One of the most common types of phobia is the fear of water. People can suffer from it all their lives without knowing the pleasure of swimming. Fortunately, the situation can be corrected by taking the problem seriously and taking care of yourself.
What is the name of the fear of water?
Phobia is a common pathology that in certain life situations causes discomfort and prevents you from living a full life. A vivid example is the fear of water: a person with such an ailment will not be able to cool off in a pond on a hot summer day or enjoy swimming. It can manifest itself in early childhood and accompany a person throughout life.
There are two main terms for fear of water. What is the correct name for this phenomenon - aquaphobia or hydrophobia? Both names are correct and apply to the same problem. It's just that earlier the term "hydrophobia" was used to refer to the symptom of rabies. This deadly disease is manifested by rabies so strong that the patient cannot even swallow and drink water. Now these two names are used equally to denote a phobia.
Varieties of aquaphobia
There are special terms in psychology to refer to particular cases of hydrophobia. They were introduced for convenience, since in order to combat the disease, you need to identify a specific fear of water.
What is the name of each of them and what does it mean? Let's figure it out. So:
- ablutophobia - fear of any contact with water;
- batophobia - fear of the water surface with a deep bottom;
- pathamophobia - fear of turbulent streams;
- limnophobia - a person is afraid of a large volume of water, body of water;
- thalassophobia - fear of the sea;
- antlophobia - fear of a flood or flood;
- omnophobia - fear of being caught in the rain;
- chionophobia - fear of snow.
Thus, hydrophobia is just a common name that includes a lot of shades of this disease.
The reasons for its appearance
Most often, the fear of water is born in the mind of a person in early childhood. There may be several reasons for this:
- Pathologies during fetal development (e.g. hypoxia) - fear starts even before the baby is born.
- Puncture of the amniotic sac.
- Negative experience. A child during bathing could slip, fall, get water in his ears and nose. This caused strong unpleasant emotions, fixed in the mind and further causing pathological fear. Water is now associated with pain and discomfort.
- Movies or stories about water disasters can createfear in a too impressionable child, as a result, aquaphobia is formed, the fear of water becomes pathological.
- Too harsh reactions of parents. If a child slips while bathing, and the mother reacts to this with a loud cry, the baby gets scared, negative emotions are remembered and give rise to a phobia.
How can I help my child deal with fear?
When a child refuses to bathe, it is important to distinguish between a phobia and ordinary children's whims. If a child really suffers from aquaphobia, you need to find out the reason, understand what exactly he is afraid of, and try to help the baby overcome this fear. Bathing toys, bright and interesting for the baby, bath foams with a pleasant aroma that uplifts the mood can be useful in this. Let the child choose a washcloth or bathing toy himself, he must understand that he is able to control the process himself. Use little tricks during the procedure: sing a song or come up with a funny fairy tale about water. Active games help: when the child is having fun, he forgets about his fear. It is easier for a baby to cope with aquaphobia, in the process of growing up it can pass, the main thing is to help him with this.
What to avoid?
You should not resort to rudeness and force the child to climb into the water - this will further injure the delicate psyche of the baby and reinforce his fear. No need to call him dirty, sloppy - the child will believe your words and will live up to them.
Deprive him of something as a punishment tooit’s not worth it, as well as putting before a choice: “Either you swim, or you don’t watch cartoons” - because such a method of education injures the child even more, but will not eradicate the fear of water. You need to act in a friendly and affectionate way: in an atmosphere of understanding and support, it will be easier for the baby to cope with fear and not carry it into adulthood. Of course, it is better to carefully monitor the reactions of the child, to prevent the formation of a fear of water. And then the topic: "What are phobias and how to deal with them?" will not be relevant for you.
Aquaphobia in adults
Adult hydrophobia is the result of an insurmountable fear in childhood or a psychological trauma experienced in adulthood. Such fears no longer go away on their own, as it happens in children. They become a real problem and interfere with a fulfilling life. How do such phobias manifest themselves and how to deal with them? In adults, aquaphobia is associated primarily with death, with the fear of drowning. Children are afraid of water as such. In psychology, there are methods of dealing with the disease.
For example, on a piece of paper, make a list of situations that cause fear. They need to be rated on a ten-point scale, where 1 is the least frightening situation, 10 is the most terrible, causing panic. Mentally, you need to live through these situations, starting with assessment 1. The purpose of the training is to normalize breathing, pulse, experiencing danger, to learn how to evaluate a specific case not as dangerous as it seemed before. So move on down the list to more and more frightening items. For every step you take, don't forgetmake yourself rewards. After passing the technique, you can consolidate the result by going to the water park or the beach.
When the cause is the senses
Sometimes the fear of water occurs due to discomfort when it gets into the nose, ears, eyes. In this case, psychologists recommend gradual addiction. First, you can simply wipe your face with a damp towel, then instill clean or slightly s alty water in your eyes. Gradual training will help reduce the discomfort, and eventually the fear will go away.
Water is not dangerous for hearing, unpleasant sensations pass by themselves when moisture is removed from the ear. Getting it into the nose in the first place causes fear of choking. To solve this problem, you need to breathe properly and keep your head above the water. With a phobia of this nature, only gradual addiction can be the only way out.
The main enemy is panic
When a person is afraid of open water, getting into such a situation, he experiences a feeling of panic. But it is she who causes tragedies when people drown. If a person is calm, the water itself raises him to the surface, but does not pull him down. Awareness of the uncontrollable element, great depth, difficulty in orientation in space leads to a loss of self-control. In this case, you need to learn to trust the water, remember what it holds. Water is not the enemy, and accidents only happen because of misbehavior and loss of self-control. For people with this form of phobia, there are special psychological exercises.
