You often hear of people who are suffering from anxiety attacks and fears that sometimes consume their lives. Sometimes these fears cause them not to enjoy be able to go out in public or certain places. These fears are phobias and there are many including fear of snakes, tight places, bugs, and water or fear of the sea. If you are experiencing the latter, fear of the sea, here are some tips to help you.
These fears don’t have an effect on everyone and don’t cause potential dangers, but to the person experiencing them, they are very real. The reason fears or phobias occur is mainly due to a childhood or bad experience that you just could not shake off. Perhaps it was something just too traumatic for you.
Perhaps you fell into the water and it scared you. Maybe you were in a boat and experienced a bad case of sea sickness. The best way to overcome your fear of the sea is to first practice relaxing – deep breaths help as does listening to chill-out music on your headphones. Ideally do this somewhere away from the ocean so that you get in the habit without having to confront your nervous reaction. That way you’ll be better prepared when you come face to face with the sea in real life.
Hypnotherapy or self hypnosis is a reliable method to use to get rid of fears and phobias. It is excellent at reaching your subconscious mind and re-training its thinking. With hypnosis, you can control the anxiety of being near the sea with near enough no effort on your part except listening to an audio track.
After you have been able to relax your mind, maybe with a close friend or spouse at your side, expose your self to the sea. You don’t have to go in it at all. Just go on the beach and look at the sea and watch the swimmers and surfers enjoying themselves. Or if that’s too much, find a video on YouTube to watch – maybe starting with ones where the sea is only part of the scene. Get a trusted friend to help you select if your phobia doesn’t help you with this task.
Over time, when you feel comfortable, put your feet on the edge of the sea – literally dipping your toe in the water. Eventually, you may be able to go into it at knee level. If you continue to face your fear in small stages, you will be successful overcoming the fear of the sea.
