Monday, October 27, 2008

Aquaphobia vs Hydrophobia




I cant get a clear confirmation on which of the two words is the official definition of "fear of water". Both seems reasonable. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12279 claims that Aqua phobia is it but who is to say that this is really it?
Needless to say, I fear water. I once had a bad experience in Thailand which lead me to this state. Ok, I can't blame Thailand for all of it -- I blame Steven Spielberg for the movie "Jaws". Jokes aside, I really do fear water. I will not venture past my ankle when I go into the ocean. I tried overcoming it by trying River Kayaking but that just made it worse, especially when my kayak flipped and I had to roll it back upright (which by the way I did!). I swim now (only in a clear pool that I can see the bottom) but any style that requires my face to be beneath the water, I panic. That's pretty much every stroke.
Maybe it is not the fear of water but the fear of not knowing the depth of the water and what is inside of it.
I am sure that there are organisms in the ocean who feel the same way about land.
These amazing shots were taken in the Monterrey aquarium in Dec 07. Jelly fish are so therapeutic to look at. They swim in water like an angle dancing in the clouds. The second picture is my desktop wallpaper. Pretty!

1 comment:

nymfaux said...

Hydrophobia actually has two definitions, one being, fear of water; the other being rabies (it has to do with how the symptoms of rabies present themselves), so in order to avoid the confusion with rabies, many people use Aquaphobia as a substitute for hydrophobia.