should i talk to my swimming teacher about this problem?!
Question: Should i talk to my swimming teacher about this problem?
Anyways, I have swimming this year. I'm terrified of swimimng - like literally terrified. I'm scared of drowning but more than that, I'm afraid of having an attack in the water. See, I'm always standing in the corner, by the edge, because when I get this depersonalization/derelization attack, I get dizzy and everything looks distorted. I need to be at an edge because randomly, things appear distorted. so thats why I'm afraid to just go in the middle of the pool ,without hanging onto the edge. Now my teacher doesn't know this- she thinks I'm just being a negative person by not trying anything. What she doesn't know his how much I'm suffering.
She's very understanding, she knows my brother and family, so I want to tell her but it's so embarrassing. Plus if my parents find out, they'd be extremely mad at me for making an issue out of this. Nevertheless, I want to explain to her the reason for why I'm not doing anything in class. Maybe if she knows that, we;d understand each other better and I could actually learn. Any omments? Please don't say anything negative- I've heard enough about how I'm crazy becaues of this.
Oh and I also forgot to mention - there's this other helper teacher now. SHE IS SO ANNOYING LIKE, I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU. Haha. She convinces my teacher to make me do these crazy things that I"m too afraid to do. I want to go on step at a time, not right into the fourteen freakin feet. My gym teacher used to love me until this new teacher got her to believe that I'm a stupid fifteen year old who is afraid of the water. :|
I'm stuck in a mess here.
Answers:
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
You're experiencing dissociation, not depersonalisation. They are quite different.
You cannot just fade out and die or drown during dissociation (or depersonalisation) - your brain will not let you. You may seem vague and hazy near the water but in an emergency situation, if you need to swim or tread water, you WILL. Dissociation is an inbuilt coping mechanism to protect you from stress but it will not get in the way of the 'fight or flight' response when adrenaline kicks in in an emergency situation.
Also, your swimming teacher will be there always, with her eye on you always - to protect you and prevent you from getting into difficulty in the water and if you do, you'll be fished out in a heartbeat. They will not let anything happen to you.
That said, yes you MUST tell your swimming teacher about how you feel. Let her support and guide you. Learning to swim competently is a vital life skill which could one day save your life so you must try and for that you need somebody who understands who can give you extra support and stay especially close to you when you're in the water to help put your mind at rest.
I'm a qualified mental health practitioner
I would talk to a guidance counselor.
i think you should talk to a guidance counselor because she probably is a supportive person ( your swim teacher ] but after reading this i dont even know what to say that is a really scary feeling to have . i never heard of it be for . maybe you should ask your guidance counselor can she talk to your parents about scheduling you a doctors appt. and see if the doctor can give you and medication to help your disorder .