Submechanophobia - if so, do not enter

[Guest2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submechanophobia
Fear of submerged man-made objects, either partially or entirely underwater

I'm not scared of much, have a hardy stomach so can eat most foods, drink most drinks and (touch wood) am hardly ever ill. What I do have a slight 'fear' of though is some underwater manmade objects.

I have recently found this is reasonably well known and called Submechanophobia.

My personal fear probably comes from watching the film 'IT' when I was 7 and the kid getting sucked into the drain in a swimming pool. So, as much as I love swimming and have done since I was 3 or 4, I really hate swimming over/near the drains in deep pools. The one thing could not do as a child was to swim even close to the bars that covered wave pools like at Center Parcs. It's making me feel uneasy even thinking about them but i'll of course post pictures anyway.

Diving in deep sea I had no problem with, fish around me, no problem, even the boats with underwater propellors were not a problem. My girlfriend said she really doesnt like swimming in reeds that are underwater for fear of not knowing what is in them or if she may get stuck in them. I dont really even have a problem with that. Mine is specifically bars or holes where you cannot see inside.

To the good stuff! Posting these has started to make me feel a bit sick, so will stop looking

100% nope to the first three

Don't really have a problem with

Makes me feel uneasy

 

[Guest2]

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No problem with that, i've dived around a ship wreck before and been under boats. It was quite scary swimming next to a large Mantaray, but that's because I thought it might try and eat me

That sucks, are you sure it's not a fear of Delta P though ?

Sorry if it gives you nightmares

The opposite in fact, thanks for this. It now clears up why the small slots and bars are required on drains. Much better they are there rather than get an arm pulled in! I watched it all the way through and incidents 2 and 3 I can relate most too. Maybe it is only a fear of Delta P (drowning) which I guess is a fear everyone should have, similar to getting burned alive! Both would be the worst ways to go

I can relate to this, I have no fear of heights at all, but when I was in my teens I was a competitive swimmer - there was one thing which just scared the living **** out of me - really deep swimming pools, especially diving pits - they still scare the hell out of me to this day.

I think also large manmade structures under water would probbaly have the same effect, something about floating in a huge unnatural, deep, square rectangle.. hard to explain

And I have literally no other phobias that are related.

Don't have a problem with those - I know someone who gets completely freaked out by like statues underwater though - they also hate stuff like shop dummies and wax works, etc. but a statue underwater turns them into a hysterical mess.

One that creeps me out for some reason is the underneath of the floating islands in Subnautica ( https://youtu.be/pyep24_ZW04?t=160 ) - something about it doesn't sit well with me at all - nothing else in the game concerns me at all - the reapers, etc. even I find laughable but exploring underneath those islands or even going near the water holes inland on the island that lead down into that area leave me feeling uneasy.

I think im fine even with manmade structures like a statue, same with diving pools. I've dived at a couple of places and loved it. Granted I swam out of there quickly as I didnt really like not being able to see what's at the bottom and if I had seen grills/bars id have definately swam faster

The underwater world in Subnautica looks quite nice, think I might try that game. It looks interesting

 

[Guest2]

I'm not scared of this, but I'm scared that a shark could come out of any of these.
I have huge phobia of sharks (Galeophobia), thanks to the JAWS movie.

Once I was in a sailing boat, we all jumped in the water (I also did, but I was ******** myself) then I decided to swim under the boat, BIG MISTAKE, when I got close to the boat's keel, I've panicked (I knew was just a boat's keel) but my phobia kicked in and I could only think about sharks... my friends told me that I jumped back in the boat like a dolphin, they never saw someone climb so fast back in the boat.

I was on a beach many years ago and came sprinting out the sea my mum said faster than she had ever seen me. I was screaming as crabs were biting my legs. She looked and it was my the tassels hanging down from my life jacket, the faster I ran the faster they hit against my legs.

@Nitefly I've read that quite a lot of people are scared of going on the lazy river riodes because of something like that happening to them. Not had a problem on (and going on) lazy rivers.

At Center Parcs, the last part of the river rapids where its inside has a small pool where all the water comes over a small waterfall. Its quite powerful, even for adult. As kids we would dare each other to swim into the middle of it, it was hard to get out but possible as we were all good swimmers. Not sure if its still like that, thats going back to the early - mid 90s

 

[Guest2]

I don't have a problem with it, in fact, I'm quite the opposite and find it soothing and fascinating. Especially with its ancient artifacts and buildings, like finding the lost city of Atlantis.

This would be incredible to me too, finding an underwater city or ancient artifacts. A lost city of grates, drains and suctions hole. No thanks

Deep sea I dont mind, I know its deep and even though I dont know what is beneath me, its natural. I suppose if I thought about it too much (as I probably will now) it will creep me out more.

I miss diving though as really enjoyed getting my open water PADI and doing a 'deep' (30 metre) dive. Really fun and exhilarating slowly going down into the darkness and hitting a cold band of water then seeing all sorts of different sea life

 

[Guest2]

Deep sea scares me. I'm not a strong swimmer but am happy to swim around in a pool and go into the sea upto about shoulder height, but no more than that. I think it's a combination of not being a confident enough swimmer and also being paranoid about getting bitten by a shark

I'm quite a confident swimmer, most ive swam at once is 4km indoor.
The sea is a different matter, I have swam with Reef sharks but a Manta ray was scarier. I've snorkelled and attempted 'free diving' in Australia.
Last year we went to Gozo and Comino island you can swim from one island to another small one next to it. No-one was because it was quite windy but me and my girlfiend attempted it, she started pannicking almost straight away due to the rip tide / undercurrent pulling us sideways out to sea. That was quite scary as I would have needed to full power swim in a diagonal line if I wanted to cross. Instead we stopped and went back as my GF was almost in tears. He mask was also full of water which didnt help matters

 

[Guest2]

I saw this today which got me thinking. Out in the street its just a plain old grate, not dangerous can walk on it fine.
Put this under deepish water (anything over about 9ft) with darkness below it and I would no way want to walk over it, even swim close to it.

My guess is it is 'Delta P' I fear - Getting sucked against a drainage system and drowning. Either that or the slight fear of not knowing whats behind it, if anything that may be harmful - mechanical or otherwise