Friend with Aquaphobia

[Natural Lefty]

Here are my two cents worth. First, it is very tragic that your friend's brother drowned during a school field trip. That would be difficult to overcome. I had a niece who drowned at the age of 6 at a public swimming pool, and our family is still affected by that.

Second, I personally have never liked to swim and found it unpleasant even as a child. If I go out in a boat, I just put on a life jacket to feel more secure. I like being around water but not in it.

Third, it is doubtful that attempts to make your friend unafraid of swimming will be successful. I would suggest him avoiding being in the water, and use a life jacket while in a boat just to be safe. Drowning is a real danger and it's no joke. Humans cannot breath underwater obviously. However, chances of an emergency happening if he is not swimming are vey slim.

An anecdote about that is that one of my friends told me about a young woman that he knew quite a few years ago, who took LSD which resulted in her thinking that she could breath underwater. She tried out her idea in a local creek and ended up drowning

By the way, I am a social psychologist so I have considerable familiarity with psychological issues.