Diver Stress

[AquaHump]

I was fallowing one of the other threads and thought I would put this out on a new thread to see what you folks thought. At what point does a divers stress start to effect his or her dive and what would be the first signs you would show? To you Dive Pros out there what are the first signs stresses you have seen and how do you react to them?

 

[PerroneFord]

This is a VERY good question. To my mind, diver stress seems to affect breathing rate and then situational awareness first. I know in my courses, this was the immediate effect of the instructors causing failures of certain kinds. Buoyancy would also begin to drift if there was enough stress, but I think that was tied more to breathing than anything else. I know on my Loooong OOA swim, when I got to the donor, I was in real distress and my breathing rate was sky high, and I could not properly regulate my buoyacy. I also lost sight of the third team member during this incident.

That's my answer and I'm stickin to it!

 

[oly5050user]

I was fallowing one of the other threads and thought I would put this out on a new thread to see what you folks thought. At what point does a divers stress start to effect his or her dive and what would be the first signs you would show? To you Dive Pros out there what are the first signs stresses you have seen and how do you react to them?

have seen sign of stress as they board the boat and attempt to assemble their gear, at the dock.React quietly and observe them for any other signs/errors during diive..

 

[Barracuda2]

In my experience the eyes of the distressed diver is the dead giveaway. They are almost always wide, not blinking, and staring at you with a "I think I'm in trouble" look, and "what should I do?" (Usually this is due to hyperventilating; a feeling like they are suffocating) The first thing I do is take a hold of their arm, look them straight in the eyes, and with my other hand give them a "calm down, everything will be fine" sign. Depending on what their next reaction is, I'll "thumbs up" asking them if they want to surface. Usually they do. Obviously, if the distress was caused by some kind of equipment failure, other actions would need to take place. Most distress is caused by overbreathing the reg: being out of shape, flailing arms and legs due to lack of bouynancy control, anxiety because of environment or cold, etc. You won't have trouble seeing their eyes because they will look right at you in that condition. My $.02

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I was fallowing one of the other threads and thought I would put this out on a new thread to see what you folks thought. At what point does a divers stress start to effect his or her dive and what would be the first signs you would show? To you Dive Pros out there what are the first signs stresses you have seen and how do you react to them?

As a diver, stress is definitely not your friend ... and you can often see it in a diver before the dive ever begins.

Pre-dive stress will show up in a number of ways ... some examples ...

- being forgetful ... e.g. not putting their rig together properly even though they've done it a number of times.
- loud people suddenly getting quiet, or quiet people suddently getting talkative.
- obsessing about things, or constantly fiddling with their gear

Basically, look for anything that doesn't appear "normal" in a person's behavior. It's not always a sign of stress, but it can be a clue to keep an eye on this individual. An appropriate response might be to talk to the person, and if there's something in their behavior that sets off your internal "alarms", then consider altering the dive plan or calling the dive altogether.

During a dive, look at the diver's posture and position in the water. I know any number of divers who can appear stressed on shore, but calm right down once the dive begins. That's their pattern, and I don't worry about them once I see them in the water. On the other hand, if I see divers struggling with buoyancy, doing a lot of hand-waving, breathing hard, or fiddling with gear underwater, I'll keep an eye on them. They might just be new divers, in which case they're going to get a margin to learn. On the other if they show symptoms of stress, I may not interfere directly but I'll give them more close attention than I otherwise would.

Asking someone if they're OK isn't always effective ... often people who are stressed will say they're OK when they're not because they don't want to impose on the other divers in the group. If something about this person triggers my "alarm", I might indicate to them that I want to go a bit shallower, turn the dive, or ascend ... depending on the situation. If possible, don't put the onus on them ... it'll only make them more stressed. I'll sometimes indicate that I'm feeling narced, or perhaps having trouble clearing, or even that I'm cold ... making the call mine to make.

Looking for and responding to stress in a diver is very situational ... it will challenge your awareness. The key is to be aware of what the other diver is doing, and if you have any experience with this diver, mentally compare it to what you've seen them do in the past. Some divers are just spastic, and are perfectly fine even if they show signs that might indicate stress in another diver. Other divers will appear calm when, in fact, they're on the verge of passive panic. Usually in the latter case, you'll see it in their eyes more than anything else. If I see a diver with "saucer eyes", it's a big red flag for me to keep a close eye on the situation, or perhaps intervene by taking the dive shallower or making an ascent to the surface.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[wreckchick]

Some diver stress starts before the diver leaves the house. By the time they get to the boat it has escalated a little, gearing up at the site a little more, in the water this diver can't descend despite being grossly overweighted because he/she can't exhale completely, by the time the diver is on the bottom it only takes a teeny tiny thing to send the diver over the edge. These divers are troublesome for an operator because although you can see it and try to allay some of the stress the diver doesn't recognize it which makes it hard to combat. They tend to be fidgety, forgetful, and act like they should have skipped the last cup of coffee. I see problems descending, clearing ears and not being able to figure out how the inflator works, holding onto the regulator or the inflator like a lifeline, and kicking their fins without real purpose.

What can I do to help? Present a very calm, measured model for them. You can take them from that place to a better place but not by being short or surly. In the water I don't interfere and let them fumble a little until they even out. Most of the time once you get these people underwater and let them work out a few kinks it all goes pretty well.

A regular diver that gets stressed underwater usually has had a trigger of some sort that sets them off. It might be a shark or barracuda, an equipment failure, or losing his/her buddy for a minute. You do see the "wide eyes" and the best thing that can be done is to grab the person's arm, make eye contact, get an explanation if possible and ascend if that's the right thing to do. Sometimes it's a momentary thing and passes, sometimes the dive is over.

It's hard to say how to handle any given situation because they vary so much. Early detection is the key and how to proceed goes from there.

Rachel

 

[AZ Desert Diver]

I think that NWGratefulDiver and biscuit7 have hit the nail on the head with the fact that stress can start on the surface before the dive. With just completing the my Rescue Diver course a few weeks ago and thinking back on some of the dives I've been on, this tends to really stick out on the surface if you know what you are looking at and then it can be carried through the dive.

 

[DeputyDan]

Some other thoughts about stress.

B2's comment about physical touch is good. This can help calm a person down "and no it does not mean that kind of touch".

NW GratefulDiver is right on about asking someone. They will generally lie due to preceived peer pressure that may or may not exist. You should follow your gut more than their answer.

One stress factor in itself isn't always bad - its more of a warning if we will heed it. But when we don't and other stress related issues crop up the multi-stress situation should be considered dangerous.

The best thing you can do for yourself and your buddy is to address stress before you ever enter the water.

 

[TSandM]

One of the first things that happens to me when I'm stressed is that I stop scanning the bottom with my light. A stationary light means I'm attending to something internal, rather than looking around me. That, of course, goes along with markedly reduced situational awareness. The next thing is often a lot of movement -- fussing, being unable to get stable and comfortable. If I see either of those things in someone with whom I am diving, my antennae go up.

 

[divingjd]

Another stress signal is obsessing over some little thing. In the water, a diver might be constantly fiddling with a mask, a watch, a wrist computer, or just a wetsuit seam. Before the dive, the diver may obsess over some minute aspect of gear assembly and adjustment or fidget with a light or camera. This is similar to "contact maintenance" - which usually manifests as refusing to let go of an inflator, console, anchor line, or sometimes a buddy.

As suggested above, asking if the diver is OK is not foolproof, because the diver will often say he or she is OK, but it is still something you should always do. A non-responsive diver is almost certainly stressed, and even if the diver gives an "OK" response, you can learn a lot from the manner in which the response is given. If it's too quick and automatic, it can be a sign of stress. But a delay can be a sign of stress as well. In some ways it is very impressionistic.

Observing signs of stress and learning to recognize them takes experience. It's one of the main things you learn observing and assisting in classes in Dive Con, divemaster, and instructor courses. It's pretty impressionistic, but after a while you start to get pretty good at it.