anybody else afraid of the water?

[Chris142]

for starters i cant swim. i have been to more swimming lessons than i can remember.my biggest problem is that once water gets to above my belly button i become panicked.i become terified in a pool my heart races and i cant get out fast enough.

im not afraid of a hot tub ,shower, a nice summer rain or being in a boat. you will not find me water skiing.

my wife wants to go to a water park. ill take her ,i have no problem doing that but theres no way im going down a slide and into a pool of water. she does not want to go if i wont go in.

 

[Olas]

are you scared of 70% of yourself? stop being such a wuss and go swim, they have lifeguards and if you think about buoyancy and displacement you make your fear obsolete

 

[Rolla07]

Didnt you just get married not too long ago?! Best way to deal with a fear is to force through it. I used to hate it.. I am not a great swimmer, but I am certainly not afraid of it.. I do admit I do not like jumping off a diving board into water.. once im fully submerged I do panic til I am back at the top... so I can partially agree with you. But go anyways, have a good time, you can decide what to go on, but most importantly go for your wife! She will appreciate that you dealt with your hate of water just for her. Im sure you might enjoy more then you think!

 

[CourierDriver]

Marriage is more dangerous than swimming' isn't?

 

[eljefino]

Aren't the pools of water at the end of the slides only a couple feet deep? That might actually be pretty good immersion therapy, pun not intended.

You'll be doing enough physical stuff anyway "planing out" on an inch of water on a slide that the natural creepiness of water and its attendant buoyancy might not bug you so much at the bottom.

 

[MrQuackers]

Put on some wings and enjoy

 

[andrewg]

As stated in another post....I don't think the water at the bottom of a slide is over your head. Maybe your belly button???? So if it's up to your nips, you can't do it?
Well, if you have a fear of water and this just isn't your idea of fun, I'm sure being that she is your wife....she should understand.
My girlfriend is very much like you. Been with her 8 years now and have never once been in the water with her. Still trying to get her to take a ride on my watercraft.

 

[Mr Nice]

I can swin like a beaver.

No reason why an adult can't learn how to swim.

 

[BISCUT]

Find the steepest slide and just bear it! I have a healthy fear of heights; but still climb some waterfall ice and do a little winter mountaineering and some rock scrabbles of height. You will be a better, stronger man internally for hitting your fear. Breath....and take the slide into the pool. Those pools at the end are a perfect place to beat your fear.....because all you have to do is stand up!!

Perfect confidence builder.

 

[beanoil]

While the activity is different, I had a very large, inhibiting, unhealthy fear of flying, so I can grasp your situation. Sheer panic, cold sweats, almost to the point of puke or pass out thinking about it. I would get nervous driving down I-70 in STL past the airport. Therapy, fear of flying classes, and a prescription for a mild benzo, and I'm in the airport, through security, and on the plane, not freaking out. I have since managed trips to Washington DC, (Reagan) and Rochester NY successfully, and maybe even with a little enjoyment. I did look out the window during the last flight, and was OK. So maybe for you, a chat with a counselor, and swim lessons for sure. Maybe your MD would think a little helper might be in order. You can deal with your fear, and I know that because I had the fear of flying and air travel for 50 years, and being a very average guy, I dealt with mine.

 

[expat]

As a child I was afraid of heights. My father put a ladder up against the side of the house and asked me to climb as high as I could (no force here)
At first I got up to about the third rung (pathetic, I know)
Up and down I went, to the third rung, faster and faster. Then holding on with one hand.
Finally, I went to the 4th rung.....etc.

Before long I would spend quite some time at the top of the ladder (about 16') feeling quite proud of myself.

As an adult I have to deal with high places. I don't like it, but I remember 'it's all in my head' and I only need to become accustomed to it.

On my 40th Birthday I Bungy jumped!

 

[Kuato]

I have a friend that is afraid of being in the water if he can't see the bottom. He has no trouble in a pool, but go to a lake and he will usually only wade.

The important thing is to figure out why you are afraid of it. Then you can conquer the fear.

 

[Tzu]

I have to admit that I don't like deep water (up to my chin or more). In 9th grade, I was the last person in the deep end to get a beginners card while most kids got them years earlier. Everyone clapped for me when I finally passed my swimming test. I felt like I won a championship race. My brother OTOH, would walk from the shallow end to the deep end with weights and then surface under the diving board. He loves water and I don't, and people got us confused as twins for years when we were younger even though we are 1.5 yrs apart.

I have a private pilots license so heights don't really bother me, but being in a boat in water over 100' deep makes me very nervous. Very. I usually fish from shore....

 

[UncleS2]

Nope. Back in the dark ages of long ago, loved to go to the lake as a kid, got Swimming, Lifesaving & Canoeing merit badges in the Scouts(+ BSA Aquatics Camp), became a Red Cross WSI at the ripe old age of 16. If you want to learn to swim, you *Can* learn to swim. Investigate what's available in your area.

You can do it if you want to.

 

[dailydriver]

NOT afraid of the actual water itself, BUT I AM afraid of the various nasty, vicious, and sometimes deadly critters which inhabit our lakes, waterways, and oceans.

I was stung quite seriously by a jellyfish as a youth in shallow water off of the 1St Street Beach/Pier in Miami, Fla.

 

[abycat]

I love to take the boat out and go fishing for hours. Stop in the middle of the lake and jump off the boat and float around. or take the sea doo out and get thrown off of it doing stupid stuff. We used to jump off 60 to 100 foot waterfalls back home. Always been a great swimmer.

 

[FL_Rob]

There is something about a specific set of conditions,where phobias really come to play.For example,my fear of heights which it really isn't because flying is no problem, Helos are great fun and i only got slightly nervous on rappel.
Ladders on the other hand, anything above 8 ft and forget about it, i almost cant complete my task unless i fool myself into believing that i'm not on a ladder but standing on something solid.
To the OP,do you really think its the fear of water or is it the depth,maybe the fear of drowning?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Anxiously awaiting Pop_Rivit's comment on this subject...

 

[hr1940]

I am terrified of water. I have been since I was 3 years. I have tried various things to calm me down but nothing worked. I loved going out on the lake fishing but only if Tony was driving. Tony loved water sports and I sat on the bank and watched. He knew of my fear from the beginning of our relationship.

I took both of our children to swim lessons because I did not want them to fear the water. I took a very mild tranquilizer to be able to watch them until they became very good swimmers.

Every one has a fear of something.

 

[fdcg27]

You have phobia, a deep seated fear with no rational basis.
It's all very well for those of us who love being in the water and are very comfortable with it to say that you should just overcome your fear, but it's very real to you.
Read up a bit on phobias and how they can be mastered.
Once you discover that it's really fun to be in the water, you'll look back and laugh.
Meanwhile, I don't think that a water park full of other people is the right venue for you to master your fears.
Too much pressure and nobody will look back fondly on acting like a blithering idiot in front of a bunch of other people, including your wife.
One poster suggested that you ask an MD to prescribe something.
I doubt that any reputable doctor would prescribe anything to someone who can't even swim to help them feel relaxed in the water.
Swimming is really easy as is merely staying afloat.
I hope that you'll overcome your fears and find this out for yourself.