Fears, Panic, Anxiety... What Does It Do To You?
- Thread starter rob.mwpropane
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
I am scared of being scared.
I hate that feeling. I had 2 incidents where i git really scared (darc narc) and i am always scared to get it again. I handled it well and everything was fine. But i am scared of loosing control, or the feeling itself.
Sounds weird, but thats what i fear.. the fear itself
I hate that feeling. I had 2 incidents where i git really scared (darc narc) and i am always scared to get it again. I handled it well and everything was fine. But i am scared of loosing control, or the feeling itself.
Sounds weird, but thats what i fear.. the fear itself
I have little fear of diving or any other sport in general. Now, needles, forget it, I have an uncontrollable fear of needles and sweat profusely whenever I get blood drawn. I had a ton of bloodwork as a kid and even have a missing vein from it being drawn too many times in a short period, so I guess that's the reason for it.
A buddy and I had a situation go wrong and had to rescue ourselves which ended up taking a pretty intense 6 hours. after we were out and my friend was coiling up the rope, looked at me and said "Well, that was pretty business like" I realized at that point we had barely spoke for that 6 hours.
Having your head in the game, trust in your abilities, knowing "you got this" and focusing on the task, doesn't leave room for fear. In situations like those, think quickly and act.
A buddy and I had a situation go wrong and had to rescue ourselves which ended up taking a pretty intense 6 hours. after we were out and my friend was coiling up the rope, looked at me and said "Well, that was pretty business like" I realized at that point we had barely spoke for that 6 hours.
Having your head in the game, trust in your abilities, knowing "you got this" and focusing on the task, doesn't leave room for fear. In situations like those, think quickly and act.
pauldw
Contributor
I don’t believe that fear is always a choice, or that it is always the product of insufficient training.
I’m claustrophobic. For the first few decades of my life, I wasn’t. At all. But something changed, and my body occasionally started acting in ways it never had, in situations I was accustomed to and good at, and so in situations that should not have been anxiety producing. It took a few years to even realize what was going on with those episodes. Slow, deep breaths can help steady me, but it’s really annoying to have a fear of something I shouldn’t be fearing. I still dove a cenote, though. It was incredible! Except for a couple of minutes toward the end.
It seems like there’s an undercurrent in some of this thread that people should just buck up. Maybe middle age makes one scared of dying or something, but I didn’t pick this annoying problem, and there are limits to how much I can make it go away. Or want to. If I ever need another MRI, I’m not going to try to buck up, I’m just gonna ask for a Valium.
I’m claustrophobic. For the first few decades of my life, I wasn’t. At all. But something changed, and my body occasionally started acting in ways it never had, in situations I was accustomed to and good at, and so in situations that should not have been anxiety producing. It took a few years to even realize what was going on with those episodes. Slow, deep breaths can help steady me, but it’s really annoying to have a fear of something I shouldn’t be fearing. I still dove a cenote, though. It was incredible! Except for a couple of minutes toward the end.
It seems like there’s an undercurrent in some of this thread that people should just buck up. Maybe middle age makes one scared of dying or something, but I didn’t pick this annoying problem, and there are limits to how much I can make it go away. Or want to. If I ever need another MRI, I’m not going to try to buck up, I’m just gonna ask for a Valium.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
You simply can't predict or prevent panic. It's nigh impossible to reason yourself out of it as well. It's atavistic and unreasonable and can be precipitated by seemingly unrelated events. Training is good as it can keep you far from the "edge" where panic and losing control seem to coexist. Know your limits and stop flirting with them. Too many divers plan thinking that nothing will happen to them. You'll often hear them bragging about just how close they came but were able to pull it off, anyway. They think it's skill when mostly it's just dumb luck.
OP
Sorry guys, busy week.. haven't been able to keep up with all the responses.. lots of good info in here.
I thought about the lack of fear that some people have, racing motorcycles, skydiving, climbing. I've done most of that and felt pretty good about it in the moment, I was in the zone, I was prepared. Being prepared is huge when it comes to different activities like that. Take climbing for example.. if it's raining and conditions aren't great, you're not climbing.... but how many people have we heard about when it comes to diving want the boat to go out in atrocious conditions? Paid a lot of money to get where we are to do this dive and dammit I'm going to! I'm always amazed @The Chairman or anyone who posts that they woke up that morning and decided to skip the dive because they just weren't feeling it. If I'm being honest, I tend to be someone that pushes through that feeling because sometimes it does pass and I would have missed out if I called it. I hope if that spidey sense is ever really tingling I listen to it. I do listen to the captain, I've had him call it when we're at the wreck, I take his word for it. I'm ok with that. If more seasoned divers were to call it because of conditions I would follow suit.
Knowing your limits is huge. I like to push myself, but not beyond my limits. I like to do little steps. I remember jumping 4 wheelers and dirt bikes when I was younger, you don't start on the set of doubles or a table top, you work your way up. And then we would move the doubles farther apart. All of a sudden you're flying 30' through the air, but I didn't start there. And if I went back to it today? I'd have to start all over again, getting a feel for the bike, learning everything about the way it handles and how I handle the bike.
Diving unprepared and surviving the 3 vacation dives someone does in year is just dumb luck. I'd say most of the panic and fear underwater is induced by being unprepared and beyond your limits. But how many agencies push for that? How many dive operators have people @ 120'+ in a single 80?
I thought about the lack of fear that some people have, racing motorcycles, skydiving, climbing. I've done most of that and felt pretty good about it in the moment, I was in the zone, I was prepared. Being prepared is huge when it comes to different activities like that. Take climbing for example.. if it's raining and conditions aren't great, you're not climbing.... but how many people have we heard about when it comes to diving want the boat to go out in atrocious conditions? Paid a lot of money to get where we are to do this dive and dammit I'm going to! I'm always amazed @The Chairman or anyone who posts that they woke up that morning and decided to skip the dive because they just weren't feeling it. If I'm being honest, I tend to be someone that pushes through that feeling because sometimes it does pass and I would have missed out if I called it. I hope if that spidey sense is ever really tingling I listen to it. I do listen to the captain, I've had him call it when we're at the wreck, I take his word for it. I'm ok with that. If more seasoned divers were to call it because of conditions I would follow suit.
Knowing your limits is huge. I like to push myself, but not beyond my limits. I like to do little steps. I remember jumping 4 wheelers and dirt bikes when I was younger, you don't start on the set of doubles or a table top, you work your way up. And then we would move the doubles farther apart. All of a sudden you're flying 30' through the air, but I didn't start there. And if I went back to it today? I'd have to start all over again, getting a feel for the bike, learning everything about the way it handles and how I handle the bike.
Diving unprepared and surviving the 3 vacation dives someone does in year is just dumb luck. I'd say most of the panic and fear underwater is induced by being unprepared and beyond your limits. But how many agencies push for that? How many dive operators have people @ 120'+ in a single 80?
OP
Wanted to add, I know I said I have a fear of heights but I don't think that's true. Maybe it's a fear of falling? I was watching a video last night of someone flying around in a paramotor and I thought that would be awesome. That's about as high as you could get, but you're strapped in and attached to a parachute of sorts. I think my fear is not being strapped in with the chances of me falling much greater than something like a plane or a paramotor. Like the idea of standing on the edge of a cliff terrifies me, but the idea of base jumping off of it with a parachute (and training) does not. The idea of skydiving does not.
Weird.
Weird.
Gone for diving
Contributor
I would love to paramotor...
Tad pricey... and I don't think it ends with only one wing....
Oh well I have to many hobbies to start with...
Tad pricey... and I don't think it ends with only one wing....
Oh well I have to many hobbies to start with...
OP
It's not something I could do right now, but maybe 5-10 years, who knows. My wife's parents moved to another state so I FINALLY have her on board with buying a small plane, lol... that would probably take precedence.
Paramotor would be really cool though. My house butts up to the perfect field for it. That would be pretty amazing... heck I could take it to work, lol.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
I agree with most of what you wrote, but not this. Most Scuba panic is induced by divers not being in trim and neutral. I've seen people spend so much energy on not hitting the bottom or floating to the surface that they forget to watch gauges. Why do you think they simply run out of air? They're too busy trying to not die to even notice.
Some fears are rational while many are not. Falling's fine, but I have a distinct fear of hitting the ground. I have a natural fear of heights, that I have worked on my whole life. When the kids were young enough to do water parks, I would do the super high wedgie maker slides at least twice on every visit. I was even a BSA climbing instructor at one point until I pulled a shoulder out of its socket trying to exceed a limit. I went back to diving after that.
When I was a kid, I was afraid of the dark. Every chance I got, I went out when it was dark until I lost the fear. On campouts, I trained myself to navigate the woods at night and really developed my hearing. Three years ago, in Fiji, I'm walking around without a light at dusk and stepped into a three-foot-deep concrete drainage ditch. Broke the tibia and fibula on my left leg. I still walk around at night like a troglodyte. It's also why I like diving caves, I guess.
Diving, and life in general, are all about limits. Know them and respect them. I simply can't state this enough. Part of your instructor's job is to teach you all about them. Many instructors fail. It's now up to you to figure them out. Strength, skills, and such can only take you so far. Your mind is the best thing you've got to keep you from hurting yourself.
Similar threads
