First experience of panic

[Skydiver1]

Started panicking during my second cenote dive today in Mexico. Was wondering if anyone else has experience of loss of control/panic and if they have had any problems since.

We did our first dive, around 50 minutes. Everything was fine, I was reasonably calm all the time. I was conscious of the rental equipment I was using and wasn’t too happy with my BC (constant leak from one of my hoses but minimal so had no real effect on my air and was not inflating great)

During our second cenote dive, everything was also going fine. About 30 mins into dive, I started trying to signal the dive leader that I was at 2000 psi (loads of air for the point we were at in the dive). We had left the guideline and it was getting pretty dark. I tried signalling him for about 2 minutes moving light up and down in front of him, and shining at him. I did not signal too rapidly as I did not want him to think there was an emergency.

I did not see his acknowledgement of my air situation (later he said he did see it). It was strange as I was kind of zoned out from the dive and my mind was wandering. Its like all of a sudden on a subconscious level it hit my mind that I was underwater in an overhead, dark environment. Its hard to explain. I probably also felt alone as I was at the back of the group and had not seen an acknowledgement of my signal. All of a sudden I found myself breathing really unnaturally - ridiculously shallow and rapidly and stared ascending (I was obviously breathing at the top of my lungs despite trying to breathe out).

Luckily we just happened to be near the point of a planned ascent into an air pocket/other minor cavern opening. This was a complete coincidence that my panic started at this point in the dive. We ascended into the separate opening and I inflated my bc. I calmed down quickly and informed the dive leader of what had happened. We finished off dive with no problem – descent and 10 min swim to starting point.

I am kind of freaked out/intrigued by what happened. I have around 50 dives and have never experienced anything like that. All logic and reason just seemed to leave me.

I’m also freaked by how suddenly it happened – I literally changed to that situation in the space of seconds. It’s like it just crept up and hit me. The above points about new equipment etc were minor to me during the dive. Even though the whole thing only lasted 5-10 seconds I don’t know how I would it would have played out had we not had an ascent point at the moment in time. I am just thinking of stories I read of people ripping of their mask and spitting our their regulators.

 

[Scoobers]

How deep were these dives? It could be possible that you were feeling some affects of narcosis.

 

[Skydiver1]

How deep were these dives? It could be possible that you were feeling some affects of narcosis.

They were only around 10 meters / 30 feet.

 

[tstormdiver]

I can see why you reacted as you did. 1. you had malfunctioning equipment. You should never go on a dive if your equipment is not 100% especially a dive where you are in an overhead environment & possibly far from being able to surface. That small leak (indiciative of a weakness) can turn into a big leak very quickly. If it is a low pressure hose & it blew completely, it can drain your tank in a couple of minutes or less. 2. your guide didn't seem to have any situational awareness, if you were signalling in front of him for a few minutes & didn't notice. 3. He took you off the guideline, so you had no real reference to get back to the exit. 4 you realized that you were most likely out of your training & comfort zone. This can all lead up to a lot of stress. Stress can then compound itself until it can get to the point you can not control it, if not stopped early. You were basically on a "trust me" dive with the guide as your only link to safety. What if the guide, after leading you off line, turned a corner in his appearent inattention & you did't see where he went? Then while trying to figure out where he was, you dropped a fin down into the silt & wiped out the vis? Not trying to scare you more, but showing how quickly & easily things can go from bad to worse. Getting you to think. I am not trying to bash the guides in Mexico either & I'm sure that there are many good guides who do a superb job showing non- cave trained divers their underground treasures, safely. Seems like you may have gotten one that wasn't quite up to par (not a good thing when you can't go directly to the surface, if you need to). Now that you have experienced near panic, you know what to look for & hopefully how to stop the cycle before a bad situation turns into a worse situation.

Edit: you might look at a Rescue Diver course where stress & how to deal with it is covered pretty extensively.

 

[diveprof]

It happens, probably more than most will admit, even with experienced divers. Small things can snowball into larger things. New environments, new gear, a leaky mask, even stuff like difficulty clearing when all has been well before can drive up the anxiety level. Try to remember from your training "Stop, think, then act". With rare exception is the sudden instinctive response the best. Cavers have it right with the principle that anyone can call the dive and it should be respected.

 

[tstormdiver]

Cavers have it right with the principle that anyone can call the dive and it should be respected.

Amen.

 

[Skydiver1]

I can see why you reacted as you did. 1. you had malfunctioning equipment. You should never go on a dive if your equipment is not 100% especially a dive where you are in an overhead environment & possibly far from being able to surface.

I know it was stupid to dive with that minor leak. I flagged it but it was given the okay. I am still finding my feet with diving and I would have found it hard to question a vastly more experienced and skilled, fully certified cave diver. I accepted the equipment was fine to dive with at the time.

Also this may be ignorant on my behalf but I have had bits of leaks from rental BCD equipment in the past which were always given the okay – I did not realise the obvious danger of blow outs. Looking back, this obviously was on my mind, contrary to my training and I should not have proceeded with the dive with such an avoidable source of anxiety. I will know better in future.

Thanks for point about being out of my training and comfort zone. I accept my fault in what happened.

 

[CamG]

Greetings Sensa and I am very glad that you are fine. I have just a few questions about your training. Have you had any Cavern or overhead training of any kind?

I am guessing from the sound of it that you were on a guided tour. From my early experience with less than 20 dives I was after a short briefing in the same sounding cenote with quite the same symptoms that you describe. It hit like a tidal wave and took all I had to control. At 20 dives I was not prepared as well as I should have and not ever having any penetration or overhead experience it was unwise of ME to agree to the dives.

This is the good part of our experiences, we survived and are wiser for it!
There is a reason that there is a Cavern certification and please do not let this experience scare you away from Caverns and caves.
I have more dives and traveled to north Florida this past winter for my Intro. Cave coarse which began with Cavern. It was magnificent and the greatest experience rivaling only my first ever OW dive!
I was prepared both gear and training! Comfort level was not a issue only performing the skills "mechanics" were stressful. But it was awesome!

When I have experienced the Dark Narc / bells and whistles blowing / fight or flight instinct it has been once on a deep dive and the other in a cenote very early in my diving. It was a battle of will to demand physical control over my brain and force my training to over rule instinct. In the cenote I settled to the sand and closed my eyes and regained breathing control. It only took about a minute or so. A skill taught by my OW instructor has proven vital. When I was Hyper breathing the only way to control it is to exhale long, deeply. It forces you to slow down and the bells stop ringing off the hook. I took another minute to relax then used my BC to get neutral. I had good buddies that fully understood what was going on and were inches to lend assistance if I needed it.

Why did it happen? I am not sure but what I am sure of the way to help it not occur again is to train for the environment you are diving. The more challenging environments risks are managed through advanced training that prepares us to be able to safely perform successful dives.
Our dive briefing was good but you can not teach a cavern coarse in a 30 minute briefing. This may not have been your experience at all but if it was relax it will be ok. Train for the dives you want to do so that you can be confident and prepared.
You have had the monkey on your back you know how it feels derail this if and when it comes up again. It gets easier and good training will help to put the issues to rest.
PM me anytime and I can offer encouragement! I have been there and it will be just fine. Just ALWAYS DIVE WITHIN YOUR TRAINING AND COMFORT LEVELS!
This will keep you out of many issues, you can call a dive for any reason anytime!
I have done just that a time or two! Good luck.

CamG Keep Diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

 

[tstormdiver]

I know it was stupid to dive with that minor leak. I flagged it but it was given the okay. I am still finding my feet with diving and I would have found it hard to question a vastly more experienced and skilled, fully certified cave diver. I accepted the equipment was fine to dive with at the time.

Also this may be ignorant on my behalf but I have had bits of leaks from rental BCD equipment in the past which were always given the okay – I did not realise the obvious danger of blow outs. Looking back, this obviously was on my mind, contrary to my training and I should not have proceeded with the dive with such an avoidable source of anxiety. I will know better in future.

Thanks for point about being out of my training and comfort zone. I accept my fault in what happened.

Join the club .I can say that I've done my share of stupid things & a couple of times it also put me into near panic situations. I wasn't trying to flame or bash you in any way, just pointing out things that didn't seem right. The main thing is that you are OK & that you have learned from your experiences. I know I have, immensely from my near misses. Just remember, if something doesn't seem right on a dive, it isn't right. The problem must be dealt with or the dive aborted to maintain safety. It was after nearly becoming a fatality statistic in a cave, that convinced me to seek cave training. I was very lucky that time. Going outside of one's comfort zone is not an entirely bad thing, if done in a measured way, that's how we grow.

 

[Skydiver1]

Join the club .I can say that I've done my share of stupid things & a couple of times it also put me into near panic situations. [I]I wasn't trying to flame or bash you in any way,[/I] just pointing out things that didn't seem right. The main thing is that you are OK & that you have learned from your experiences. I know I have, immensely from my near misses. Just remember, if something doesn't seem right on a dive, it isn't right. The problem must be dealt with or the dive aborted to maintain safety. It was after nearly becoming a fatality statistic in a cave, that convinced me to seek cave training. I was very lucky that time. Going outside of one's comfort zone is not an entirely bad thing, if done in a measured way, that's how we grow.

Not at all, its great to get logical analysis and solid advice from you and others on here. Much better than letting it fester in my mind.