Is Selachophobia Based on Facts or Shark Tales?


by Sylvie Leochko - Date: 2007-01-28 - Word Count: 539 Share This!

Imagine! You are swimming alone in the ocean, far away from the beach. You can hear the laughter from the beachgoers splashing in the cool water. Suddenly, you feel a tug, followed by pain and as you take a look around, you see yourself swimming in a pool of blood. Then you see this huge triangular fin slicing the water, coming towards you. Your heart is pounding in your chest. Sweat is pouring down your forehead. You close your eyes and say a prayer. When you open them up, seconds later, you realize that you are actually lying in your bathtub. There is no shark around. The only you are actually suffering from are the acute symptoms of another anxiety attack related to your obsessive and uncontrollable fear of sharks, scientifically known as Selachophobia.

Following the 1975 movie "Jaws", Selachophobia became more common in would-be swimmers. What was based on a simple fear of sharks became a phobia. What is a phobia? This is an abnormal, persistent fear of something in particular. It is so strong that it does not only prevent people from doing certain activities, it actually manifests itself through the acute reactions and symptoms of a severe anxiety attack.

Since the fear of sharks has been existing as long as humans and sharks have been living together, what is so different with Selachophobia? Well, like several fear, this emotion can be a safe and healthy one to have such as a fear of fire. In the case of Selachophobia, it is partly based on facts about sharks which are the healthy part of the phobia but it is also based on shark tales which can be irrational, make their everyday life difficult and affects negatively their body to such an extent that it may even trigger a heart attack in some extreme situations.

How irrational can it become? Well, some people will refuse to swim in waters where sharks are known to be present, and I don't mean near swimmers or even close to shore. Some will not be able to swim in any body of water, however remote from oceans, seas or any other areas where shark can be present. In extreme cases, some people will also refuse to swim in pools or use the bathtub.

Which shark tales are responsible for Selachophobia? Well, shark movies such as "Jaws" promoted both facts about sharks and shark tales to raise the interest of the moviegoers towards it. For example, they made the great white shark a cold blooded killer seeking revenge for the death of its mate. The movie also introduced it as a stalker, aiming certain victims, coming back and looking for certain people as they were having a personal vendetta against them. Since all these are based on shark tales, there is no need for these types of fears.

A person living with Selachophobia is also feeling like sharks are seeking her as a prey or victim which is irrational in itself and especially when in places far away from sharks such as the pool or bathtub. Therapy for this type of phobia is a known successful way to either alleviate this phobia into a simple fear or even help the patient to conquer its fear of sharks altogether.


Related Tags: shark, sharks, facts about sharks, shark movies, jaws, fear of sharks, selachophobia, shark tales

My name is Sylvie Leochko. I have always been intrigued by sharks, their species, especially one of the most feared types of sharks known to mankind, the great white shark. My fascination with sharks led me to share my knowledge of them with you. If you are as interested in sharks as I am, I encourage you to follow this link: http://sharks.findoutnow.org/types-of-sharks.html

Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

© The article above is copyrighted by it's author. You're allowed to distribute this work according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license.
 

Recent articles in this category:



Most viewed articles in this category: