Cymophobia (fear of sea waves): symptoms, causes and treatment

Intense and irrational fear of ocean waves: what is it?

There are as many phobias as there are objects or situations in the world.. Some phobias are more common than others, and some are really strange. In this article we bring you cymophobia, which is the intense and irrational fear of sea waves.

Water phobia is quite common because, although it is an element that can be harmless, it can also cause damage or harm (accidents, drowning, etc.). In this article we tell you what is cymophobia and what are its symptoms, causes and treatments.

• Recommended article: "Types of phobias: exploring fear disorders".

Cymophobia: the irrational fear of the waves

Cymophobia is a specific phobia, i.e. an anxiety disorder. It is characterized by an intense, disproportionate and irrational fear of ocean waves and wave-like movements.

Cymophobia is related to other similar types of phobia, such as aquaphobia (fear of water), bathophobia (fear of the deep), thalasophobia (fear of large bodies of water) and ablutophobia (intense fear of water in daily toileting).

While it is true that water phobia is a fairly common phobia (especially in childhood), wave phobia is less common. It could be said that cymophobia is a variant of water phobia..

This fear of sea waves can be explained by the fear, even more internal, of being devoured by one of them (for example while surfing, or in "normal" situations of bathing in the sea).

Fear of water

As we said, water phobia is a fairly common phobia, especially among children. In reality, it is not so "strange" to suffer from water phobia, since it is a stimulus that can become threatening, or that can cause harm (think of drowning, for example).

Moreover, in the news it is very common to hear news of people drowning at beaches and swimming pools (especially young children).

In the case of cymophobia, the fear is of water as an environmental element (i.e., sea water). (i.e., sea water, for example). Specifically, the fear is produced before the waves of the sea. It is curious because water is an element that can arouse both fascination, curiosity and admiration, as well as fear.

Symptoms

The symptoms of cymophobia are the same as those of a specific phobia. The ones we propose are found in the DSM-5 (in the diagnostic criteria for a specific phobia). Let us look at them in detail.

1. Intense fear of waves

The main symptom is a intense fear, anxiety, or dread at the possibility of seeing or "touching" waves.. The waves and their undulating movements awaken this fear, which also translates into physical symptoms (tachycardia, sweating, tension, dizziness, nausea, hyperactivity, etc.) and psychological symptoms (irrational ideas associated with the waves).

2. Interference

In order to be able to diagnose a cymophobia as such, this fear associated with the phobia must interfere with the individual's life. That is to say, the person's daily life is affected by this fear. This translates, for example, into stopping making plans that involve seeing ocean waves (avoidance)..

3. Avoidance

Thus, in cymophobia the person avoids the stimulus that triggers his or her anxiety: the waves.. This implies that he/she stops going to the beach even though he/she may feel like it, and if he/she has to expose him/herself to the stimulus, he/she resists it with high anxiety.

4. Duration of 6 months

In order to be diagnosed with cymophobia, as with all specific phobias, the duration of symptoms must last at least 6 months..

Causes

The causes of cymophobia can be diverse. We will see the most frequent ones below.

1. Traumatic experiences with waves

One of the most likely causes of cymophobia is the fact of having experienced a traumatic having experienced a traumatic situation with the wavesFor example: getting hurt by a wave (while surfing, for example), having drowned in one of them, having been on the verge of dying, etc.

2. Vicarious conditioning

Vicarious conditioning involves seeing other people receiving certain consequences (usually negative) as a consequence of their actions. In the case of cymophobia, we could think of a lifeguard who daily sees people who are about to die from drowning in the waves, or who simply hurt themselves with one of them.

Evidently, it is not necessary to be a lifeguard to "learn" this phobia through vicarious conditioning, it is not necessary to be a rescuer to "learn" this phobia through vicarious conditioning.People who simply see other people hurting themselves can also develop cymophobia.

This includes seeing news of people drowning (even without waves); in the end these are fears related to water (especially sea water), and one ends up fearing the sea itself, or the water itself, and as an extension, the waves.

3. Personal vulnerability

Vulnerability to certain mental disorders has been extensively studied. This has also been done with anxiety disorders, and it has been found that some people show a certain individual vulnerability to suffer from an anxiety disorder; this can be extrapolated to people with anxiety disorders.This can be extrapolated to specific phobias, in this case cymophobia.

Thus, there are people who, due to their personal, genetic, endocrine, etc. characteristics, are more likely to develop a disorder of this type. If we also have first-degree relatives with cymophobia, it could be that our probability of suffering from it also increases (although a priori there are no studies that determine this).

Treatment

What treatment(s) are available for this phobia? As in all specific phobias, in psychotherapy we can speak of two main (and first choice) treatments.

Cognitive therapy

Cognitive therapy allows the patient to adjust his catastrophic thoughts to reality. These thoughts in cymophobia are usually of the type: "I will hurt myself", "this wave will make me drown", "the sea is not a safe place", etc.

Cognitive therapy (through cognitive restructuring techniques) can be used to work with this type of thoughts, so that the patient has more adaptive, realistic and reliable thoughts. Although water can cause tragedies, it is important for the patient to understand that this is not always the case.

Through cognitive therapy (along with behavioral therapy), the patient is also encouraged to acquire coping strategies to deal with high-anxiety situations caused by waves. This is also done through the following treatment (exposure techniques).

2. Exposure

In exposure therapy, the patient with cymophobia is gradually exposed to the feared stimulus, i.e., the waves (through a hierarchy of items ordered from less to more anxiety generating).

The first items may involve seeing the sea water from afar, and progressively include and address items that involve more interaction with the feared stimulus.

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association -APA- (2014). DSM-5. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Madrid: Panamericana.

• Caballo (2002). Manual for cognitive-behavioral treatment of psychological disorders. Vol. 1 and 2. Siglo XXI (Chapters 1-8, 16-18).

• Pérez, M., Fernández, J.R, Fernández, C. and Amigo, I. (2010). Guide to effective psychological treatments I and II:. Madrid: Pirámide.