Clothing claustrophobia

[pelan-pelan]

Not sure if this is the right forum. I was just looking at items relating to Wakatobi. I saw the (old) video of the diver panicking and watching her reaction on the surface I thought I would make a comment and ask if anyone else has experienced the same.

As I did more dives I discovered that I was clothing claustrophobic. On a dive in Tobago I wore two lightweight suits, but felt even colder. Was uncomfortable. Next dive decided to put up with a bit of cold and wore only one suit - and felt much warmer. I feel the cold, but hoods make it worse, a lightweight hat helps much more. The same with thicker neoprene and correctly tighter fitting suits with a zip down the back all too constricting. Correctly fitting but tighter neck seals are a no no, I feel like I can't breath or move my head. As a wise diver said to me - stress will take at least two degrees off the perceived water temperature. Perceived cold is as dangerous as real cold. I acknowledge my feeling about suits and hoods, I think carefully about what I am wearing and ensure that if I dive on new gear my buddy is aware and I proceed with caution. I am lucky, the way I feel is not so bad that I panic.

I noticed the panicked diver in the video was clawing at her hood. Pressure on the throat from the hood and the suit together can affect perceived/real freedom of breathing, plus tightly covering the ears can be disorientating.

What do instructors and highly experienced divers think? Are newbie dive guides/instructors trained to be aware of "clothing claustrophobia"?

 

[yle]

I'll take a shot at answering your two questions...

Are newbie dive guides/instructors trained to be aware of "clothing claustrophobia"?

Specifically, no. But recognizing signs of stress, regardless of the cause, is part of every Rescue Diver, Divemaster and Instructor course. (Although it's emphasized more in the Rescue and DM courses.) And assisting a diver in distress typically doesn't require that we identify the specific cause of the stress (e.g. your "clothing claustrophobia") first.

What do instructors and highly experienced divers think?

In my experience, most people have issues with wearing a wetsuit for the first time. My typical OW students, upon donning their required 7mm wetsuits, would give me a look as if to say "are you serious?" and many of them would make some reference to "the kid in A Christmas Story."

But then we would spend a lot of time in the pool while wearing these wetsuits and the students would get used to them. Midway through our pool sessions, I would have them add a hood and gloves, and they would get used to those also. By the time we did our first ocean dive, the students had at least a couple hours in the pool with their 7mm wetsuit, hood and gloves. And I've never had a problem with a student being stressed during an ocean dive due to their wetsuit or hood.

What I think: initial training has a lot to do with how people react to wearing a wetsuit and hood. I know people that were certified in tropical waters, wearing no wetsuit (or maybe a shorty.) When they return home, to S. California, they don't have the experience necessary to put on the 7mm with hood and dive in our local water. They really need additional pool training in this kind of suit to get comfortable enough to use it in the ocean.

 

[scubadiver888]

I started diving when on vacation in the Caribbean. Warm water, skin (later a 3mm wetsuit). No gloves or hood. I got pretty good with my buoyancy control. Fast forward 5 years and I decide I want to dive more but cannot afford the time or money to go to the Caribbean more.

I start diving in Canada. Cold water, 7mm full wetsuit with a 7mm tunic, hood, 5mm gloves. I DEFINITELY felt a little claustrophobic. Moving was a lot harder. The hood felt very restrictive. Handling my equipment with 5mm gloves on was very difficult and made me feel less competent.

Because I knew diving in Canada would be very different from diving in the Caribbean, I took training over again here. I just wasn't expecting it to be so different. The first few training dives I had the urge to rip off my hood. It felt very similar to what I imagine divers who rip off their mask felt. The sense of relieve I felt when I was back on the boat and could take off my hood was tremendous. I had to really focus in order to resist the urge to take my hood off the moment I surfaced.

It has been over a decade since I first started diving in Canada and the feeling to get my hood off is gone. I will pull my hood down just because it is hard to hear people who might be talking to me but I don't feel that urgent need to get my hood off.

Darrell

 

[TMHeimer]

You probably know that a hood that is too tight around the neck may cause you to become unconscious. Something in the neck/brain/heart goes wrong (I used to know the exact terminology, but irrelevant--it can happen).
Claustrophobia may or may not be the correct word here. My wife is extremely claustrophobic and said she could never dive after seeing me in a wetsuit. I don't consider a 7 mil farmer john to be restrictive, but I am not claustrophobic--well sure, if I'm in a locked box with no way out, but who isn't. That's probably more fear than claustrophobia. My wife can't do any of those medical things like CT scan, where she is put in somewhere. Can't go into caves--not even a little. Doesn't like when she is "trapped" in a corner even though it's just a desk and 2 people as the "blockade". I guess there are degrees of this condition.
I'm just not sure restrictive movement in a thick wetsuit is really a case of claustrophobia. Need a medical expert.

 

[Bubblesong]

I started out wetsuit diving, so i just accepted the discomfort for the joy of diving, but trying to move to drysuit, with tighter neckseals has been awful, totally agree that it adds to stress. I am tying to get a better fitting drysuit rental so I can finish the class, but it is hard to imagine that a good neck seal will ever be comfortable.

 

[CT-Rich]

The arteries to the head are pretty close to the surface and a tight neck seal can actually restrict the flow of blood to the head. I had an episode with my dry suit last summer where I really felt I was heading towards a freakout because the neck seal was restricting blood flow while I was on the surface in pretty frisky conditions. If I had been in one of my wet suits, it would not have been a bad situation. But I was only about a half dozen dives with the dry and I was not comfortable with the situation. A lot of new divers wearing 7mm suits have a hard time to start. They can be pretty restrictive and the first time in open ocean is stressful to begin with. You do get used to them, but as long as you are warm enough you can opt out the hood and gloves. I dive mid summer without a hood or gloves. Fit is important. If you are getting strangled by the hood, get a bigger hood. You may want to just your gear on at home and spend some time on dry land getting used to the restrictions. They are a damn site more comfortable in the water than they are in your living room.

 

[Edward3c]

...
I am tying to get a better fitting drysuit rental so I can finish the class, but it is hard to imagine that a good neck seal will ever be comfortable.

Have you tried a neoprene seal? They’re so much more comfortable than latex ones.

 

[Storker]

it is hard to imagine that a good neck seal will ever be comfortable.

A good neck seal shouldn't be uncomfortable. If you're not used to diving dry, the snugness can be a little off-putting in the beginning, but it should never be downright uncomfortable. I never was totally happy with the neoprene seal on my previous suit, but my current silicone seal is very comfortable.

A neck seal which is too tight can be dangerous, as it can lead to blackout.

 

[pelan-pelan]

Thanks for all these comments - which provide experience and plenty of common sense. Whilst describing my feelings as claustrophobic is a bit strong, and in no way like the claustrophobia that some suffer, it helped to express the somewhat pressing urge (not panic) to remove neoprene. The practice that training includes donning and wearing of heavier suits is first class, and please include getting out of them. Instructors please note. Comment on neck seals was very informative.

Wearing the suit indoors, or even in the garden sounds funny but it is absolutely right. The first time I was due to go snorkelling I needed to get used to limited field of vision and breathing through the mouth - so wore mask and snorkel around the house doing everyday chores - result - snorkelling was an easy calm experience and led on to scuba diving. And I wear any new gear around the house, then in the pool before going away.

Somewhere on the Board there was a hilarious thread about problems people had getting into and out of vests and suits. Useful tips eg turning up a hem on a rash vest and filling it with water helping to peel it off. And a vision that haunts me is also on that thread about when pulling off a rash vest - a woman pulled a tight rash vest off over her head but became trapped by the neck seal and her bikini top also got pulled off by the vest. So she is trapped with her arms over her head, wrapped in the tight rash vest and bikini top on the floor, staggering around the dive boat asking for help.

I must find that old thread again.

 

[scubadiver888]

I started out wetsuit diving, so i just accepted the discomfort for the joy of diving, but trying to move to drysuit, with tighter neckseals has been awful, totally agree that it adds to stress. I am tying to get a better fitting drysuit rental so I can finish the class, but it is hard to imagine that a good neck seal will ever be comfortable.

I got my first drysuit this Fall with a latex neck seal. When I put it on in the store the neck seal felt WAY too tight. The shop owner told me it would loosen up in the water but if it still felt tight after the first dive, she would help me trim it. Sure enough, it feels REALLY uncomfortable on land but the moment I add a little air to the suit, it feels fine in the water.

I'm sure some people will never feel fine with the drysuit neck seal, in or out of water, but maybe some people can trim it enough that it is okay in water but tight on land. Then again, wearing a wetsuit hood feels worse than a drysuit neck seal and I got used to a hood. Maybe I'm just getting used to a neck seal.