Anxiety woes

[mrjemm]

aaaagh, for some reason the post new thread button wouldn't show, but I stumbled on it by chance...

Anyway...

Just got back from a great trip to Malapascua. Unfortunately and unexpectedly I suffered some pretty nasty anxiety attacks. I am an Adv OW, always diving warm water and this trip was no different. However I found myself getting tense on one of my 1st dives here and then upon descent to the Dona Marilyn wreck, it got so bad I had to recover to surface, hyperventilating and restraining myself from removing my mask and reg! Did a few more basic dives, but always felt tense after after that- particularly in currents and deeper water. Found at Sunken Island that when going to a drop off, it kicked in again badly and had to move away from the edge. The rest of the trip was spent in shallower water, and always feeling edgy. Tried a cave/tunnel passage at Gato and was sort of OK inside, but had to keep moving and when got halfway through, saw the light, but a shark in the way! Had to go back out way I came in.

Anyone else had this? It really put the dampers on my diving, although I still had a fantastic time. Means I only did the 1 Thresher dive and never got a proper look at the wrecks. Worried I'll not be able to relax again. DM's & instructors there suggested I re-did some training and did a bunch of pool time to get confidence back. Any other ideas or suggestions?

Am I just a big wimp? It's never happened before. Jem

 

[SueMermaid]

Nah, you're not a wimp. Anxiety doesn't come from a personality problem, it comes from brain chemistry. Nothing wimpy about that.
Ever seen a doctor and had a good old chat with him/her about anxiety? That is the first thing I'd do if I were in your fins.

 

[mrjemm]

Brain chemistry? See a doctor? Wooo, that's a bit nasty sounding! Makes it sound like I'm sick... Uh-oh. Got me worried now.

 

[FFMDiver]

How many dives do you have?
How long has it been?

Brain chemistry? See a doctor? Wooo, that's a bit nasty sounding! Makes it sound like I'm sick... Uh-oh. Got me worried now.

 

[dweeb]

Brain chemistry? See a doctor? Wooo, that's a bit nasty sounding! Makes it sound like I'm sick... Uh-oh. Got me worried now.

Pay no attention to the pharmaceutical company representative behind the curtain. Brain chemistry changes take place with everything we feel, but NO ONE has established causality. It's just easier and more profitable to give everybody a personality in a pill bottle than to deal with the real societal and personal causes.

If you didn't experience this before, then you need to figure out what's different now.

 

[Scubaguy62]

Don't think more pool work will help as you seem to be ok in shallower water (unless you go and dive Nemo 33 http://www.divingacademy.com/en/enhome.htm)

If you didn't experience this before, then you need to figure out what's different now.

true, just keep in mind that what's different now may be something that can be addressed by relaxation, meditation, or perhaps medication. It doesn't mean you're sick, just that your body might need a little help getting back to how things were.

Safe ascents

 

[SueMermaid]

Pay no attention to the pharmaceutical company representative behind the curtain.

I was not suggesting that he needs drugs. That is not for me to decide, and I would never be so cavalier about something like that. I was merely suggesting that since it's a problem, perhaps that it would be a good idea to run it by a professional.

 

[LeFlaneur]

I have plenty of personal experience with this so, sorry for the long post but this is important to me.

First off... if it weren't for our friend anxiety, we'd probably all be dead. It keeps us from doing stupid things. So take a minute to say thanks.

No, you absolutely do not have a rare problem. You are not sick. You don't need pills (and most of what gets prescribed for anxiety would be unsafe for diving anyway). It won't ruin your diving. This was a plain old run-of-the-mill panic attack. Very common.

The first problem occurred when you took normal anxiety as a sign that something was really wrong. When you do that, the anxiety mounts, and can lead to panic.

The problem you are now having is that the memory of it is frightening and it is coloring the dives that follow.

I'll bet you any amount of money that when you get in the water now, one of the very first thoughts in your head was "Am I going to freak out again?"

Am I right? And that thought itself is going to start the process unless you break the cycle with other thoughts.

I would say... do things to ease your mind before-hand. Don't drink the day before. Get a good night's sleep. Have a nice breakfast. Lay off the coffee. Do stretches. (Even the most conservative doctor will tell you that a tense body leads to a tense mind). Do not rush. Do as involved a safety check as you want, even if it means keeping people waiting.

Focus on breathing, not just while diving but all the time. That probably has more to do with anxiety than anything else.

If you start feeling anxious, try not to let the thoughts run away with you -- as in "oh no I'm getting anxious, it'll ruin my dive, I'll never dive again, I must be nuts, I'll lose my job, my home... " you know what I mean?

That is an example of "catastrophic thinking" which has no bearing in truth. Replace them with thoughts that really reflect the situation: "I am diving within my limits, I have done a safety check, all is fine, look at all this beauty around me."

Treat the anxious feeings for what they are... a NORMAL physical response to a strange situation. FOCUS ON KEEPING YOUR BREATHING NORMAL and you will begin to notice how you can do absolutely everything you need to do while feeling that anxious. It has no real power.

I believe that there is a positive side. If the s**t ever hits the fan for real... you'll get those feelings again. But this time they'll be familiar you'll know how to deal with them, and you will be the one NOT freaking out.

There are many many resources for this. I would stay away from reading too much online, especially posts from unqualified individuals (yeah, I know, like me) because there are a lot of wacky posts out there which may be counter-productive.

For more information, your doctor is a good place to start. "Cognitive therapy" is a common practice for this -- basically a form of mental discipline... nothing new-agey or anything like that.

 

[cindye]

Well, you are not a wimp! I deal with anxiety also. I've found that breathing excersizes help, also tell your buddy that you might have anxiety and make up a signal so they will know. I have my husband as my buddy, so he understands the issue, I signal, maybe hold his hand and breath. He waits on me to decide if I'm okay then we continue. I've been know to hold his hand and close my eyes and just concentrate on breathing and counting as I inhale and exhale. I haven't had any problems being deep, but I do have problems around 30 ft when there is a sandy bottom and I can't get my bearings.
The other thing that I do is visualize the whole thing, entry, checking equipment, breathing. prepare your mind, get a good nights sleep, try to go through a normal day ahead of diving. First day of vacation, airplanes, connections, hotels, dive shops, boats etc. take there toll on our ability to be instantly layed back.

 

[murphdivers286]

I agree, you are not crazy.

I get anxious every time I go diving. I suffer from extreme seasickness. I can get so sick, that I almost pass out from lack of O2. I use the patch and so far it has been working (knock on wood). I still get anxious right before I get back on the boat.

When I got sick the first time, I swore I would never dive again. What a supid statement. Give up diving, never. So you can see how sick I must have felt.

Anyways, my point is, it is okay to get anxious just learn to embrass it. I do. It actually makes my dives even better!

Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never give up diving!!!!!!!!!!1