The word ‘thalassophobia’ in Greek means fear of the sea and those who suffer from this have an irrational kind of fear of the sea, in the creatures that reside in it, in its emptiness and in traveling on the sea water. Thalassophobia can also include the fear of swimming on any large water body like an ocean. One of the most serious aspects of the sea for those who are suffering from thalassophobia is that this fear gets darker as you dive deeper into it. 

They fear the sea for a variety of reasons; some of these fears having to do with imaginary sea monsters stemming from books and pop culture. They also get a feeling that they’re far away from land when they dive deep in water. 

Something that is rather interesting is that there are many people who suffer from this and they don’t even realize anything about it. There are few who even become nervous by checking a picture of the sea as they tend to think about what lies beneath. Some feel the fear of sharks attacking them just below the surface of the ocean and these types of anxiety are proof of the fact that the person is suffering from thalassophobia. 

One reason behind this kind of suffering is genetic. It might have happened that their parents were terrified by the sea and hence their offspring have also inherited this phobia. For someone else, there may be a traumatic event related to the sea when they were of young age and this might have lead to a lifelong phobia for water. There are some others who have no such idea about why they’re afraid about water but the thought of visiting the beach sends shiver down their spines. 

If you’ve always had a sea fear and you aren’t sure about whether or not you should describe it as a phobia, you may have to take a test. This test is certainly not a substitute for formal diagnosis but still it is a wise idea to perform the test to get a general idea on how extreme your phobia is. In case the test determines your phobia to be strong enough, you may seek help of a professional. 

Therefore, if you know someone who is suffer from thalassophobia, you can take her/him to a psychotherapist or a therapist who can help him deal with this issue.