Had my first pool dive and it was horrible

[LupitaM]

I have always wanted to scuba dive so i signed up for the open water course. Today i had my first pool dive it was the worst. I was so scared and paniced. I just cant seem to get over being able to breathe underwater.. I'll stay down for a while but then start getting so scared i have to come up. I cried all the way home because i was so upset that i just couldnt do it. Tomorrow i have another pool dive and im not feeling very confident right now.. any tips would be great..

-Lupita

 

[fire_diver]

You sound like you are over thinking things. You said you can do it. I would recommend talking to your instructor about your apprehensions. Take it slow and get used to it. How long were you under last time? Do that again. When it's not a problem for a short time, try goin a little longer.

In the end, scuba is just a hobby. It's not the end of the world if you aren't comfortable doing it. Take the pressure off yourself and try to just enjoy the sensation of weightlessness.

 

[driftwood]

Lupita,

You couldn't be any worse than me when I did my OWC. You had a perfectly natural reaction to doing something the reptile portion of our brain says we shouldn't be doing. Give it some time and things will settle down.

 

[Arkman]

First off. Don't get too discouraged. It will get better. Just take your time and work through it. Remember that humans aren't meant to breath underwater so lots of people have issues with it at first.

Take your time, don't push yourself too fast. Your instructor should be willing to work with you on it. If they aren't understanding then find someone else to teach you. Just concentrate on the fact that you will be okay, and remember that your equipment will keep you safe and so will your instructor.

Good luck and please, please don't give up. Its totally worth it!

Keep us informed.

 

[Cave Diver]

I agree that you need to talk to your instructor about your apprehensions. They need to know if you're having problems and a good instructor should be able to suggest things to help you get past it. Maybe you need to spend some time doing snorkel skills to get used to breathing underwater without being on scuba, or just spend some time in the shallow end breathing off the regulator until it starts to feel natural to you.

Don't try to force it or rush it, just take your time til you get comfortable.

 

[bygolly]

Lupita,

This article might help you.

An Exercise For Reducing No Mask Swimming Anxiety

This exercise can be done at home and should help you to relax when breathing on SCUBA and it should be especially helpful when the no-mask exercises come along.

Good luck to you...work on it and relax...it'll come.

 

[LupitaM]

i will definitely try to be more relaxed tomorrow. thanks everyone

and im going to try that exercise right now!

 

[g1138]

Don't worry about it Lupita. Scuba is a unique sport.
It's the only sport where you have 360 degrees of free movement in all directions. The amount of information your brain needs to process to maintain and understand where you are in the water column is enormous. The amount of situational awareness needed to comprehend all this is something that will never come natural to us.

Because of this it's completely understandable for new divers to be overwhelmed. What's going on with you is that you're stressed, we all were when we started. The difference is how we handle it. Some people take to stress really well and are able to muffle it, others aren't.

In the end though if you spend more time in the water it'll become more comfortable to you. Its like being afraid of the dark. The more time you spend in it, the less scared you'll be, the more you'll realize how there's nothing to worry about.

Definitely talk to your instructor and ask if you could take the pool session at a reduced pace. If he/she is a good instructor, I'm sure you'll get some extra pool hours to get into a comfort zone under the water.
Bottomline, if you truly want to do this, you'll get over this fear. It will just take time. Be patient and keep trying. Take wee little baby steps. If it just means sitting at the bottom of the 3ft end on scuba, do it.
Or if it means floating at the surface on scuba, heck do it.

Feel free to drop by the Norcal sub-forum. We'd love to have you there.
Norcal Forum

 

[lowviz]

......... I'll stay down for a while but then start getting so scared i have to come up. ...............

Might not be all fear, but the need to rid your lungs of carbon dioxide. Slow down. Breathe slowly and exhale all of the air you inhale. Hard for an instructor to see this without really watching for it.

Fear makes us want to keep all the air we can inside of us. Face it, up to now all the air you could get underwater is what you took with you in your lungs. It is common for new divers to inhale fully and cycle very shallow breathing on top of the large amount of air that isn't being exchanged for fresh air. CO2 buildup will put and end to this by making you feel like you are suffocating.

Slow down, you paid for the course so get your money's worth.

If nothing else, learn to breathe underwater. (score a personal victory)

Slow down, breathe normally.

Slow down.

Slow down.

 

[Cave Diver]

Might not be all fear, but the need to rid your lungs of carbon dioxide. Slow down. Breathe slowly and exhale all of the air you inhale. Hard for an instructor to see this without really watching for it.

Fear makes us want to keep all the air we can inside of us. Face it, up to now all the air you could get underwater is what you took with you in your lungs. It is common for new divers to inhale fully and cycle very shallow breathing on top of the large amount of air that isn't being exchanged for fresh air. CO2 buildup will put and end to this by making you feel like you are suffocating.

Slow down, you paid for the course so get your money's worth.

If nothing else, learn to breathe underwater. (score a personal victory)

Slow down, breathe normally.

Slow down.

Slow down.

An excellent point!