Right? I love watching documentaries about deep sea creatures, but there's NO WAY you'll ever catch me going into the open ocean! My husband grew up on the Mariana Islands, with the deepest trench in the ocean. He's been surfing and scuba diving, but even he is scared of getting into the water beyond the shelf drop-off! No thank you!

I had forgotten the word for it. Fairly certain I have this. I can swim in a pool or where I can touch bottom. Boats in freshwater lakes and rivers are fine. You will never find me on the open ocean, great slave lake or even Lake Superior, fuck that. For me it’s a fear of not knowing what or how big aquatic life in deep water can be. Also how fucked one can be if stranded in such places. It’s a phobia because even when the stimulus does not present any harm (think a photo of open ocean), there is an anxiety spike and feeling of fear.