Panic in OW - advice needed

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Jamba

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Location
Southern California
# of dives
0 - 24
Hi all,
I am new to diving and finished my open water about three weeks ago. Unforunatelly my check out dives did not turn out the way I wished they had and I would like to ask the more experienced folks for some advice, since this experience messed really bad with my mind and confidence in persuing diving.

I do not want this post to become endless, so I will try to cut it best I can.

I was always fascinated by the beauties of the underwater world but I always had a lot of respect for scuba diving and there has always been some kind of feeling/anxiety that kept me from trying scuba. Recently I kept thinking a lot about it and if it was a „fear“ that resulted from not knowing anything about scuba (like the typical “What if……” ) or just my immagination how I “would” feel.

I took a “Try Scuba” class (pool) prior to my open water to find out how I really felt about it and if I wanted to take the class. I talked about my concerns with the instructor and was doing totally fine. I did not have any problems with any of the skills during “try scuba” or my OW sessions . It was a 2 week course, I had a really good instructor!, we were only two students and got a LOT of personal attention.
After finishing the pool sessions I got really nervous about going into the ocean for the check out dives, I don’t know, pool was not = ocean for me. I was worried about some kind of situation coming up that I would not know how to handle. I talked to my instructor, thought he should know.

On our first dive, I was nervous, but we really took it slow and he always watched us like a hawk. We did some skills on the surface,descended, did some skills at the bottom, went for a swim, no problems.

On our second dive I was still nervous and my breathing was far away from „normal“. At about 15‘ our instructor asked me to remove my mask, put it back on and clear it, like I have done several times in the pool sessions without any problems. He had us do some other skills like clearing our masks on that dive before, without any problems.
I removed my mask and realized, that I was not breathing at all. My heart was pounding so hard as if it would want to jump right out of my chest. I remembered the „never hold your breath“ ringing in my head and tried to take a deep breath but my chest felt so tight that I could not get a breath out of that regulator. Instead I had a lot of water entering (through my nose, I guess). I tried again…same result. At that point I simply lost it, I could not see, I could not breath, done, I bolted to the surface. The instructor immediatelly grabed and held on to my BCD on the way to the surface. It seemed like an eternity. He inflated my BC on the surface, grabed my hand and insisted that I looked at him. After I had calmed down, he told me that I had spit out my regulator under water… I had not even realized.
I will never forget this feeling of panic, it is the worse I have ever felt.
I felt ashamed that I had comletely lost control over myself and have put him in this situation. All I could say was that I was sorry.

I finished all three dives that day and the two following the next day. Yes, I know, maybe I should have called it, but I know ,if I had, I would probably not have gone back into the water . The instructor had me clear my mask a lot with no pressure at all and I finally took of that mask at the end of our last dive after refusing a couple of times before. Not because I was comfortable with it, but because I thought, if I do not do it now, it will just get worse.

I got certified that day, but I was not ready to go out there again unless I had myself under controll and with an experienced buddy. My instructor offered to take me out on some dives to work on skills if I wanted to or just to become more comfortable.

The first week after the check out dives I was seriously considering quiting, because every time I thought about diving my heart started pounding against chest again. My memories of that weekend are more like a dream I had than reality. I felt really misserable. It got better after I finally decided not to quit and work through it.

I read up on a lot of stuff (including all the good advice on scuba board, thanks for that) to find out what was “wrong” with me and worked hard on my mask skills during the last few weeks. I spend hours in the pool (still do, to keep going)and in shallow open water (kneeling on the bottom at 5’ with a friend’s tank). I went on a dive with my instructor a couple of days ago, he cut of 4h of his time to go on a 45 min. dive with me! Yes, I did take of my mask on that dive, and yes, it took some effort, but I was in control. I think I have improved a lot, since I can now take of my mask in the ocean without the panicky feeling coming up, controlling my breathing and staying calm while doing the skill. I think the most important change for me was,… I now keep my eyes OPEN under water, even if it is not sharp, at least I can see.

But even though, I have some serious questions, that are eating me up.
1) Are there many students having these kind of problems/feelings?
2) Will I be more prone to panic again in the future, if I already panicked once? I know that panic does not belong under water. This leading to my next question.
3) Should I be diving at all? I had somebody telling me, “You should not be in the water at all”. I do not want to quit, but I do not want to be a hazard to myself or even worse my buddy!

Sorry, for the long post, but I would really appreciate some advice.
Thanks.
 
1) Are there many students having these kind of problems/feelings?
2) Will I be more prone to panic again in the future, if I already panicked once? I know that panic does not belong under water. This leading to my next question.
3) Should I be diving at all? I had somebody telling me, “You should not be in the water at all”. I do not want to quit, but I do not want to be a hazard to myself or even worse my buddy!

1. i believe every student that first starts their dives always panics, when i was starting, my OW i was shaking at first and all we did was just put our head under water nothing scary but i was still nervous.
it probley happens to alot of students.

2. all it takes is to relax take a few deep breaths think about only the dive liek what u want to accomplish... an example would be, things u want to see and set goals to breath calmly to save up on air; just dont think about things that may go wrong and never panic underwater, panicing probley causes the most dive injuries and deaths. always review your dive on surface set up a dive plan, and when underwater dont think of the bad things.
when i was doin my advanced course we were in 40 degree water and my reg free flowed, biggest mistake of my life i paniced crazy, i was showing my instructor some signals that im free flowing he was inda confused so i bolted up tot he surface. on the surface my instructor was telling me that i was showing wierd signs that my buddy was out of air =/
that day taught me alot to not panic cause we did another dive same thing happened again a freeflow but this time i paniced for 1 second and then just slowely calmed down instructor is with me everything will be fine i showed him proper signs he gave me his octo and we went to surface... this also taught me to never rent regs again :)

3. always keep diving, thisis a very common thing to most students and it always happens, just never panic and always show the instructor dive master or buddy the problem and he will always help out!
 
I don't know how much constructive advice I can offer, 'cause I'm still really new at diving, but I just wanted to say that it's awesome of you to finish the OW dives. I don't think there's very many people who would still choose to dive that day after being scared so badly.

There's nothing wrong with making your next few dives with a divemaster or instructor, if it would help you to feel more comfortable and relaxed in the water. Even if your former instructor doesn't have the time to dive with you again, I bet if you posted your location on Scubaboard, you'd be able to find tons of divemasters, instructors, or experienced buddies who would be more than happy to dive with you.

Now that you know what panic feels like, you can actually use this to your advantage...since you know what it feels like to start to panic, you can catch yourself if you ever start to panic again, and hopefully, keep yourself from losing control.

Hope this helps...
 
I have only done 1 OW dive so far.. I didn't panic, but was extremely nervous and felt like I did horrible on my checkouts.. Asked about it here and was told it's pretty normal.. As long as you have your regulator in your mouth your fine, you can breathe.. People are around you who can help you..

You have guts to have continued your dives.. This shows a strong will, determination, and self-confidence.. Everyone here started as newbies once.. Many have had similar experiences.. Don't beat yourself up.. We're usually harder on ourselves than others are...

My instructor told us that to be a better diver you have to dive often.. I'm going to take that to heart once we get rid of the tropical stuff...

Breathe, think, act...
Having experienced divers with you who know your worries is an excellent recommendation.. But now that you know your problems you own them... When it starts to happen tell yourself to stop, breathe, think, and act... Easier said than done, but you've already proven you can..

I believe in you... You've already continued when others would have quit... Kudos
 
1. i believe every student that first starts their dives always panics.

:confused: No, not every student "always panics". I can say with confidence that not "every" student bolts for the surface during their OW checkout dives, it's safe to say most DON'T panic or bolt for the surface. Many (not all) divers may be a bit nervous during their OW checkout dives but that is VERY different than panicking and heading for the surface.

I'm not saying whether the OP should or shouldn't be diving. I have no opinion on that. I just saw this ridiculous statement and had to comment on it.
 
I just finished my OW last weekend and I can say that I was very nervous too. I don't think everyone feels that way (the others with me were not nervous) but I don't think you should stop diving. I intend to get out there next weekend and gain more confidence. Perhaps you should try doing some dives in a lake or something not as big as the ocean until you get more confident...just a thought.
 
I know I was very nervous during my first OW dive...leaving the safety of the 15 ft platform for the "open water" of the quarry was really nervewracking...however, I didn't panic. I came really close when I got narced at 99 ft and kind of got left by my buddies, though. Now that scared the crap out of me!

I'm pretty sure that some level of nervousness during your first few OW dives is fairly normal, however, from reading on Scubaboard and talking with instructors, I've gathered that the majority of OW students don't actually panic and bolt for the surface. They might be nervous, but doesn't usually develop into full-blown panic.

It might be a good idea to figure out (if it's even possible to figure out a cause) the cause of your panic. Was it the actual mask removal skill? Was it the idea of diving in OW, as opposed to a nice, "safe" pool? If you can figure out why you panicked (when did you start feeling more anxious?), you should be able to prevent it in the future...

You mentioned that you have a friend's pool you can use...might be a good idea to just hang out in the bottom of the pool in your scuba gear with your mask off your face...you'll discover that you can be perfectly comfortable underwater without a mask...you might even try swimming along the bottom of the pool sans mask.

Whenever doing a skill, remember that nothing needs to be done in a hurry (except for OOA drills, I guess!). When I practiced mask clearing with an instructor, one of the most helpful things he taught me was to remind me to take my time. After I flood the mask, I pause for a couple of breaths with a mask full of water, then remove it. After removing it, I pause for a couple of breaths again, then replace the mask. After another pause, I then clear it. It reminds me that I'm perfectly fine with a flooded mask, helps me to keep my level of anxiety under control (I had a ton of difficulty with mask clearing/removal during training), and helps me to do the next step in a calm and unhurried manner. It's easy to get anxious when you try to do things too quickly.


Hope this helps!



:confused: No, not every student "always panics". I can say with confidence that not "every" student bolts for the surface during their OW checkout dives, it's safe to say most DON'T panic or bolt for the surface. Many (not all) divers may be a bit nervous during their OW checkout dives but that is VERY different than panicking and heading for the surface.

I'm not saying whether the OP should or shouldn't be diving. I have no opinion on that. I just saw this ridiculous statement and had to comment on it.
 
I took a Try Scuba or resort scuba class with 3 dives to try scuba before taking OW too. My first dive I had problems equalizing and wanted to go up immediately, but the instructor "talked" me down from the panic and showed me how to equalize. All those dives were shallow.

When I took OW I was very nervous and a bit fearful. I was most worried about the skills especially having to flood my mask and clear it. My OW instructor just had me practice the skill over and over. During the skill dives I was nervous, but more worried about "will I pass"...than about doing the skills.

I would encourage you to continue and maybe dive when your LDS goes out on training dives. I hope you have that available to you. My husband and I go out with our LDS every once in awhile when the shop has planned boat dives with students, just to refresh our skills. Plus our LDS offered refresher classes when students are doing pool dives. It just takes time to relax, but it is good advice to keep telling yourself: Stop, breath, think, act!
 
I was extremely nervous during my OW checkouts. As soon as I started descent my heart started pounding and I came back up to the surface. I floated for a minute until my heart slowed. I decided it was a mind over matter thing, had a little chat with myself and descended again. The entire time I was down I had to keep reminding myself that I could breathe. After about 15 minutes into the dive I actually started looking around at the reef. The next dive got better. After my checkout dives I made a point to dive again right away. Each time got a little easier. I still find that if it is a couple of weeks between dives I get a little nervous. I have to have that little chat with myself and make a conscious effort to take slow deep breaths. My advice to you is to keep diving as often as you can. I sometimes hook up with my instructor when he is taking a class for their checkouts. The more you do it the more comfortable you will be. Good luck! One more bit of advice: it is my opinion and the opinion of some others on this board that you get your AOW. This is really just and extension of OW. It will also get a few more dives in for you fairly quickly.
 
If you find yourself in a similar situation stop and collect your thoughts and try to remember that the feeling is already familiar but keep thinking that you can overcome it. I don't think you're alone in this nor do I think this is the worst that ever happened to anyone. You just have to remember that you're still in a foreign environment but more importantly, try to think of the training that got you there in the first place. With more dives you should be OK. :)
 

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