It’s summer, it’s hot and you want to take a bath. Luckily, you have traveled and have the beach nearby. It has been a long time since you decided to relax in a maritime destination, not very touristy, so you decide to take the opportunity to go for a swim at night. You approach the shore and you see how the immensity of the ocean begins to overwhelm you, you wet your feet and when you are convinced to get in completely a strange sensation begins to invade your body, you feel cold sweats, different from those you felt when you were at home for the heat.
Your heart begins to beat faster and faster. You become more and more immersed. Suddenly, you find your entire body covered in water, you see absolutely nothing of your body impregnated with water. You notice how your thoughts start to go a mile an hour and, finally, you run away. You don’t understand what just happened, you just know that you don’t want to go back in there, at least not now, not at night.
This short story could be an indicator of bathophobia, so if you want to know what it is about. In this Psychology-Online article, we will talk about bathophobia: what it is, symptoms, causes and treatment.
What is bathophobia
If we base ourselves on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Ed. 5 (DSM-V), we would classify bathophobia as a specific phobia, that is, a specific object or situation that causes fear or intense anxiety in the person. But to what, specifically?
The word bathophobia is a combination of two Greek words: bathoswhich means “depth” and phobos, which means “fear.” When we talk about it, therefore, we are not only referring to the depth, for example of the sea, but also to tall structures or buildings as well as any place that is capable of making the bathophobic feel uncomfortable or scared. for objects or spaces of great depth.
If you search for the term bathophobia on the Internet, you will surely find the two interpretative aspects of bathophobia explained as follows:
- Fear of depth: the vast majority of web pages refer to its most etymological meaning, given that bathos/bathy means depth. Something similar is also recorded in the Italian language dictionary where it describes the word as irrational fear of emptiness.
- Fear of tall buildings: is caused by a degree of uneasiness that people feel when they are next to an elevated structure, which can lead to fear of it falling on them.
Symptoms of bathophobia
How do I know if I have bathophobia? Some of the symptoms that allow you to identify bathophobiaand which usually manifest themselves in most phobias, are the following:
- Negative references to those situations in which the person cannot see the inside of the place where they are.
- Excessive avoidance and escape from said stimuli.
- Hyperventilation and palpitations.
- intense anxiety in the face of erroneous estimates of threat, that is, in the face of the meanings attributed to the stimulus and the evoked fear response.
- Occurrence of other disorders derived from this phobia
- You can experience anything from mild anxiety to a panic attack, including nervous sweating, visual fatigue and dizziness. In these situations, if you don’t know, we recommend you consult this article.
Causes of bathophobia
The cause is not only a stressor or an experience, or the biological predisposition of the individual, but we will always keep in mind the interaction between genetics and environment. The subject who suffers from bathophobia surely has a generalized biological vulnerability which, together with the stress you experience, will create a sensation of false alarm, which will end up becoming a learned alarm, generating a psychological vulnerability.
This vulnerability is influenced by learning, whether directly or vicariously, from other real alarms. This cycle gives rise to the appearance of phobias.
Treatment of bathophobia
The key to curing bathophobia is repeated exposure to the feared stimulus specifically, such as sailing in the depths of the ocean, snorkeling or even scuba diving, and the generation of new learning in which the feared stimulus becomes harmless.
To begin the treatment of bathophobia, it is important to acquire anxiety control and relaxation skills, as well as create a safe environment within the framework of an appropriate therapeutic alliance to continue moving forward. From here, as with all phobias, the best treatment is exposure therapy or systematic desensitization.
Exposure therapy
According to Wolpe, systematic desensitization works by associate or generate an opposite response, such as relaxation, which would be generated initially, such as fear and anxiety. The effectiveness in curing bathophobia with exposure therapy lies in preventing avoidance from becoming a safety signal.
This therapy can be carried out in the following ways:
- Live (gradual or inversive): expose oneself directly to the situation that generates the irrational fear of depths.
- symbolic: through associated visual or auditory stimuli or through virtual reality.
- In a group: thus increasing social support and motivation and adherence to therapy.
- Interoceptive: provoking the bodily sensations typical of the moment the fear appears.
Other cognitive behavioral therapies
There are other techniques that work with some phobias such as narrative therapy and eye movement desensitization and processing (EMDR). All of these therapies mentioned are included in the , since, according to scientific evidence, it is the one that has proven to be most effective.
As always, the choice of Most appropriate treatment will depend on many factors, personal, social, and environmental, which will make one type or another work better. Whatever the type of treatment chosen, the keys to success in curing bathophobia are:
- That the therapist has knowledge of the conceptual model that he applies.
- That a good therapeutic relationship has been established.
- That a consistent logic of the treatment is transmitted.
- That the different modalities of exhibition are implemented effectively.
If you think that you could suffer from bathophobia and you notice that this is interfering with your daily life and causing you discomfort, it is important that you go to a psychologist who can do the relevant tests and carry out the treatment that best suits your case. .
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Bathophobia (fear of depth): what it is, symptoms, causes and treatmentwe recommend that you enter our category.
References
- American psychiatric association, (2014). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders DSM – 5. Madrid, Spain. Pan-American medical publishing house.
- Durán, S., (2019). Bathophobic Vol. II. Final degree project. Malaga University. Recovered from: Durán López, Salvador.pdf
Bibliography
- Belloch, A., Sandín, B., Ramos, F., (2009). Manual of psychopathology, volume II. Madrid. McGraw Hill / Interamericana de España, SAU
- Labrador, FJ, (ed.) (2008). Behavior modification techniques. Madrid. Pyramid.