, báthos, "depth" and φόβος, phóbos, "fear" is an irrational fear of depths, which may include oceans as well as trenches, long hallways, canyons and basements. As with most phobias, bathophobia causes an emotional reaction, a form of anxiety or a panic attack.

There is some suggestion that depth cues are innately cues for anxiety in some subjects. Experiments using visual cliffs have shown human infants and toddlers, as well as other animals of various ages, to be reluctant in venturing onto a glass floor with a view of a few meters of apparent fall-space below it.[1]