When I stand at the ocean’s edge, my heart starts racing. Not just a little flutter, but a deep, primal panic. For years, I thought I was just afraid of drowning. Turns out, there’s more to this story – much more.
Last night, I had that dream again. I’m sinking in dark water, my arms moving in slow motion, watching the surface drift further away. I wake up gasping, tangled in my sheets. These dreams have become such frequent visitors that I started reading about what they might mean.
That’s how I stumbled upon Carl Jung’s ideas. He believed water fears aren’t just about water at all. When I read his work, something clicked. My fear of deep water might actually be fear of my own deep thoughts and feelings – the ones I keep pushing away.
What scares me most about deep water is not just the drowning part. It’s the vastness, the darkness below, the feeling of something huge and unknown beneath me. Jung would say I’m really afraid of my own unconscious mind – all those thoughts and feelings I don’t want to face.
Freud had his own take. He thought water fears often connect to early childhood experiences or hidden memories.
My drowning dreams come most often when life feels overwhelming. Bad week at work? Queue the water nightmare. It’s like my mind is saying, “Hey, remember that feeling of being in over your head? Here it is literally.”
I’ve stopped beating myself up about this fear. Jung taught me that sometimes our fears are trying to tell us something important. Mine reminds me to take life one step at a time, to respect the power of what lies beneath – whether it’s water or emotions.
For those of you who share this fear, or any deep fear really, know that it might be more than what it seems on the surface. Our fears can be doorways to understanding ourselves better, even if we’re not ready to walk through them just yet.
S.J. Asher 
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