I tried explaining this fear to my husband once and he looked at me like I was bonkers. I'm glad I am not the only one with this fear. I cannot watch the opening of the movie Titanic, can't look at pictures of submerged planes, ships anything. I feel like my skin is about to turn inside out. Anytime a part of a movie involves something underwater I hide my head in my hands. Which is odd because I can watch any movie with blood and guts and not flinch. I just saw underwater pictures of the Costa Concordia cruise ship and I had to rush and close the computer screen. It's awful.
That sunken ship in Italy by: Anonymous
I can barely look at he pics...but I have no idea why...I have always had the fear of large objects in water....kind of forgot about it...until this shipwreck now it is all I see in the news and online...ugh....
...ugh... by: Anonymous
Have any of you tried Google Earth and double clicked on it's link for the Titanic? I give myself a heart attack every time. I make myself do it from time to time just to gauge my reaction...but ugh...horrible. All deep water really gets me. But especially the Titanic.
Same here by: Brad
I have nightmares where I am on the decaying Titanic or I'm underwater looking up at boats sailing over me and it truely is horrible. It's not the dark or the weight of the sea that gets me, any man made object underwater even in shallow depths creeps me out. My parents were driving past a submarine on display in this town when I was young and asleep in the car and they woke me up just in time too see the bow right next to the window in the dark and I freaked out! Also the image of the iceberg underwater is scary as and makes my chest tighten. I'm in the Navy and go to sea all the time which is fine, I just can't stand underwater things.
FINALLY by: dwyer
This fear has driven me crazy. I am horrified by sunken ships. it's hard to explain. Just reading everyone's comments put me into a state of anxiety. I think I would actually die if I was forced to swim over the USS Arizona. I would panic and die. The idea is giving me a panic attack right now even.
A few similar things bother me as well. I went snorkling in Hawaii last year and encountered an underwater cable. I was having a blast until that moment when I found myself panicking in 15 feet of water. It was a surprising and terrible experience - I would not have guessed a mere cable would set me off, but there I was. I am happy I was able to swim away from it and still enjoy myself somewhat for the afternoon. The worst part was having to swim by it again on my way back in. I nearly had a heart attack.
Also, grated drains in pools, especially those large mouthlike ones in public pools that have gates over them? Those bug me so much I sometimes will not swim. And buoy chains, rotting piers.... Ugh!
Above all, a rotting, rusting corpse of a ship.Beached is bad, but half in half out or sunken? Kill me now.
Wow. by: NorthernKaled.
I have to say I am honestly amazed that there are others like me who feel this way. RMS Titanic is the one especially frightening to me but all deep ocean wrecks are scary and yet at the same time have an allure. Some of my most recurring scary dreams are of wrecks and they do occupy many thoughts. Strangely though as mentioned I have developed any eerie fascination with them to the point where I read books and watch documentaries. An example was just a few days ago when I was in a bookstore. Now if I know what I'm getting myself into I guess I am mentally prepared to take in the visuals, but this time I turned over to the back of a book where there was an unexpected photo of Titanic's bow and I audibly yelped.
I can't believe I'm not the only one by: ANON
Wow, it's really comforting to fall on this page, I just starting looking for pictures of the sunken Titanic and I felt that same creepy fear that I felt when I was a kid and my Dad got the National Geographic issue with those pictures. I couldn't look at it then, and I didn't even realize that it still gives me the willies. I got about half way through the page and I couldn't go on...and I LOVE to search the net for all things paranormal, I can watch the most terrifying horror movies and curl up with an issue of tales from the crypt before bed, but as soon as I see that ship on the ocean floor I just can't take it. I really thought I was some kind of weirdo. Anyways, take care of yourself whoever reads this and you're not alone
About to face it by: Anonymous
Ship wrecks and other man made structures protruding from the dark depths creep me out as well. The worst is horned mines. Seeing an anchor chain disappearing into the deep abyss is another uncomfortable sight. Several members of my family suffers from this phobia. But despite this, I'm actually going wreck diving next week! Scuba is really an awesome experience. The trick for me, though, is to pretend I'm flying rather than swimming. Approach the fear gradually. That's my plan, anyway.
Me Too by: GS
I think Grahambag has the best combination of potential reasons above. For me I think it's the fact that man-made objects in the sea is a totally unnatural thing. Beyond that, the fact that they are rotting away and making the ocean dirty with their unnaturalness creeps me out. At the same time, the ocean is polluting them with crap not designed to ever come into contact with them, like coral and algae and the like. It's just really freaky. Otherwise, anything natural in the sea is fine... if I see a bit of garbage like a plastic bag, I feel like the whole ocean is polluted.
Same by: Anonymous
I do not fear pictures of shipwrecks, but I can't stand looking at the bottom of a boat. I think the reason why I fear this is because I watched the movie Titanic when I was young. Anyone else have the same thing?
Same by: Anonymous
There's not a lot I can say that hasn't already been said. I hate anything man made submerged, or semi-submerged in water. HORRIBLE! Just wanted to say it's nice to read that I'm not alone
wow. weird... by: Anonymous
i have always been fascinated with the deep ocean, unusual aquatic life and, of course, shipwrecks. some say that one way we deal with fear is to take a deep interest in the thing we are afraid of. you know, from a distance. but, shipwrecks, particularly steel boats, like the titanic or military vessels, creep me out. not as bad as the author of the page, but i get a real jittery gut kinda feeling. i didn't really think anything of it until playing the video games fallout 3 and fallout: new vegas. in fallout 3, there is a settlement on a docked, dilapidated aircraft carrier where a lot of gameplay happens. i could play it, but the whole time i had this uneasy feeling. in new vegas, your character has to retrieve a sunken b-29 from the bottom of lake mead. i've played through the game a few times, and that mission always scares me.
Semi submerged ships and objects by: JB
I have this incredible fear of semi submerged objects in the ocean and pools. I love the sea and swimming but cant even look at the bottom of a li-lo in a swimming pool. I recently had a picture pop up on an internet site of a person kayaking near a semi submerged water-wheel and it terrified me, it totally took my breath away. If I see a painting of a sinking ship I can almost feel the weight of the water and I cant breath, I have to leave the room. My friends and family think Im crazy.
Same by: Anonymous
Basically mine is mainly man made objects under water and like open water in general. Ship wrecks are the worst, even when out of the water but even like a sunken tree or something scares me. If I look at pictures I feel sick and feel like i'm going to cry and my chest just tightens up and I get all panicky. I'm absolutely fine with fish, in fact, I love fish. It's mainly the bottom of the ship or boat, like the sharp part, and the anchor. I reckon its just the general openness of the water and the silence and emptiness under there, and then the thought of man made items rotting away. It's like man made things shouldn't be allowed in the water. I also dislike iceburgs, the under water part, just freaky.
Glad to find others!!! by: Anonymous
I love being on the water! I love being on boats and ships. But as soon as I see a man made object underwater, that wasn't designed to be underwater, my breathing gets very erratic and I start to panic. Ships and aeroplanes are the worst for me. Submarines are tricky. When I see them as they should be, in the ocean, with no damage, I'm fine. It's if I see them crashed that I then start to panic. This is a fear I've had since I can remember. I'm the only person I know who suffers from this so I'm so glad I've found this page!!! :)
titanic ship by: Annonymous
The titanic is a grave. I get that. But I wish that ugly rusticled thing be pulverized by time. it should have corroded and turned to dust years ago. I'm into necromancy, the occult most things about me is the fascination of life and death, but the only thing I fear besides not getting the love of my life is to see the hideous wreck of the hms titanic. funny how to see a goth afraid of the rusting wrecks of the condemning depths of the ocean. I pray in a past life that I wasn't one of them
Titanic by: Nicholas
I can take everything, I study the occult and my religion is Kemetisicism (ancient egyptian). the thought of the power of the ancients invigorates me, but above all the horror movies and stuff including hostel 1 and 2 I am a juggernaut of know-no-fear. But my achilles heel is the titanic. I thought I was compeletly out of my my mind as necromancy is one of my favorite things in real life and fantasy settings. Death does not scare me as those hundreds that perished aboard the colossal ship, I am only freaked, by the wreck, or any other super-wreck as I call them because of the decay, rusticles and pitch black void. I love alien because of the derelict in the movie, buts thats in space. In water, its a completely different spiel. There is no up or down seemingly. in darkness when I shut my eyes I see it. I have even struggled in nightmares to keep adrift in water no matter the cost to my body. As its silohuetted bulk rises up to snare me like a shark for a fish. I couldn't care less if it was on land. All death and life fascinates me but the titanic is something that is so unnatural it repulses me. I can watch the movie. Just not the part with the wreck. how robert ballard could have been fascinated with such a horrific and disturbing rusted nightmarish beast is beyond me. Was I one of the victims, I do not know nor do I want to know. I can't wait for time to pulverize that wreck into oblivion, then my fear will be extinct. I eagerly await that day
Wow I'm not alone after all. by: Anonymous
Yea I actually enjoy looking at pictures and vidoes of shipwrecks, yet it gives me this weird fear that starts in the pit of my stomach. For long I've wondered if i was the only one who felt this way. Seeing the old rusty,rotting ship in the deep,blue green depths of the largely unknown gives me the creeps no haunted house or ghost story ever could! It takes on this personification of this huge beast that is sleeping or was slain and taken by the cold,cruel waters,reminding us of our mortality. It's a weird feeling and I'm often awestruck as I am paralyzed with fear.
You are not alone! by: Anonymous
I am also petrified of shipwrecks!
I find them very creepy and uneasy to look at. They just remind me of a graveyard and the creepy part is how they just sit there at the bottom of the ocean, rotting away.
My brother is mad about history and has many books about the titanic and even a book devoted to horrific pictures of shipwrecks that make me shiver when I look at them.
But you are not alone in being terrified. I'm not sure if it is a phobeia or not but they are quite horrible. :)
Traumatised by: Anonymous
I am traumatised by Shipwrecks. I live with my father who doesn't believe me and he says that he is going to make me swim over the USS Arizona in pearl Harbour! I cry myself to sleep and panic whenever i close my eyes and i cannot even submerge myself in water!
THANK GOD! by: Isabella Sullivan
I have had this fear for quite a while now and i am constantly made fun of by my friends and family for this! So i decided to look it up!. I am so relieved to find others like me i was reading the comments and shouting at the screen that i had the exactly the same problem :D! I cant even look at pictures of shipwrecks and sometimes i cannot even close my eyes or wash my air in the shower for fear of seeing a shipweck in the darkness in my mind! CALL ME CRAZY! I cannot watch Titanic and whenever i see anything submerged ESPECIALLY submarines i go into a state of panic and feel tears and cant breathe. Even the submarine in finding Nemo makes me feel sick!! I try to conquer my fear by researching shipwrecks and the fact is that they really interest me but i cannot look at them!
Thank Goodness!!! by: Anonymous
I am SO glad to find others with the same fear. One of my friends actually shares this fear as well, which is crazy because I can't find anything about it online, it seems to be too unusual. I too love the beach, am always up for a trip to the pool, and have no problem with things like aquariums, sharks, or being on a cruise, but I am absolutely terrified of pictures of shipwrecks. I also hate the sound that water makes when your head is completely submerged. If I see a program about fishes of the deep deep sea, or even a photo of a submarine under the water, I start panicking. I do not have any past traumas related to water or ships, but even swimming in pools that have the underwater lights one send me into a panic and I have to get out of the water, because it makes me think of submarines and ships. I thought I was crazy!!! But at least I am not the only one. Even right now reading all these comments are freaking me out because I can picture seeing a rotting ship in the dark sea right now!
Glad to find others by: GrahamBag
I, too, have a similar phobia and am comforted to find others like myself. My fear is also that of manmade objects (in particular), submerged under water. Shipwrecks are the epitome of creepy in this case, but i would even have trouble touching or viewing things like the chain or underside of a buoy in my town's lake. I think the cause may be due to a combination of the darkness/"fog" of the water, the decay of the manmade object, and this subconscious understanding that said object does not belong where it is. There is this intense "unnatural" feeling i associate with it. The same feeling accompanies a few other instances i can cite that i find creepy, but would probably not be relative to this issue.
Naufragiaphobia by: Anonymous
I don't have the fear myself, but I know someone who did. They did some research and found there is no official name for this phobia. They created one themself, Naufragiaphobia, and posted an article on wikipedia. It was promtply removed because they couldn't verify it's authenticity.
She and I were very angry about this, because clearly it is not that uncommon, and simply because no one has given it a name before should not mean it is any less valid.
Anyway, there is a group on facebook I started, called Make Naufragiaphobia a word. I recomed all of you join as it has not had a very good response so far.
Shipwreck and Large ship and Titanic phobia by: Helena
Hi,
I have tried googling my titanic and large ship phobia and this is the closest thing I have found. I am afraid of the actual ship, large ones. Esp. the Titanic. even picutes of it when it was brand new scares me. And seeing it shipwrecked also it horrible too. But I cannot even goto the ocean and see new cruise ships or other large military ships. it provokes instant fear, dread, and tears. It is far worse then my regular panic attacks. I cannot even google "Titanic" for fear that a picture will pop up. I cannot even look at a simple picture of a large ship. It is stupid and I am tired of it. Please, if you have this fear or similar, I would love to talk to you. Please email me. HelenaNH at gmail.com I have been to therapy for this and they didnt take me seriously. Lets help eachother.
Me too! by: Anonymous
Wow, I have almost the same phobia! Except for some reason things like the titanic fascinate me. It's awful. But just the idea of this HUGE object sitting at the bottom of the ocean scares the heck out of me...ugh. It just really, really creeps me out. I just decided to google this today to see if anyone was the same, and I guess so! This makes me feel a lot better.
thank god ive found someone who shares my fear to by: Anonymous
when i was younger i used too love shipwrecks then they started to freak me out loads just the darkness and the death that surrounds it and it scares me so much i get a huge bllod rush and i struggle to breath, im so scared of them, when i saw titanic that was the scariest experience of my life.
Same here by: DC
I have been trying to figure out for some time why I have such an intense fear of man made objects under water. I don't really mind rocks, or even sunken trees or anything like that. Don't mind most living creatures either. And I absolutely love being ON a boat and the ocean in general. But the thought of being anywhere near an object that is submerged and started out above the surface is terrifying. I have a hard time looking at pictures of the Titanic or other shipwrecks. I think the most terrifying thing would be to walk across the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii and see the rusted sunken ship below me. I almost can't stand to imagine it because it gives me chills. Glad to know others have this fear.
(Newcastle) by: Andy
I've had a fear of shipwrecks for as long as I can remember. I'm not a huge fan of the ocean in general but I can stand to be on a boat. For me I find the images of shipwrecks so disturbing. I see a shipwreck and my chest tightens and I find it really hard to breathe. There is no reason for me to have this fear. As a child I did come close to drowning twice but neither of these incidents had anything to do with ships or shipwrecks and neither of them happened in the ocean. I don't have an explanation for it!
I think I understand the reason behind this by: Anonymous
When a person sees a shipwreck, particularly one that has been exposed to the harsh elements of the ocean floor for a prolonged period, it is obviously in a state of extreme decay. I think that can play into a natural human fear of decay and death in general. Seeing something like that can remind people that all physical things, no matter how mighty or "unsinkable," can and will eventually decay. It makes people face their own mortality, in a way.
Also, the fact that it's pitch black deep in the ocean doesn't help. It's like floating through space, but with no idea what may be right out in front of you. Seeing a mangled, rotted ship carcass emerge from the darkness can certainly be unsettling.
My fear by: Lauren
Oh my I am so glad that I have found someone else that shares the same fear as I do. Everyone thinks it is so weird that I cannot watch the move Titanic or any other ship wreck movie for that matter. I go into a complete state of panic if I see a picture or a movie with anything to do with the subject. I have no idea where this fear comes from. I have never had a bad experience with water or boats. And yes, I love the ocean and fish and all that good stuff. I think it is beautiful but what lies beneath and the fear of discovering something like a shipwreck terrifies me. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine and I went to a psychic. Cheesy I know, she did palm readings, spirtual readings and past lives. I thought it was all fun and games and fake but then she told me that my last past life was as a nurse that treated wounded soldiers in the Revolutionary War. She also told me that I treated soldiers after sea battles and witnessed lots of ships sink. I never told her of my fear and she came up with that on her own. I know that theory is way far fetched and some people reading this probably think I am being crazy to even suggest the theory but I guess it could be a possible one. Nothing else makes sense seeing that I cannot think of anything that triigered the fear in the firat place. I have tried everything to help conquer my fear but nothing has worked. The best thing for myself and anyone else that suffers from this very real phobia is stay away from the ocean and acoid watching Titanic.
then there's two of us, you and i by: Anonymous
i swear, i have the exact same fear. this is not a joke to me. the first dream i ever had when i was only two years old - i dreamt that i fell into some water and i sank. i was not scared until i looked over and saw that there was a shipwreck beside me, then i got insanely terrified.
i didn't realize what was wrong until i saw the motion picture Titanic. in the opening scenes when it showed the ship appearing from the darkness, i almost threw up.
now, i'm actually very akin to water. i love water, but i do showers not baths. i live for pools, but i can't stand to look at the circular lights underwater because they look like portholes, and i'm terrified to be in water with a boat of any kind. on the boat, fine. in the water with a boat, gross.
today i tried to look at some pictures online of shipwrecks, and it's not a joke, i'm really scared of that! but the only explanation for this fear (in my head) is that it comes from a pastlife trauma because there's nothing in my past that connects with this. there's nothing conceivable that would relate shipwrecks and fear to me.
thinking now, though, i guess it is the shadows that are so scary. i'm not scared of sharks, but i get pretty freaked out to see anything appear from underwater shadows.
i'm basically freaked out by anything that's been submerged underwater for too long. pipes, trash, esp metal things, or anything that doesn't belong in water. i'm very freaked out by this.
