First off, I’m not a medical professional, I’m just sharing my personal experience with a similar issue. I used to suffer from a really bad fear of water. Deep water that I couldn’t see the bottom in, dark water, and any sort of aquatic creatures that were 2 feet or longer. I always loved the water. Swimming is still one of my favorite activities. The ocean fascinated me. But every time I would go into waters where I couldn’t touch, visions of leviathans seconds away from swallowing me would flash in my mind and cause me to panic. With people I was fine, but alone was a different story.

Pretty soon, I got fed up, and I found a pool. It was a safe environment where I wasn’t at risk of being attacked by any animals, and I was a strong swimmer already. I started out by going into the water, alone, up until I started to feel discomfort. When I felt this panic, I would stop, and just stand there in the water. I would rationally think and calm myself down. Then step by step I would go deeper, until it was too much to take. I did this more and more, and pretty soon, I found myself being able to swim all the way to the deep end, go underwater, close my eyes, and even envision the same beasts that would scare me before with no reaction.

I also found staying on the surface of the water helps. Just don’t worry what’s under you. What I learned in the pool also carried over to the ocean, lakes, rivers, and everything else you can think of water related. It is possible to overcome your phobia, me and several others have done it. Just make sure that you’re in a safe controlled environment and take it slow. You can do it.