.
Also the giant or collassal squid isn't gonna eat you lol or be around the top. There's a reason they're mainly found around the bottom. Most whales won't eat you either, they're filter feeders and filter feeders can't eat you. Squid and whale might be curious. Other than orcas but why are you swimming with an orca.
16:56 when this picture popped up and the sound effects played., i had to pause for a minute my anxiety went up like crazy, good work dude, this represent the fear perfectly.
Same!
My heart rate simply doubled
I'll take that as a compliment to the video doing its job
I panic if I can't feel tha floor in a swimming pool...if I can't see, that's a whole new level of fear. Needless to say, tha ocean scares tha hell outta me
I am with you 100%. I am both fascinated and terrified of the ocean. I watch countless videos of Sharks while thinking “Nope, nope, nope” the whole time. Whe I play games like Minecraft (modded) and just the thought of going in the ocean gives me a panic attack. I hate it.
Yeah I play Minecraft I don't like the ocean either ha ha.
Yo same
This is such a weird video to watch as a person with next to no fear about the ocean asides from the healthy amount of respect you'd normally have for it lol
Does the video help you understand why people who have the phobia are effected by it?
@@PeakedInterest oh yeah for sure, the bit where you went in detail about accidentally going into the deep end without warning made me shiver a bit since I've had a similar experience as a kid, the only thing that really scares me about the deep ocean is if I'm alone and you caught that feeling really well
Its a really common experience
If youre swimming in the open ocean then u don't have a healthy respect for it. Theres no way for u to get in the ocean and not drop far down the food chain.
okay so ik a lot of people think some of the scenes are scary and now say they have thalassophobia but the correct term for being scared of what lurks below would be megalohydrothalassophobia, fear of large underwater creatures or objects
hope this helps
In my opinion, this is your best so far. You are really good, not only at storytelling, but the whole process of film-making. You are very adept at keeping the tension just right throughout, and the music, sound-effects and visuals work in complete harmony, never distracting from your narration. Really REALLY impressed, and hope you continue treating us to your high quality research and production! You deserve a huge following!
I live by the ocean, and the SCARIEST thing is a large, dead price of coral floating under your foot 💀💀 seaweed is scary too but omg the bROKEN CORAL
Broken coral? I'm curious what you mean by that like i live by the ocean but we don't have coral. Like can u tell me what that is, ik what coral is but i never knew about the "floating broken coral" part.
@@skydai5213 Lol no worries man. It's like, pieces of coral that have broken off a reef and kind of washed up. Seaweed may spook me because it feels like a jelly fish and we have those portuguese man of war fuckers, but the coral is always kinda hard and scares me more. Idk why haha.It rarely happens tho!
5:41 OMG ME TOO!!!!!!
This scene is EXACTLY what haunts me and causes this reoccurring dream trapped at sea at night. Pitch black water, but when I look down at the ocean, I see glimmers deep deep down of giant, all white, sharks.
A lot of people always say the shark looked/moved so fake in the JAWS movie.
But I say, "COMPARED TO WHAT?!?!"
Do they realize this was the movie that taught us how a shark looked/moved?
It didn't matter how fake it looked COMPARED to the real thing, because this movie was our only source.
Sometimes I would be so happy to be going to the beach, the invasive thoughts never showed up.
Other times I'd be in the water, perfectly fine, then the scene at the timestamp would play in my head, and I'd start swimming out of the water with such panic and fear.
This would EVEN HAPPEN IF I WAS IN A TINY POOL!!!
Just the beginning already made me tear up by of how much I’m scared of it.
It can be pretty terrifying