Fear Of Scuba Diving Phobia (Top 14 Fears That Stop People Scuba Diving)

Overcoming scuba diving phobias

Scuba diving phobia isn’t normally a fear of diving in itself. But is instead other fears or phobias associated to the sport that stops people from scuba diving. So let’s take a look at the most common phobias that prevent people from diving.

The fear of scuba diving isn’t a phobia in itself, but there are phobias that may hold you back from scuba diving including these 5 top scuba diving phobias:

1. Claustrophobia; Fear of confined spaces: No.1 scuba diving phobia.
2. Aquaphobia; Fear of water: Stops people going near water let alone to go diving.
3. Thalassophobia; Fear of the seas: Speaks for itself.
4. Bathophobia; Fear of depths: Stops people going underwater.
5. Galeophobia; Fear of sharks: Ok if no sharks.

The best way to do more diving and perhaps to overcome your scuba diving phobias, is to book yourself on a scuba diving liveaboard. You can check the latest and best deals on liveaboards using the following window:

The top 14 fears or phobias that stop people scuba diving

The following phobias or fears are what normally prevent people from going scuba diving.

1. Scuba diving claustrophobia – The fear of confined spaces.
2. Aquaphobia – Fear of water.
3. Thalassophobia – Fear of the sea.
4. Limnophobia – Fear of lakes.
5. Bathophobia – Fear of depths.
6. Ebulliophobia – Fear of bubbles.
7. Ichthyophobia – Fear of fish.
8. Galeophobia – Fear of sharks.
9. Cetaphobia – Fear of whales.
10. Agrizoophobia or Zoophobia – Fear of wild animals or just animals in general.
11. Hodophobia – Fear of travel.
12. Pteromerhanophobia – Fear of flying.
13. Thanatophobia – Fear of death or dying.
14. Atychiphobia or Kakorrhaphiophobia – Fear of failure.

Let’s now take a look at each one of these fears and phobias and how each one can stop you from scuba diving.

1. Scuba diving claustrophobia – The fear of confined spaces

Claustrophobia is commonly cited as a fear that stops people from diving. But funnily enough when people say they fear being claustophobic when scuba diving, they aren’t necessarily talking about being in a cave or similar.

“Claustrophobia is the irrational fear of confined spaces. People affected by claustrophobia will often go out of their way to avoid confined spaces, such as lifts, tunnels, tube trains and public toilets. But avoiding these places may reinforce the fear. Some people with claustrophobia experience mild anxiety when in a confined space, while others have severe anxiety or a panic attack.”

The UK’s NHS description of claustrophobia

Many feel claustrophobic simply by putting a dive mask on their face. My wife also doesn’t like the idea of having to breath through her mouth with the regulator or mouthpiece, as this makes her feel claustrophobic.

More Reading: Scuba Diving Claustrophobia (12 Tips on How To Overcome Scuba Diving Anxiety)

If your reason for being claustrophobic isn’t about wearing a mask or breathing with a scuba regulator. But is instead the real fear of confined spaces, this shouldn’t prevent you from scuba diving.

Most dives are in ‘open water’ and are rarely in confined spaces. Cave diving is a specialist type of scuba diving and should be avoided by most divers in any case. The only other time you may find yourself in a confined space is if you penetrated a wreck.

However, if you suffer from claustrophobia I suggest you simply enjoy the wreck from the outside and don’t go inside.

Will having claustrophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not claustrophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of confined spaces. I for example have mild claustrophobia. But this has never stopped me from diving.

In general, it’s unlikely to stop you from taking part in this sport either. But you will need to be careful not to dive in confined spaces.

Recommendations for scuba diving claustrophobia

1. Don’t do cave diving.
2. Don’t do wreck penetration diving.
3. Maybe don’t dive in very low visibility, as this can create the impression you’re in a confined space.
4. If you have ‘dive mask claustrophobia’, or if you want to cave dive or penetrate a wreck, consider the Panic Miracle, which will tackle all types of phobias.
5. Alternatively to point 4 above, seek help from a hypnotherapist near you.

2. Aquaphobia – The fear of water

This phobia is a little more tricky if you have a real fear of water and you would like to scuba dive. If you have a fear of water, which is referred to as aquaphobia, you’re not going to be putting on your scuba gear and jumping in for a dive any time soon.

“If you have aquaphobia, or the fear of water, you live with a persistent and abnormal amount of fear and anxiety that prevents you from even getting close to water. You may have aquaphobia if you find that any source of water causes you an excessive amount of anxiety. This can include a swimming pool, a lake, an ocean, or even a bathtub.”

Healthline’s description of aquaphobia

Many people have some degree of fear when it comes to water. Some may be happy to swim in a pool. But then are not happy to swim in the sea (see thalassophobia below).

Most people are able to overcome these fears or are able to learn ways to cope or manage the fear.

But if you have aquaphobia, you are likely to be living with a persistent and abnormal amount of fear and anxiety about water. This extreme fear or phobia will prevent you from even getting close to water, let alone scuba dive in it.

This will stop you from going anywhere near a swimming pool for a try-dive. Or to begin your scuba diver training. So before you can even think about scuba diving, you will need to rid yourself of this fear.

The other phobia or fear of water is hydrophobia

“Hydrophobia, a historic name for rabies. Hydrophobe, a term used in chemistry to describe chemical “aversions” of a molecule, or part of a molecule, to water.”

Wikipedia description of hydrophobia

But Hydrophobia is more of an extreme or irrational fear of water. Which is especially as a symptom of rabies in humans. So I’d suggest that if you have a fear of water, you’re more likely to have aquaphobia, which can be treated as explained below.

Will having aquaphobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not aquaphobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of water.

If you have an extreme irrational fear of water, this is likely to prevent you from scuba diving. This is unless or until you seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for aquaphobia and the fear of water

1. Try using NLP to change your mindset around your fear of water.
2. You may wish to consider the Panic Miracle, which will tackle all types of phobias.
3. Alternatively to point 3 above, seek help from a hypnotherapist near you.

3. Thalassophobia – the fear of the sea

Another debilitating phobia for anyone considering scuba diving is the fear of the sea itself.

The fear of the sea is known as thalassophobia. Of course most diving is done in the sea, so this phobia is a bit of a problem if you want to take up the sport.

“Thalassophobia is an intense and persistent fear of the sea or of sea travel. It can include fear of being in large bodies of water, fear of the vast emptiness of the sea, of sea waves, and fear of distance from land. Thalassophobia is different from aquaphobia because while aquaphobia is the fear of water itself, thalassophobia is a fear of bodies of water that appear vast, dark, deep, and dangerous.”

Wikipedia’s description of thalassophobia

However, it’s still possible to scuba dive if you have a fear of the sea. This can be achieved if you dive inland in lakes. This is of course if you don’t have limnophobia, which is a fear of lakes. See below.

Will having thalassophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not thalassophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of the sea or sea travel. If you have an extreme irrational fear of the sea or of travelling on the sea, this is likely to prevent you from scuba diving. This is unless or until you seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for thalassophobia and the fear of the sea

1. Firstly, you could avoid the sea altogether and dive in lakes. But this will defeat the main objective of scuba diving.
2. Try using NLP to change your mindset around your fear of the sea.
3. You may wish to consider the Panic Miracle, which will tackle all types of phobias.
4. Alternatively, seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

4. Limnophobia – The fear of lakes

The next phobia that may be a problem for you if you want to scuba dive is a fear of lakes. Which is limnophobia.

“Limnophobia is the fear of marshes or lakes. People with this phobia tend to fear they may drown in the lake, get sick from the water or attacked by something in the lake.”

Common Phobias description of limnophobia

This may actually never become a problem for you. This is unless like myself you learn to scuba dive somewhere like the U.K. When I learned to scuba dive, much of my early training was done in lakes near where I lived at the time.

However, this wouldn’t prevent you from going to the coast or from flying to another country to learn to scuba dive in the sea. This is unless of course your fear of lakes phobia is Linked in some way to thalassophobia too.

Will having limnophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not limnophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of lakes and whether you also have a fear of the sea too.

If you have an extreme irrational fear of lakes and of the sea too, this is likely to prevent you from scuba diving. This is unless or until you seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for limnophobia and the fear of lakes

1. If you don’t live near the coast, instead of learning to dive in a lake, travel to the coast to learn to dive in the sea.
2. If your phobia of lakes is linked to a phobia of the sea, then consider using NLP, the Panic Miracle or seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

5. Bathophobia – The fear of depths

If you have a fear of depths this phobia will likely stop you from scuba diving. The whole basis of scuba diving is to explore the depths. Even though a dive may be relatively shallow, this may still be feared by someone with bathophobia or a fear of depths.

“Bathophobia means the fear of depths. It is fear or anxiety associated with the sea or water bodies of various types, though; many Bathophobic individuals are also known to fear tunnels, mountain valleys or caves.”

Fear of Net description of bathophobia

However, sometimes people have a fear of the deep or depths if they can’t see the bottom. But if you were to dive in places where the visibility is very clear, so you can see the bottom from the surface, this may help your bathophobia.

But if the thought of looking down from the surface to the depths below is too much for you, you’ll need to overcome your phobia first.

Will having bathophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not bathophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of depths.

If you have an extreme irrational fear of deep water, this is likely to prevent you from scuba diving. This is unless or until you seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for bathophobia and the fear of depths

1. Consider diving shallower dives in clear blue water where the bottom can be seen from the surface.
2. If your phobia of depths can’t be overcome as suggested by one above, consider using NLP, the Panic Miracle or seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

6. Ebulliophobia – The fear of bubbles

The fear of bubbles or ebulliophobia is one that may affect you as a scuba diver. The fear of bubbles may even stop you in your tracks to begin learning to dive. For clarity, scuba diving using an ‘open circuit’ scuba breathing apparatus or aqualung, results in bubbles.

“Ebulliophobia is the fear of bubbles. People suffering this fear would avoid looking at liquids and soap that might bubble, as well as bubblewrap, chewing gum, and even foods that are prone to bubble. The common causes of fear are dislike or annoyance of hearing bubbles, getting scared by the loud pop of bubblewrap, and getting scalded by boiling water. Sufferers may feel real anxious when hearing bubbles in their own stomach and may worry that the stomach may burst.”

Phobia Wiki description of ebulliophobia

These bubbles are formed in the water around you as you breath out. If your ebulliophobia and the fear of bubbles is such that this would be scary for you, then scuba diving using a normal aqualung just wouldn’t work.

Use a close-circuit system or rebreather

However, the alternative would be to use a rebreather or ‘closed circuit‘ breathing apparatus instead.

The reason I say this is because diver’s who breath underwater using a rebreather don’t produce bubbles. This makes a rebreather better when diving amongst underwater creatures that are sometimes frightened of the bubbles produced by an open circuit aqualung too.

Having said that, the usual progression in learning to dive, is to train using an open circuit aqualung. Then once you’ve trained using an open circuit aqualung and got to a certain level of experience, you can choose to switch to using a rebreather instead.

More Reading: Rebreather friendly liveaboard Red Sea (27 liveaboards to choose from)

However, divers who dive with rebreathers are usually technical divers. Rebreathers are considered by many tech divers to be a much better solution for deeper diving too.

Will having ebulliophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not ebulliophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of bubbles.

If you have an extreme irrational fear of bubbles, you could see if you can learn to dive using a rebreather instead of an open circuit aqualung that produces bubbles.

But this would be very unusual to do. I’m not even sure if any diver training organisation would agree to do this. You are therefore probably better to seek treatment for your phobia of bubbles beofre you learn to dive.

Recommendations for ebulliophobia and the fear of bubbles

1. Consider using a rebreather to dive rather than an open circuit aqualung. Subject to an organisation agreeing to this.
2. If your phobia of bubbles can’t be overcome as suggested by one above, consider using NLP, the Panic Miracle or seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

7. Ichthyophobia – Fear of fish

If you have ichthyophobia, or the fear of fish, you may have a bit of a problem if you want to scuba dive. It is quite common to be afraid of sharks (Galeophobia – see the next phobia), but many individuals are even afraid of small and seemingly harmless fish too.

It is quite easy to scuba dive and avoid seeing sharks, but it would be near impossible to dive and not see any other fish.

“Fear of fish or ichthyophobia ranges from cultural phenomena such as fear of eating fish, fear of touching raw fish, or fear of dead fish, up to irrational fear (specific phobia). Galeophobia is the fear specifically of sharks.”

Wikipedia description of ichthyophobia

In addition to the above description of the fear of fish, there are cultures, especially the Navajo tribes, who are known to fear all kinds of aquatic animals. This fear includes fish and makes the tribe “Ichthyophobic”.

In this type of fear or ‘taboo‘, the tribe believe that they shouldn’t touch, eat nor dive in water in case they encounter underwater creatures.

Will having ichthyophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not ichthyophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of fish.

If you have an extreme irrational fear of fish, this is likely to prevent you from scuba diving. This is unless or until you seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for ichthyophobia and the fear of fish

1. The only solution I can think of if you have a phobia or fear of fish in general is to consider using NLP, the Panic Miracle or seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

8. Galeophobia – Fear of sharks

If you have a fear of sharks, which is called galeophobia, then this shouldn’t prevent you from scuba diving.

“Galeophobia: An abnormally large and persistent fear of sharks. Sufferers from this phobia experience anxiety even though they may be safe on a boat or in an aquarium or on a beach.”

Medicinenet description of galeophobia

If you are afraid of sharks, as many people are, you simply scuba dive in waters where you’re unlikely to see them. I have dived many times knowing I’m never going to see a shark.

More Reading: Is It Dangerous To Scuba Dive With Sharks? (Will I Be Eaten?)

Personally though, as a lover of scuba diving with sharks, you’ll not only miss out on witnessing these magnificent creatures themselves, but also you’ll miss out on diving in places where there are other amazing things to see too.

More Reading: Where is the best place to cage dive with sharks (5 Best great white spots)

Will having galeophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not galeophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of sharks.

If you have an extreme irrational fear of sharks, you are better to scuba dive in waters where it’s highly unlikely to see a shark.

But if on the other hand you would like to scuba dive with sharks, you should seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for galeophobia and the fear of sharks

1. If you don’t want to overcome your fear or phobia of sharks, simply scuba dive in waters where you’re unlikely to ever see sharks.
2. Take a read of this article: Scuba Diving With Sharks FAQs (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly).
3. If reading the above article doesn’t help, and if you like the idea of seeing sharks on a dive and you want to overcome your fear of them, consider using NLP, the Panic Miracle or seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

9. Cetaphobia – Fear of whales

The fear of whales is called cetaphobia, which is in theory a problem if you want to scuba dive. However, the chances of seeing a whale whilst scuba diving is quite remote. Unless of course where you live and the seas around your country you have a high probability of seeing whales.

“The intense fear of whales is termed as Cetaphobia, a word that has its origins in Latin Cetus meaning large fish and phobos which is the Greek God of fear. People having an extreme fear of whales cannot bear to think, see or talk about whales.”

Fear of Net description of cetaphobia

The easiest way to avoid confronting your fear of whales is to not go out of your way to dive in waters where whales are prevalent. This is quite easy to do and shouldn’t cause any problems at all.

A fear of whales will stop you from sighting these wonderful creatures

Having said that, it does appear to be a shame to not be able to enjoy sighting these beautiful creatures. To see the worlds largest creature to ever have lived on planet earth, the blue whale, is amazing.

But what I’m not certain is whether your fear of whales would include a whale shark. Whilst a whale shark is not a mammal nor is it a member of the whale species, it is the largest fish in the ocean. If your fear of whales or cetaphobia is a fear based purely on the size of these creatures, which is likely, then you’ll probably also be frightened of whale sharks too.

More Reading: Best Place To Scuba Dive With Whale Sharks (The Biggest Fish In The Oceans)

Will having cetaphobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not cetaphobia will prevent you from scuba diving depends on the level of fear you have of whales. If you have an extreme irrational fear of whales, this may prevent you from even venturing into water even where there’s almost no chance of seeing a whale.

However, if you want to overcome this fear to either prevent a totally irrational perspective on diving or if you’d love to see a whale, you should seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for cetaphobia and the fear of whales

1. If you don’t want to overcome your fear or phobia of whales, simply scuba dive in waters where you’re unlikely to ever see sharks.
2. If you like the idea of seeing whales on a dive and you want to overcome your fear of them, consider using NLP, the Panic Miracle or seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

10. Agrizoophobia – Fear of wild animals

Another fear which may make diving prohibitive is agrizoophobia or the fear of wild animals. This is as apposed to the fear of animals in general or zoophobia (see below).

“Agrizoophobia is the fear of wild animals. People who have this fear would avoid the zoo or going hiking. The origin of the word agri is Greek (meaning field), zoo is Greek (meaning animal) and phobia is Greek (meaning fear), so altogether it would be a fear of field animals, which to most people would be wild animals.”

Common Phobias description of agrizoophobia

The are many wild animals underwater that you’ll experience and see when scuba diving. This would make diving difficult if you suffer from an extreme fear of wild animals. How difficult it would be for you to scuba dive with this fear or phobia would depend on the degree of fear towards wild animals.

Zoophobia – Fear of animals

If your fear of animals extends to all non-human animals, this doesn’t make it any easier to scuba dive. In fact it possibly makes it worse.

“Zoophobia or animal phobia is a class of specific phobias to particular or an irrational fear or even simply dislike of any non-human animals. Zoophobia is the non-sensible fear of dangerous or threatening animals, such as wild dogs (example: wolves, dingoes, and coyotes), big cats, bears or venomous snakes. It is a phobia of animals that causes distress or dysfunction in the individual’s everyday life.”

Wikipedia description of zoophobia

Will having agrizoophobia or zoophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not agrizoophobia or zoophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of animals or wild animals.

If you have an extreme irrational fear of animals either wild or otherwise, this is likely to prevent you from scuba diving. This is unless or until you seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for agrizoophobia and the fear of wild animals and zoophobia the fear of animals

1. If your fear or phobia of wild animals or animals in general isn’t too extreme, simply scuba dive in waters where you’re unlikely to encounter too many wild underwater creatures. However, a word of caution is that you’ll be diving with nature. You never know what you may see. The last thing you need is to have a panic attack underwater if you encountered an animal you weren’t expecting.
2. If your agrizoophobia is an extreme irrational fear of wild animals, but you like the idea of diving and you want to overcome your fear of them, consider using NLP, the Panic Miracle or seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

More Reading: How To Overcome Panic When Scuba Diving (Tips To Prevent Panic Attacks)

11. Hodophobia – Fear of travel

The fear of travel or hodophobia may put a barrier in the way of scuba diving. But this may depend on your level of this fear or phobia.

“Hodophobia is the irrational and intense fear of travel. It is a personalized phobia – some people may fear going a certain distance away from their house, others may fear certain types of transportation – planes, trains, boats, ships, road travel (although fear of flying is separate than hodophobia).”

Health Central description of hodophobia

If your fear of travel doesn’t extend to travelling by car for example, there’s nothing to prevent you from going by car to your chosen scuba diving location. Of course if you live nearby the sea, travel will be limited and may not affect you at all.

However, if your fear of travel includes travel by boat, this could limit the type of diving you can do. This wouldn’t pose a problem if you only dived shore dives where all the diving you do doesn’t involve a boat. However, this does limit the diving you can do.

Having said that, if you live in Bonaire, the shore dives there are quite spectacular.

More Reading: Best Shore Dives In Bonaire (Easy unlimited shore diving Bonaire)

The only problem being is you’ll need to travel by road to get to the dive sites. So if you have a fear of travelling by car, this scuppers that idea.

Will having hodophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not hodophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of travel.

If you have an extreme irrational fear of travel, no matter what mode of travel, this is likely to prevent you from scuba diving. This is unless you can walk to the dive site and shore dive instead of diving from a dive boat. Or unless and until you seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for hodophobia and the fear of travel

1. If your fear or phobia of travel isn’t too extreme, you’ll still be able to travel to dive sites.
2. Take up shore diving if you cannot travel at all. But this relies on the fact that you live right on the coast and you can walk to the dive sites.
3. If your hodophobia is an extreme irrational fear of travel and is preventing you taking up scuba diving and you want to overcome this fear, consider using NLP, the Panic Miracle or seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

12. Pteromerhanophobia – Fear of flying

The fear of flying of pteromerhanophobia will only have an effect on your scuba diving if you would like to travel overseas to other dive sites.

“Pteromerhanophobia is an unwarranted, irrational and extreme fear of flying and is closely related to aviophobia or the extreme fear of flying on an air plane or flying.”

Phobia Source description of pteromerhanophobia

Will having pteromerhanophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not pteromerhanophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of flying. It also depends on whether you are able to scuba dive in your country where you live without the need to fly.

If you have an extreme irrational fear of flying, this is likely to prevent you from scuba diving overseas. This is unless and until you seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for pteromerhanophobia and the fear of travel

1. If your fear or phobia of flying isn’t too extreme, you’ll still be able to fly to other countries or fly internally within your own country to different dive sites.
2. Dive within the country you live, so long as you can get to dive sites without the need to fly.
3. If your pteromerhanophobia is an extreme irrational fear of flying and is preventing you taking up scuba diving oversea, and you want to overcome this fear, consider using NLP, the Panic Miracle or seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

13. Thanatophobia – Fear of death or dying

The fear of death or thanatophobia may prevent you from scuba diving, as it could increase your anxiety levels so you worry you’ll die whilst underwater.

“Death anxiety is anxiety caused by thoughts of death. One source defines death anxiety as a “feeling of dread, apprehension or solicitude (anxiety) when one thinks of the process of dying, or ceasing to be. Also referred to as thanatophobia (fear of death), death anxiety is distinguished from necrophobia, which is a specific fear of dead or dying people and/or things; the latter is the fear of others who are dead or dying, whereas the former concerns one’s own death or dying.”

Wikipedia description of thanatophobia

Will having thanatophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not thanatophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of death and dying.

If you have an extreme irrational fear of dying, this is likely to prevent you from scuba diving. This is because diving is on the face of it is an unnatural thing to do. Diving does have it’s associated risks, but safe diving practices minimises these risks.

However, if you have an irrational fear of death, this can irrationally exaggerate the risks or fears. If this is the case, you may be better to seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for thanatophobia and the fear of travel

1. If your fear or phobia of dying isn’t too extreme, you’ll still be able to dive, as you’ll be able to rationalise the risks of scuba diving. But you may wish to limit the type of diving you do, for example to only dive within no decompression stop limits.
2. If your thanatophobia is an extreme irrational fear of death and dying and is preventing you taking up scuba diving, and you want to overcome this fear, consider using NLP, the Panic Miracle or seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

14. Atychiphobia or Kakorrhaphiophobia – Fear of failure

The final fear or phobia I’m going to discuss is the fear of failure or atychiphobia or kakorrhaphiophobia.

But also, I didn’t want to end this article with just 13 fear of scuba diving phobias. The reason being is that quite often people with phobias also tend to have a fear of the so called ‘unlucky 13’.

“Atychiphobia or the fear of failure is a phobia characterised by the inability to attempt any goal that is not a guaranteed success. While your the comfort zone might feel safe and secure, the fear of failing can be paralysing.”

Net Doctor description of atychiphobia

If this is you, then you’ll be happy I wrote this article with 14 fears or phobias instead of 13.

If you have a fear of failure, this may prevent you from taking up scuba diving for fear of failing the scuba diving course in the first place. Another term used for a fear of failure is Kakorrhaphiophobia.

“Kakorrhaphiophobia is an abnormal, persistent, irrational fear of failure. In clinical cases, it’s debilitating: the fear of even the most subtle failure or defeat is so intense that it restricts a person from doing anything at all.”

Josh Kaufman description of kakorrhaphiophobia

Will having kakorrhaphiophobia prevent you from scuba diving?

Whether or not atychiphobia or kakorrhaphiophobia will prevent you from scuba diving, depends on the level of fear you have of failure.

If you have an extreme irrational fear of failure, this is likely to prevent you from taking up scuba diving in the first place for fear of passing the course.

If this is the case, you may be better to seek treatment for your phobia.

Recommendations for atychiphobia or kakorrhaphiophobia and the fear of failure

1. If your fear or failure of dying isn’t too extreme, give it a go and learn to scuba dive.
2. If your atychiphobia or kakorrhaphiophobia is an extreme irrational fear of failure and is preventing you taking up scuba diving, and you want to overcome this fear, consider using NLP, the Panic Miracle or seek help from a professional hypnotherapist near you.

More Reading: Emergency decompression stop vs safety stop

I hope you enjoyed this article about fear of scuba diving phobia

I’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your adventures of diving and snorkeling, in the comments below. Please also share your photos. Either from your underwater cameras or videos from your waterproof Gopro’s!

If this article hasn’t answered all of your questions. If you have more questions either about snorkeling or scuba diving (or specifically about fear of scuba diving phobia), please comment below with your questions.

There will also be many more articles about scuba diving (and snorkeling) for you to read and learn about these fabulous sports.

Have fun and be safe!