Ever since the tragedy of 911 I have noticed a significant increase in the number of children who have expressed and clearly exhibited a very real and powerful fear of the water. Coincidence, perhaps, but my thought is that there is a direct correlation between that horrific event and the changes that it has produced in our daily lives. Not only are our children more unsure of the world around them, but there is a heightened sense of awareness regarding their fears and strategies that might be successful in helping them overcome them Fear is one of man's most valuable and effective survival mechanisms. Without the ability for our minds to respond to impending danger we would endure a much greater frequency of injuries, hardships and fatal mistakes. This process is especially important in children simply because most often they have not yet acquired the ability to reason, the knowledge to understand, the skills to adapt and a significant level of common sense. If not for their fear factor and the adults that supervise them, our children would constantly be finding themselves confronted with dangerous situations that they would be unable to properly identify as potentially harmful. Most fears therefore are healthy and should be appreciated for their role in our survival. However, when a fear becomes abnormal, such as in the case of phobias, they can have a powerfully negative impact on a person, especially a child.
A phobia is defined as any behavior that can described as abnormal under normal conditions. Example, most sound thinking people who visit the beach and observe surf conditions with fifteen foot waves and a tremendous undertow, would understandably sense fear if they were confronted with the possibility of having to enter that water. Their heart rate would dramatically increase, the stomach would get queasy, they would begin to perspire, feel faint, muscles would begin to tighten and they might possibly begin to hyperventilate. A person with an extreme fear of the water or an aqua phobic would experience these same symptoms when confronting a three foot wading pool. This phobic response not only interferes with their ability to react normally in that moment it impairs their need and ability to want to learn how to overcome that overwhelming feeling of fear. That moment and others like it evolve into a person's fear of the fear. The need to avoid that experience, no matter what the cost or ultimate sacrifice might be.
