Woman has phobia of overflowing baths after witnessing traumatic incident as a child

A woman has revealed she's spent most of her life terrified of overflowing baths.

While it might seem like a fairly niche phobia, Darcey Croft, from Buckinghamshire, says it's plagued her life since she was a child.

When she was just four years old, she watched on from the bath as the ceiling of her home fell through on top of her mum, causing the water to overflow.

"I remember being about four and seeing a torrent of water coming on top of my mum," she recalled.

"I thought the whole house was going to fall down, in my small four-year-old head I really thought my mum was dead and I would die next.

"My mum was totally fine and she probably didn’t realise the trauma of it for me but I never processed those emotions."

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When she was 13, Darcey was held underwater by a classmate to the point where she "felt peaceful and euphoric - on the brink of drowning".

And a year later, she also bumped her head in the bath.

All of this combined to create a debilitating fear of overflowing tubs and large bodies of water.

She explained: "It wasn't a fear of water - I love swimming and actually I love having a bath.

"But the fear of overflowing or lapping water - blocked toilets, full sinks, overflowing baths, any bathroom scenarios.

"I'd have panic attacks, my heart would race, I would feel faint, dizzy and sick, all the blood would drain from my head.

"I never addressed it until recently, but I took some action and did some self-hypnosis. It seems to have worked."

When the phobia is triggered, it causes the 48-year-old to have crippling panic attacks, to feel sick, and become really dizzy.

For 30 years, these symptoms would occur every time Darcey left a room while the bath was running.

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And this is made all the stranger by the fact she enjoys a good soak.

"I actually love having a bath, a candlelit bath is amazing for relaxation," she said.

"But sometimes I would put the bath to run, then go and do something downstairs, and when I’d realise I left the bath on, that would send me into a panic.

"I felt I couldn’t go back into the room in case the bath level had risen."

In a bid to get over her fear, Darcey, who is a specialist mental health midwife with training in hypnotherapy, tried self-hypnosis.

She listens to recordings she's made, which put her in a deep trance and 'guide her through the bath overflowing'.

And she says that she's now 'at least 80 percent cured', and some days has no fear at all.

"Anyone experiencing a phobia, it’s a horrible state to feel mentally and physically," she said. "It isn't a good place to be in.

"It feels fantastic to be free from that."