Panic Attacks - is it normal?

[marinediver77]

I went through a minor thing of anxiety on my third dive. I was fine until we hit 56 degree water and I couldn't see very fare ahead of me. I started swimmimg faster to catch up and I think that's basically how it started. I didn't end up in a panic but I got a little nervious and needed to stop and breath. That helped and I continued with my dive. I think what really helped me not revert back to the anxiety was that fact that I was concentrating on looking at the rocks and fish swim by. We also headed to warmer waters. The bad thing I already knew was that I didn't have any gloves and I get really cold in water very easily. Everything else was warm, except my hands. I went out the following week and bought gloves!

 

[prairieman]

I am new to diving but am much less nervous with each dive.I know the easier the breathing the more relaxed I am.My instructor in the dominican gave me 1 piece of advice that has made it easier even when nervous.when u think u have fully exhaled make yourself exhale a little more.Make the inhale & exhale slow but concentrate on the exhale it will calm u down.Stay the course young neddy

 

[bambina_85]

I was on my 6th dive after my open water dive course... it was supposed to be 2 leisure dives and I had this panic attack on my first dive. My first one was cut short in 12 minutes because i felt my mask was too loose. I thought I'd tighten it up and wait for the next one. When it was time for the next dive, I started getting really nervous.. but thought once I jumped in, it would go away. I jumped in and felt so scared. The DM and my buddy were really amazing though, they led me down patiently, but I lasted only 18 minutes and was too afraid to go further down.

I attribute it to my last dive during the open water dive course, where I had wanted to purge my primary and accidentally swallowed a large amount of salt water, felt like I was drowning then immediately inflated my BC to surface.

I wonder if this is normal and if we do get over these panic attacks. Does anyone have a similar experience?

I totally understand what you went through.

I got my OW certification 3 years ago at Boracay...not without a few minor mishaps.

1. During the exercise where we inflate our BCD manually (after taking your mouth away your regulator and onto the valve on the BCD) I accidentally swallowed some water, panicked and shot up to the surface (we were at 7m). Funnily enough, this was after I performed this exercise 3 times without a hitch.
2. During the exercise where we take of the mask and put it back on again, I felt highly uncomfortable and shot back up. This time, in 5 m of water.

Luckily, my instructor was patient, and exceedingly so I may add, so I did get my OW.

I went on my first liveaboard (Apr 2008, Similans/Richelieu) on the Mermaid II. I hadn't dived for a year, bar the refresher course I did the day before I boarded the LB, so I was very, very inexperienced compared to everyone else.

Also, during my refresher course, the DM made me repeat the purging exercise quite a few times as he saw I was a bit apprehensive. So my 'lacklustre' performance was sitting in the back of my mind and probably contributed to the following:

On the first dive, I was too close to the DM and he whacked my mask off with his fin, and panicked and I shot up. He was trying to pull me down, but I kicked him away and surfaced. I would estimate, it would not be more than 10 m deep.

Considering the culture of a liveaboard, which is intimidating for a novice such as myself (and I was also onboard solo), I figured, the best way to psychologically 'get over it' was to admit to everyone that I panicked. Everyone was very nice and accommodating about it, and the rest of my trip (I did 14 more dives afterwards, including 2 night dives) went without a hitch.

So, in my limited experience, I would offer the following:

1. Find the exact cause of your panic. In my case, I panic when I feel incompetent...meaning I don't know what to do. When you know what is causing you to panic, you can come up with a remedy. In my situation, as I am planning a big scuba trip for 2 months around Asia (Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and then Palau...I should have 80 dives by this stage) I am rehearsing by going on my planned GBR liveaboard in October for 7 nights. I will be telling the LB of my needs (eg, I want to be a better diver, need help with my buoyancy, I would like to practice safety skills). After the GBR LB, I will have 50 dives, so I will feel more confident in my skills, thus less prone to panic.

2. Practice does make perfect. For example, at the beginning of my LB, my bottom time was 40 mins, with 20 bar left and by the end it was 48 mins with 50 bar left. I also learnt how to be more efficient with my movements, iinstead of flapping around everywhere. The best way to get over your fear is to confront it, and just improve as much as you can with each dive.

3. Ask people to help you. I know, that sometimes, those with more experience are very dismissive of us novices (this happened to me in Rottnest Island and the LB), including DM's who perhaps are a bit sick of going over the basics, but find someone compassionate who will be happy to give you some pointers.

4. Google 'diver panic' and you will see how many fatalities and unfortunate incidents are caused by this. For me, this made me more aware and knowledgeable, considering that people die for truly unnecessary reasons.

5. Just dive as much as you can. This is the only way you will improve. For me, I feel more confident, and so less stressed when I feel competent about something, which in turn will lead to success!


Hope that helps. As I do know the feeling. It totally sucks.

 

[Crush]

Hi jessinthas,

Hang in there! Go with someone that you trust, plan your dive and dive your plan (including contingencies).

On my 6th OWD I became panicked as well - in my case the trigger was over-exerting myself, the principal reason for which was a lack of experience. Specifically, I was struggling to equalize my ears and was not paying attention to my buoyancy, which, on a free descent, led me to "swim" too hard with my fins to stay off the bottom. My DM was great - prior to getting into the water he told me that, in case of trouble, we would kneel on the (sandy) bottom and breath to relax prior to taking any action. We followed the plan, continued the dive, and all went well. **A good DM and good pre-dive plan makes all the difference.**

A year later, with fourty more dives under my belt (and while taking a Master Diver Course) we descended to 115 feet (at an altitude of 6000 feet in the mountains) and I feel my heart rate and respiration rise to a troubling (but not dangerous) level. Three things need to be done: breath, relax, and think. The dive ended safely and the additional experience will help me to remain more relaxed underwater.

-michael