Extinguishing the impulse to bolt

[Belce]

I think that one of the primary causes of the to bolt to surface panic is due to incorrect understanding of time available. The panic is a reaction to believing you are behind the curve in fixing the issue and the only solution is the surface. Helping people understand the time they do have, how long things take to be accomplished and that if they can get help from their buddy they will have access to help sooner than if they took that minute to go straight to the surface.

 

[RJP]

I think that one of the primary causes of the to bolt to surface panic is due to incorrect understanding of time available. The panic is a reaction to believing you are behind the curve in fixing the issue and the only solution is the surface. Helping people understand the time they do have, how long things take to be accomplished and that if they can get help from their buddy they will have access to help sooner than if they took that minute to go straight to the surface.

Ever try to reason with someone who suffers from an irrational fear to "help them understand" that there's really nothing to be afraid of?

 

[Prostar]

I was reading a thread recently about someone who had some regulator issues and on two separate occasions, bolted for the surface. I've read other threads in the past where people have chosen that strategy to manage a problem. I've had all kinds of problems with my diving, especially in the beginning, but there were only two times when the thought of heading for the surface crossed my mind, and it was pretty easy to stifle the urge.

I'm wondering about people who bolt . . . although they can work on the specific stressor that caused the issue, is there any way that they can address the underlying problem, which is that their first choice is heading up?

I'd love to hear from instructors who have helped students through this, or from any diver who has worked through this issue. Since I'm working on my DM at present, having some ideas to help people with this would be very useful, I think.

It seems to me that the urge to bolt starts in the shallow end of the pool. I consider standing up while doing basic skills the same as bolting. That's the point at which I start to work on their fears and how to handle them.

I use two basic strategies. First, I explain my basic policy on problems while diving: "Air goes in, air goes out, the world is good. All the rest we deal with." So we make sure that they know where the nearest air is and how to get it. Basic stuff, but prefaced with the understanding that four feet or sixty feet, it all counts the same in my class. We work through a lot of that urge in the shallow end.

Second, I use a LOT of positive strokes. Whenever someone obviously makes a point of not standing up and is determined to work it out at depth (4 feet), they get a big compliment about it when we do surface. Positive feedback affects more than just the person to whom it was directed.

 

[Belce]

Ever try to reason with someone who suffers from an irrational fear to "help them understand" that there's really nothing to be afraid of?

You misunderstand. I understood the question to be how to help folks with situations that can cause panic or help those work through a situation that causes them panic in training. It is a given that when someone is paniced they are not rational, they are paniced.

Why does one panic? And this is not necessarily underwater or even anywhere. One panics when a situation exceeds personal comfort and an apparent solution is not available in time.

I think that teaching time is more available than you might think because it can be applied to any situation you encounter. Learn to manage the time.

 

[TSandM]

Belce, I think your point is a good one.

I think there are levels of intervention here. The first level is to work on the skill that needs to be improved to keep from starting into the panic cycle.

The second is to try to interrupt the panic cycle, by having the individual recognize that that's where things are going, and having them understand that there ARE things they can do to stop the spiral.

The last is to disconnect the panic itself from the urge to head to the surface, and given that panic isn't rational, I'm not sure that can be done.

I guess the answer to my original question is probably to find effective steps to take to accomplish the second objective, but I think it might also be possible to train people to tolerate a bit more stress before making the choice to head up. I know a lot of my techreational or technical training seems to have been designed to do precisely that.

 

[Elonna]

I am reviving this thread as I just had an experience such as this this summer and would like to know what I can try to do to overcome this and to share my experience with other new divers and hope it helps them too.

We were in a quarry vis was not very good and I was slightly over-weighted. I can't seem to descend at all in my 7/7 farmer john unless I'm a little over-weighted, but that is a question for a different thread. My buddy and I had just descended and were looking to hit about 50-55 ft then follow the wall to something or another that we wanted to check out and everything seemed fine. Then I saw the paddlefish. I was so excited because they had been so elusive thus far, I rose to a vertical position (hovering) to get a better look and to get my buddy's attention so she could see and I started to sink.

OK, at first I was ok, I tried to put a few bursts of air into my BCD and kick but continued to sink. I hit a thermocline and the temperature dropped drastically and my throat and chest felt like they were constricting and I couldn't breathe. That is when I began to panic...and I was still sinking regardless of how hard I was kicking. I couldn't seem to get air into my lungs and I was beginning to hyperventilate. It didn't help that I was already at 67' and still going down and I thought that the max depth of where we were was 70' but I couldn't see the bottom anywhere near me.

I got enough air into my bcd to stop my descent and I did start kicking toward the surface. I was not shooting to the surface, but I was definitely swimming up faster than I should have been going. I did motion to my buddy I was surfacing as I swam by her, totally blew my safety stop. Even as I got into shallower water, I could not stop the hyperventilating. When I broke the surface, I was "with it" enough to fully inflate my bcd then I ripped the regulator out of my mouth so I could 'breathe'. I was in tears and I just wanted to get my hood off and I couldn't get it off and it felt like it was strangling me. I was a mess.

OK, so now my rational brain takes back over even as I still am having issues breathing. I realize that I'm really lucky I didn't throw an embolism and other logic start pouring in too...first, I'm in a quarry, I still had a relatively full tank of air and we weren't on the deep side of the wall, so the chances are I really had been pretty close to the bottom at 67'. Second, had I really been in serious trouble I should've dropped my weight belt. Third, if I could've just gotten myself back into a horizontal position it probably would've helped. Fourth, I really need a different hood, I really like diving with beanies but they're not so good for deeper dives.

My overall point is I consider myself a relatively logical person, but the panic did override the logic. I also learned from other experiences, that I have issues with cold water and low vis diving and I think that brought on the issues more so than the depth. I'm hoping more experience will help me overcome this, I'd really hate to think I'm going to end up having to be a resort-only diver (80f water, and 50+ft vis) because of these issues.

On the other hand, when I did my deep dive for my AOW cert after this incident, I felt the panic coming on again because the water temp was like 45f and I was having issues breathing again, but my prior 'panic' attack and then my self-analysis of the situation helped prevent the panic from overtaking me and keeping me in my 'logical zone'. I was able to get my breathing relatively under control until we got back to warmer water and completed the dive with no issues. No one else had even been aware of my 'almost' panic.

Sorry for the long post, but if anyone can suggest anything for overcoming the cold water and low vis issues, I'd appreciate it.

 

[TSandM]

It sounds as though you ARE overcoming them.

I had a near-panic episode on my first OW dive, when I tried to clear my mask and choked myself on cold water. The instructor would not let me go to the surface, so I had to stifle the urge, just like you describe doing on the last dive. That experience taught me that I COULD suppress it, and has been useful in a couple of situations since.

The best way to learn to cope with the thermocline is to experience it -- same with low viz. Unfamiliarity is part of the stress. I didn't like low viz the year I got certified, not a bit; after five years of diving in it, it has to be a LOT lower to stress me now than it did then.

 

[sablefish]

When I started diving i bolted when my instructor removed my mask without warning me. I ascended too fast but was able to pull it together and realize what was happening. That was one of the most important classes i ever took because it changed my approach to diving and changed how I perceived working and playing underwater.

The first thing I did was optimize my weighting. I did this at the end of my next dive when i had 500psi in my tank remaining, and i did it from shore, adding and replacing from my weight belt until I felt comfortable. It put an end to uncontrollable sinking feeling, and i needed to mess with the BC a lot less.

The inner game was harder. I realised i rushed my dives too much, but it wasn't for lack of time or peer pressure. e.g. 3 minute safety stops seemed like an eternity. I started telling myself I had all kinds of time and to do everything in slow motion. my heart rate and breathing rate lowered. i also trained to move as little as possible for many dives to steep in this newfound peacefulness. The same 30 minute dive profile felt like hours now. Now I don't really chase after octos or fish becuase I realize i'll come across another one sooner or later. When the temperature drops or when the water is silty, it's important for me to move at a seaslug's pace so i can properly adjust to cold, dark waters. What i call peaceful and mesmerizing other people call cold, dark and scary; We are describing the same water conditions, but from different attitudes and experiences. To me this is a matter of perception.

I still remember that time i bolted underwater today. The feeling was visceral and intense. Sometime later, my dive buddy kicked the reg out of my mouth mid inhale, and i felt that same flight response. I remember i had told myself that i had all kinds of time only a few minutes earlier on the dive, and I also realized that my lungs were almost full of air. I waited until my larynx stopped spasming from the water, but was only able to do that because I had been so calm throughout my dive. My eyes were watering in my mask but i did my arm swing, found the reg, and forced myself to exhale and inhale again through my constricted throat. in a few seconds I was normal again, and my buddy never knew anything was wrong.

Since then, I've had lost masks, pulled hard on wet breathing and bad breathing regs, flooded drysuits, vomited underwater from seasickness, and i've been able to work through the problems underwater and without bolting. What worked for me was always remembering i had lots of time and not to rush everything. Moving slowly means i never am to the point of overbreathing the reg. If I need to respond to an emergency I still have the energy and ability held in reserve. Usually my mantra gives me a moment of clarity and I realize I still have a lungful of air, which can last me many minutes when i am relaxed. I still remind myself I have all kinds of time before and many times while i am diving, and now when the water envelops me it acts like insulation from the rush and impatience of surface life.

 

[TSandM]

sablefish, that's a BEAUTIFUL post.

 

[Elonna]

Thank you both for your input. I am hoping that experience will overcome the adversity eventually