How Subnautica Gave Me Thalassophobia 

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who watched, liked or left a comment, it means the world to see this kind of support. Thank you all!

16:57 the fun part is, Reapers use echolocation according to the pda. Meaning if you hear one, it can see you.

I scuba dive in real life wit little to no fear whilst submerged, and still, Subnautica continues to scare the ever living crap out of me.

It's amazing how people with fears getting help to their fears with this game and people without fears are getting new fears they never had before. I couldn't have complete this damn beautiful game. It's too heavy on my nerves.

Holy crap this is so high quality, figured i was watching someone with atleast 100k subs, amazing content please keep making stuff of this quality!

Submechanaphobia is definitely one of the phobias that makes sense as there are more planes underwater than submarines in the sky(as if that makes any sense)

brother was gifted with elequant speech and used it for good

If you want to experience the premium version of Thalassophobia try exploring the Dunes biome during the nighttime

Hearing "detecting multiple leviathan class life forms in the region, are you sure whatever you're doing is worth it?" Reminded me of the time where I accidentally encountered that message for the first time and I bolted out of there. When I saw that message I was worried you were gonna encounter a reaper or something.

I think its really interesting to see people discussing subnautica in the context of thalassophobia because it (along with just playing subnautica) has made me realize that i have the opposite of whatever thalassophobia is. i dont really know how to explain it, i get the same kind of thought process (things like "we don't know what's down there", "there could be a massive creature in there") but for some reason those notions really excite me. I feel like if i can't see the bottom of the water, i have to go down and be the first one ever to explore it. I especially love it when there's creatures involved; if i think i see something in deep water, i get the urge to swim out to go see it. Even the creatures being hostile isn't enough to deter it, i actually found myself grinning during the reaper leviathan jumpscare because it was just so awesome to me. I know this is exactly how mad scientists die in movies and idrk what my point is, i just think its interesting to see how different people emotionally react to the same thing in such different ways

I absolutely ADORE Subnautica, but I'll never see large bodies of water the same ever again.

You know whats weird? This game did not cure me at all, but it became sort of a comfort game. I love building my base, my safe space in the game. Coming back to it is so... calming.

Horrible trivia: None of the monsters in this game can actually be killed. They merely go dormant for a few minutes. Hang out next to a "dead" monster long enough and it will eventually spring back to life.

When it comes to how much of the ocean has been explored it is more along 20%. I have played over 300 hours of subnutica one of my top games of all time. I will never forget my experience.

The quality of this video is so good I didn't notice he only had 300 subs until 19 minutes in

c'mon youtube algorithm, pump this masterpiece up, a 30min essay of this quality under 1k views is a crime

Subnautica actually helped me with my thalassothobia

Definitely thought I was alone in developing a fear of the ocean from this but good to hear others are scarred too 👍

13:40 you can actually see that when you got out of the seamoth it continued to move just a bit, so it got under the 200 meters and blew up. I had a similar experience exploring a wreck but for me a bone shark pushed it under the 200 meters

I thought this vid had like a million views or something . This is top tier keep doing it

14:18 any hostile creatures will attack your vehicle if it's left nearby, and in this biome i expect it would have been bonesharks. for me, that's one of the things that made the game a little scarier, knowing that my source of air and safety could be gone in seconds if i didn't observe my environment well enough

13:54 your seamoth descended too far and ended up breaking due to the pressure (i think)

Keeping the lights on for this one

Dude your content is amazing. I really enjoyed the video. Keep it up!

15:05 yeah in my experience whenever this happened i would have to go to my beacons and turn it off and on again a few times. Otherwise i could NOT find it. It may have just imploded in your case as-unless you have already upgraded the depth module-the seamoth initially can’t actually reach the depth of that particular wreck. It can get close enough that you can swim to the wreck but not right next to the entrance. Fun thing i learned recently: they fixed the emergency floatation device you can build so it actually gets you to the surface quickly now. I had to use it at this wreck for similar reasons (couldn’t find my seamoth and had seconds) and that lil device got me there with a few to spare!

Your editing is really great...NGL you made better understanding to the viewers about phobias...good job ❤

What a great video, needs more recognition

Now, this is quality. The effort that went into this was well worth it. I love both subnautica's, and this video is spot on.

For me Subnautica really made me scared for oxygen in every game i play were you can drown i directly scour to the nearest oxygen source when i put my head in the wet blue. I Just realy love this game even though i shit my pants more than once playing it

You probably had it even before playing Subnautica. Playing it just made you aware you have it. Since it's pretty hard to experience that level of fear of depths in real life. I have a debilitating fear of depths and voids but still managed to finish the game. Fantastic analysis, thank you!

Great quality and very nice scenario. I am sure you will have success if you keep going. With each video you grow, don't give up

I love this game and I'm scared of it, but i never knew why. This video helped me figure it out. This is also very high quality. Good Job!

This is like one of the best video I've ever seen!!!!! Beautiful content❤❤❤❤

Great vid. Look forward to seeing you blow up! Liked and subscribed

I've gotten over at least two phobias I had, but when I played Subnautica: it wasn't because of the Leviathans, sure they make me flinch, but what truly got me in the game was looking down, and seeing nothing, it invokes so much dread and fear in me, and after years of playing, I never got over that

I remember my first major scare of Subnautica. While I do have a mild fear of deep water, and the fact that I had already seen playthroughs of the game, I thought that I'd be fine. How wrong I was. One time I was piloting the Seamoth near the side of one of the Islands, and for some reason I was certain that there were no reapers in that biome. Imagine my surprise when out of nowhere I get hit from behind by a reaper that was likely stalking me for quite awhile. I managed to get away with the Seamoth intact, but not without nearly throwing my controller across the room.

Bro I was gonna like the vid and saw that u didn't have at least 100k likes, great vid dude

i've been afraid of open/deep water all my life- as far as i remember, might give subnautica a go to just to scare myself more, your descriptions gave me goose bumps so i might die of fright xdd amazing video, subbing and looking forward to more videos!

Subnautica gives me mixed feelings. It is my favorite game ever created, and for good reason. It’s beautiful, it pulls you in, and drowns you (sometimes literally) beneath 100’s of meters of water. It is masterfully done. But that… that is exactly why it’s so terrifying. Every roar, every voice line from the pda, and every time I get in my seamoth, I can feel it. A slight feeling of dread. I am alone, on an ocean planet, with only one choice-to go deeper. But if there is one takeaway from the game that *everyone* understands… “They do *not* want us down there…”

My first reaper encounter was terrifying. I was looking through a wreckage in the dunes (didn’t know how dangerous it was) and the pda gave me the line about the leviathan life forms. I got in my seamoth after scanning a few things and the reaper who had just found me chased me for like 2 minutes straight. I didn’t get to see it at that point but i could hear it roaring right behind me the whole time

Holy shit, this quality could rival at least someone with 2 mil. I have no clue how you are this underrated

DAMN! Thats some god tier vide making.

I watched the entire video thinking this was made by guy with thousands of subscribers! This is insane quality for someone with only 300 subs! Congrats man! Great work, you just earned urself another sub

Amazing quality I’m sure you can go far if you keep it up

This production quality had me thinking this was easily a hundred thousand view video, but no. This video is _massively_ underrated, good work. I also want to say as someone who enjoys fighting sports and tends to seek a way to fight or get angry in fearful situations because it makes me feel better and more controlled, the fact that there is little to no weaponry whatsoever in Subnautica makes one feel small and powerless. If you see a Reaper in the distance the best you can do is hope you have a stasis rifle and can escape. That, or you can slog on for upwards of fifteen minutes shanking it with that little survival knife while hoping you don't take a hit and run yourself out of meds. When I got the stasis rifle and knew I could trap a thing and dice away at it a little at a time, my fear alleviated greatly, but anytime I didn't have the batteries necessary or got jumped the dread returned. To die fighting is one thing but to die helplessly is another.

A possible reason that your seamoth disappeared at 13:53 is that you were just about to enter its crush depth when you got out and it glided into the crush depth and exploded

The way the views went up compared to when i first saw this vid is insane. Especially compared to your other vids, congrats ! ALSO IT COULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE YOU DO A DEEP REVIEW ON GROUNDED!!! 🙏

If it does help so soothe you new phobia, the "only 5% of the ocean explored" is a complete mith, although the certain quantity cannot be completely given, marine biologist and scientist say that the percentage is actually closer if not higher than 50% and that's the LOWEST estimate they can give you

Commenting for the algorithm, ur awesome dude

high quality video man

I’ve had some scares in a games ocean myself, that being Ark: survival evolved, mainly with the megalodons coming out of nowhere even though the game’s oceans are easier to see through when submerged

Dude how do you only have 100 subscribers? This is so underrated and professional quality. You definitely needs a lot more subs.

bro ur video is waaay beyond good

keep up the good work man i thought this was like 100k up but no! dw youll get there just keep going :)

Good video 👍

I had thalassophobia before playing Subnautica, and at first I could not even leave the lifepod, but by going very slow in the game, I managed to overcome this fear and can now swim in the ocean irl, so my adventure in subnautica cured my phobia. I guess I have the reverse experience to yours

I have a slight phobia (idk if you can say that) of the Ocean, i only am really scared of it when i don't know what is below the surface. Thats why i never really swim in the Ocean or other bodies of sea where i cant see below the surface anymore, i only swim in Swimming Pools now. I dont even know why or when I got that phobia. It just appeared one day, which is.. scary.. if you think about it, that you can suddenly go from loving an activity like Swimming at a beach, to being scared of that activty. This didnt come from a game, it just appeared. Also really high quality video! You got a really good voice for Video Essays. PS: I just looked up my Phobia, I also got Thalassophobia.

I would love to see you cover the Lost River and Lava biome in depth, in particular. Perhaps thw bulb biome too. I know that I never, ever felt safe in the Lava biome. You're not meant to. I genuinely couldn't finish the game because of the instincual fear it put into me, the sounds, the sight(or lack of, at the beginning). The lost river was bad. The lava biome entrance was too much. A pit. A gaping hole of darkness that I knew I had to jump into. Without knowing what was in there.

Funny enough, I had a decent fear of the ocean. Sharks, very deep water, being alone and not being able to see the bottom. Subnautica took away those fears. Taught me I am a god damn human being, the Apex Predator. With a few rocks, I can make weapons that can slay even the mighty Sea Dragon. I have Sonar that can scan the deepest oceans. I don’t even need a sub, I prefer to fight Reapers hand to hand so I don’t have to repair. The only things in Subnautica I haven’t killed is the Cuddlefish and the Sea Emperor, and that’s because I chose to spare them. If a fish picks a fight with me, it dies, and I eat it. Subnautica allowed me to face a fear and conquer it, and I’ll always be grateful. Next time a shark crosses my path, I’m killing it and eating it. You don’t need a heat blade to kill an Earth Shark.

ONLY 1,8K VIEWS?? I was watching this while playing a game and at the end I went and gave it a like, that was when I saw the views. I thought about it having like 700 hundred thousand views! You are going to grow BIG one day. Earned yourself your 59 sub. This video was GREAT!

Ima be honest the 2 videos he showed I started breathing heavily out of reaction of seeing it

Bruh the first clip sent me. Ugh my whole body freaked. 😂😂

Good video keep it up

Damn that's actually pretty interesting. In my case, I firstly experienced thalassophobia when I fell into the ocean in GTAV and actually Subnautica was the game that helped me deal with it better.

Great video ❤️

You popped out of your seamoth at 199 meters and it moved slightly past you so it was most likely at its breaking point so... Yeah it was probably crushed

Great, now I want to play Subnautica again for the millionth time.

When I first played subnautica I didn't had thalassophobia, welp one trip to aurora to early make my unlock it 😊

Hey I just got here and just wanna make sure this isn’t like a different account? Because this is worth like a million subs

7:27 those were literally reefback calls, they were just above you

I was just talking to my friend about how this game changed me!

i dont know if subnautica gave me thalassaphobia but i know i got it AFTER i played the game

i have Thalassophobia and i knew this before i played subnatica and after playing i relised that i am never playing the game again even though i played the sequel the sequel was not as bad as the first one though so that a bonus.

I’m gonna be honest dude even when I see the sea dragon I am just in awe, they are so majestic and beautiful like I am shittign my pants but I’m also admiring them

im not afraid of the water and the seaweed im afraid whats inside it

14:11 your see moth was probably attacked by a a bone sharke wile you were gone. Bonesharks for some reason really attracted to the seamoth. I remember having to reload a save because a bonesharke broke my sea moth wile I was gone. So basicly if you want to insure that your seamoth reamins safe you need to hunt down every bone shark in the area so thay don't agro on it wile you are gone.

Honestly I believe you may have already had thalassophobia before subnautica, the game almost served as an awakening for such fears you already possessed.

Many people say Subnautica is a horror game, but that's getting it all wrong. It's not a horror game, it's a terror game. Horror is that feeling when something jumps out and scares you. It's that moment when something happens. Terror is the anticipation you feel right before it happens, but in the case of Subnautica, something might not even happen. You're just waiting, and waiting, and waiting. You keep hearing these noises, you know something is out there, but what? and when will it come?

I cannot say I've ever really been scared of the game. I mean I love the game and I have hundreds of hours in it, but I cannot say I've ever felt like properly scared. Sure, I've felt some anxiety when I had to deal with Reaper and Ghost Leviathans, but honestly that was more like gaming instinct "That's a big angry fish, I'm not supposed to go there." and the worry I'd have to grind the materials all over again. But as for this fear of unknown... yeah, that never came. To be fair though, I've been playing subnautica ever since its VERY early release. Like so early most of the map wasn't even shaped yet, there were no islands or underground caves, no ghost leviathans and Aurora wasn't even exploding yet. It was kinda funny. One moment you were swimming in perfectly detailed safe shallows and the next there were these untextured plains of nothing but repeating patterns. Especially when underground was being shaped and you just dived in to enter angular caverns. Or I when lava was being added, it didn't render properly and was green and dark. Like I entered the lava zone and there was just black void and I couldn't find a way back again, since sonar wasn't a thing yet. XD There were Reapers, though first time I've encountered one, I was in Cyclops, which was ultimately indestructable at the moment. And a little tidbit... how the hell do you get jumpscared by a gigantic fish with red mandables that announces its presence miles away? The moment I hear that thing I either know to avoid it or keep my eyes on it and book it if I'm noticed.

how does this have only 2k views

Thankfully the gargantuan is extinct... unless you play with return of the ancients The mod isn't open to the public yet but there's a bunch of creator's who've made videos on it. I would definitely recommend looking at those

i dont get why people are scared in subnautica, i have thalassophobia myself and it doesnt scare me a bit.

3 words: Entering Ecological Deadzone

It's funny, I've always had the fear of massive bodies of water. Due to several times as a kid I had moments I almost drowned. The show River Monsters which I loved made me fear natural bodies of water due to the animals that live in them. But Subnautica I love it! Perhaps it's because it's a video game where my fears don't affect me. Of course if I see or hear a Reaper I'm gonna curse like a Sailor, because I know I'm in trouble, but not because I'm scared.

I LOVE the void💯💯💯

23:47 i would argue thata creature that is both transparent and blue would be harder to see in THE OCEAN since the ocean is also blue. No judgement, but just a funny thought i had while watching the video.

18:12 guys i think his pc bluescreened :/

My biggest fear is probably claustrophobia or acrophobia

Ur seamoth was destroyed bcs u passed depth limit with it, u exited at 199m bit seamoth was still moving further down... Great vid btw

Haha (you have gained a sub)

why so many spider wtf

I would have greatly appreciated a warning for ppl like me with SEVERE arachnophobia

17:32 Dude.. I hated that so much.

18:40 I DON'T have thalassophobia, but what I do have is megalophobia, and that whale wade me fucking jump up, not cool 😭

I tried it I can't My thalassophobia is just too hard but watching a playthrough was fun its an Amazing game..... but i cannot do it

great vid for 278 subs

• 💖 from 🇩🇰 .

you should try subnautica return of the ancients its a mod

everyone who got the fobia from subnatica like or somethink

please play below zero and dont get spoiled and make another video just like this