Thalassophobia is the absolutely terrifying phobia you probably already have

Everyone has fears lurking beneath the surface. Maybe catching sight of an eight-legged horror running up your bedroom wall gets you in a panic. Perhaps it's the idea of getting up on stage and making a speech to a room full of strangers that makes you sweat beyond belief. Or it could be that you have night terrors about being enclosed in a tight space with no escape...

Sorry to break it to you though, you probably have another irrational fear that you just didn't know the name of before: it's time to meet your worst nightmare: Thalassophobia.

The word 'thalassophobia' is Greek and translates to "fear of the sea"

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People who suffer from it will have an intense and persistent fear of either the sea itself or of sea travel. It can also include a fear of being in a large body of water

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Do you feel uncomfortable looking at pictures like this? You probably have thalassophobia

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You're not the only one though - many people have a fear of the ocean and the everything unknown that comes along with it...

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The deepest part of the ocean extends 11 kilometres down into a watery abyss, so it's no surprise people are scared

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What horrors does that deep darkness hold? We'll never know all of them...

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Speaking of terrifying things you find in the sea, check out these bizarre 'mutant aliens' that a fisherman caught from the depths of the ocean...