First time getting narced...Yipes!

[scubadiver888]

I remember many years ago my first narcosis experience. It was on air, of course, in those days, there was nothing else, at 130 fsw. I was fortunate to have a hard bottom beneath me, and I sank onto my knees and marvelled at how beautiful the sea stars all looked, even at this depth, with the sun fairly straight overhead at late morning of the day. I really was not concerned about anything else except the beauty of the sea stars, totally relaxed and at peace with the universe, so unlike me. After my buddies swam away, one of them came back to me, and made hand signals which meant nothing at all to me. Finally, he signalled up, and he had to do it several times, before I agreed to leave the paradise of sea stars on the shining white sandy sea floor.

I recall the old 2 martini rule, that every 100 fsw equals 2 martinis. I think however on that day I was closer to 3 or 4 martinis.

Since then, I have always made it a point either to keep my depth shallower than 100 fsw or else to use trimix. That would be a good rule for you too.

I've read and been told that just because you got narc'd at 100 fsw doesn't mean you cannot get narc'd at 90 fsw on a different day or in a different location. My general rule will be to assume I can get narc'd at any depth but become much more diligent when I get down to 80 feet.

 

[scubadiver888]

"Dark narcs" are no fun. I had two very similar experiences, with high anxiety, except I also had delusions . . . I became convinced I was beginning an uncontrolled ascent at 100 feet, and dumped EVERYTHING out of suit and wing, and whomped into the silt at the bottom. Another time, I became certain that my regulator was malfunctioning and I wasn't getting enough air. As a result of those experiences, my hard deck is 100 fsw, and I don't go down there very often. And I've taken a class in recreational helium use for those rare times when I really want to go down to 100 feet and stay there a while.

Ahh, this makes a lot of sense. I was diving with a guy who was all talk (and even as a newbie I could tell). He drifted down to 90 feet and then dumped all his air. When he got to 110 feet he dumped his integrated weights (fortunately he was over weighted so without air in the BCD he stayed on the bottom). Until now I couldn't figure out why he dumped his air.

 

[Noboundaries]

If this was your 23rd dive, it was the 23rd time you've been narced. We are all narced on every dive. As we get deeper, the narcosis gets worse. We are not always aware of symptoms, but we are always narced. Making every dive with that concept firmly in mind will make every dive safer.

Outstanding perspective.

I remember doing the math addition exercise on the deep dive portion of my AOW class. I'm an engineer (by education) and numbers are my second language. At depth I felt normal. When I started adding the columns I noticed I was a little slower than usual. By the time I reached the fifth column, I had no idea what I was looking at. Instead of letting the clock continue, I gave the instructor a thumbs up. What took 8 seconds on the surface took 53 seconds at depth and I didn't finish the exercise. I respect depth and do not chase personal depth records.

 

[TSandM]

Walter, that's so true.

I'm a pretty bright person; in fact, I'm kind of known for it. And I'm just plain stupid underwater. It amazes me how long it has taken me to learn to do certain tasks and think through certain problems. I am absolutely convinced that the effect on my thinking is noticeable at 30 feet, and certainly deeper.

 

[piikki]

This far my narc’ness has mainly presented itself as paranoia. At depth and in dark I will constantly check my gauges, and take double takes on them. I even remember thinking to myself that “I saw it was 2400PSI but let me just make sure I saw it right because I am so deep”. I don’t particularly like dark and poor viz, and depth heightens the boogieman stuff too. I bet if someone videotaped me there would be proof that I take narc-stares at logs and rocks – prolonged looks to make sure what objects are or are not

One time I nearly caused my buddy a heart attack because I acted like I was narc’ed out of my head. On a drift dive I all of a sudden plunged to 120f without having time to signal that I was going. We did not have lights, and in ripping current I would have missed my opportunity trying to initiate a communication. Buddy thought I got the call of the depth – but I just saw an old bottle on ledge, and had to make a decision before the current made it for me.

It would not have been so suspicious if it had not been so stressful dive. Our guide had taken off and we needed to keep the group in sights not to end in shipping lane/miss our exit point. We were the only divers on air because we had just arrived in town, and had no time to fill with EAN. Problem was though that the guide was supposed to lead the dive at 70-80F (for us), and the group ended up cruising at 100F. No wonder buddy suspected I was loopy when I nearly turned back and down. But the bottle was nice one from 1920s – still had gin in it too.

 

[The Chairman]

I fully agree with Walter and I teach a Martini for every additional atmosphere. The most dangerous diver is the one who says "I don't get narced!" They are only fooling themselves.

But someone might be saying to themselves: "Well, I certainly don't feel narced!" and I surely won't disagree with you: narcosis at depth is incredibly deceptive and is sometimes referred to as a silent killer.

Here's it the major problem: we have little to measure our incapacitation with. If you were inebriated on the surface, you would most likely depend on two things to determine how drunk you were: your balance and your speech. Well, we don't walk underwater: we float. IOW, it's certainly hard to stumble and gravity has very little effect on us so we don't really weave. Also, we tend to not speak underwater. There is no way to hear our slurred speech.

So, without those two MAJOR reference points, we have hardly any way of knowing just how narced (drunk) we really are. However, reactions have slowed and our ability to reason has been deprecated. The numbing of our senses as we descend quietly hides this from us until we HAVE to use them. That is why the panic onset is so quick at depth: our ability to reason things out has just disappeared.

Can you ameliorate the effects of depth? Not really. You can learn to overcome your inability to solve problems at depth by over planning and making sure your training makes your response to certain situations second nature. Even then, you need to be aware and factor in the reality of this loss BEFORE you splash. You can also overcome your fears, but learn to rely on the facts. Plan your dive and stick to your plan! Write it DOWN or otherwise make it obvious so that you don't go second guessing yourself. If you must descend lower than 100' on a continual basis, learn trimix! Yes it is expensive, but what is your life really worth?

Like Walter pointed out: just accept the fact that you are narced. It can be one of the perks of diving. My right shoulder stops aching at 80FSW! Don't go deep with those who can't accept the fact that they get narced at depth. The last thing you need to deal with at depth is someone else's arrogance. I have enough for me as it is!

 

[anzac65]

"Dark narcs" are no fun. I had two very similar experiences, with high anxiety, except I also had delusions . . . I became convinced I was beginning an uncontrolled ascent at 100 feet, and dumped EVERYTHING out of suit and wing, and whomped into the silt at the bottom. Another time, I became certain that my regulator was malfunctioning and I wasn't getting enough air. As a result of those experiences, my hard deck is 100 fsw, and I don't go down there very often. And I've taken a class in recreational helium use for those rare times when I really want to go down to 100 feet and stay there a while.

It's nice to hear someone with the number of dives you have still applying a rule like that and being happy to tell people.

 

[Walter]

I am absolutely convinced that the effect on my thinking is noticeable at 30 feet, and certainly deeper.

Most won't notice it at 30 ft, but it is measurable at 30 ft. You're merely more aware of it than most of us.

 

[The Chairman]

Frankly, I notice that Walter is narced on the surface.

 

[TSandM]

What's really scary is that, with the exception of the obvious times I've written about, I don't FEEL narced, or drunk, or stoned, at say 60 feet. I feel fine. When somebody throws a problem at me, I do my best to solve it, and I usually don't feel too awful about the results. It's when I surface and realize how long it took me, or how suboptimal the solution was that I came up with, that I know that I just can't think underwater the way I can on the surface. If I couldn't do better dry than I do wet, I'd never be able to do the job I have.