Does Irrational Panic Fade with Experience?

[nolatom]

I didn't notice anyone mention the possibility of being a bit narced on dive #2 at 90'. Maybe not, but possibly? Unhappy narc could cause fear which could cause/contribute to panic?

 

[diverzach]

The anxious feeling that "You're going to die" and the urge to bolt to the surface are completely normal, since if something goes wrong and you don't remember and follow your training you could easily die.

This isn't irrational.



flots.

My training consisted of making a slicing signal across my neck (assuming that the something wrong is I'm out of air) to a buddy and taking their octo, then going directly to the safety stop as air allows and then to the surface. Was there something else?

There was weight ditching but I only use 4 lbs in fresh water and I put it on my tank straps to help stay horizontal.

I think by "irrational" I mean just the fact I'm underwater, and I have to stay underwater since bolting to the surface is not a healthy option whether you're are at 15 ft or 90 ft. This was actually the thought that was able to calm me down. Circumstances had not really changed except I was using more air and I had plenty left.

 

[TSandM]

I think there is a difference between an irrational fear, and an irrational response to fear. I am terrified of spiders -- it is an irrational fear, because 99% of the spiders with which I come into contact cannot hurt me at all. On the other hand, being afraid if you begin to encounter problems underwater is not irrational. You are, after all, in an environment where you KNOW you could drown. An irrational response to that fear is to bolt; a rational response is to analyze and solve the problem.

 

[boulderjohn]

If someone holds his hand over my mouth and nose, I'll have that panicky feeling way before my CO2 level even starts to increase.

But that would be a rational fear.

 

[flots am]

My training consisted of making a slicing signal across my neck (assuming that the something wrong is I'm out of air) to a buddy and taking their octo, then going directly to the safety stop as air allows and then to the surface. Was there something else?

There were other skills, including an Emergency Out of Air Ascent, which is used if you manage to both run out of air and lose your buddy, but the general point was that you have to be confident in your ability to perform them during an emergency. It's one thing to have "learned" something in class and quite another to be able to perform it on demand, whenever needed.

Once you become confident in your ability to handle pretty much whatever happens, you'll start feeling much less anxious.

flots.

 

[Davemohio]

A few months ago I was at Troy Spring. As we were doing our safety stop, we noticed a class jumping in. My Instructor bud told me it is a common place for OW classes. At the time I told her it was odd. She did not agree with me. Some of the students literaly dropped to the bottom and bounced and did their class at 50 or 60 feet.

Troy Spring is a 1st mag spring. Strong current near the spring entrance. Lots O little caves on the bottom.

But, it gets dark down there. And OW divers cannot bring lights.

Troy Springs is a beautiful place and a great dive site. But, a little much for a new diver.

It is almost like a cavern dive, even though it is clearly a basin. There are lots o' places you want to look into and explore. Hence the no lights rule from the park.

 

[Vicksburg Diver]

Yes it will...just relax, go slowly and gradually increase your dives to match your skill level. You'll be just fine.

 

[DCBC]

"Irrational Panic" is irrational; once the capacity to reason is no longer present, panic may occur regardless of experience. Experience does however allow the diver to maintain reason for a longer period of time and therefore hold-off panic. This allows the diver valuable time to potentially address the situation.

 

[DevonDiver]

I think "irrational panic" is a response that primarily (only?) occurs when someone genuinely believes they might die. In the case of scuba diving, increased experience can remove a diver from that belief - as confidence in their skills and understanding their boundaries develops.

For the newly qualified diver, that belief may exist when they suck on empty at 5m.... for the experienced diver it might be the same situation, but with the added realities of being 200m into a cave, off-the-line, in zero viz. That's the base truthfulness that lies inside us all.

 

[TSandM]

From my experience, there can really not even be time to do any thinking before the reptile brain takes control . . . I mean, when I read stuff like what I wrote, about the problem being greater than the person's ability to cope, or Andy's comment about "believing that you are going to die", and then I look at my own one significant experience with the panic response, I didn't think at all. I didn't think anything; I just acted, and it was after the action was commenced that I had time to have any thought or idea, and then I inhibited the reflex response very quickly. Where I think training and experience have value is in reducing the number of situations where the reptile brain wakes up, and in giving you the ability to inhibit its influence. But I'm not sure the panic response ever "goes away"; there will always be situations that induce it.