Hi there!

[Doc]

Uh, running out of air SHOULD make you anxious.

No, running out of air makes you dead.

Anybody dead? No?

Perceptions of a situation can surely make one anxious. Our perceptions are all quite different, our perceptions can change over time, due to repeated exposures, and possibly gaining a greater familiarity with the pure science. Perceptions leading to anxiety can quickly distort simple yet critical reported variables such as time and space (depth).

I wasn’t there to observe, the description offered is a bit open to interpretation of facts. So, I don’t feel comfortable in saying more than this: I’ve run tanks down to 50psi, they make a funny sound, yet I’m typing this today. Thus, I will suppose I have a high threshold of anxiety. Stick to where you’re comfortable.

That said, you have a well demonstrated pattern of obtaining re-familiarization with your diving skills, so that tells me that something is driving you to that. I’m certainly not able to speak professionally about this but it seems to be somewhere on the line between “OCD” and the self perception and realization of an “inability to retain specific u/w skills”. What a perfect reason for anxiety. Not good or bad, just a likely cause.

I think, all in all, I would appreciate your style if you were in my dive group. Rather have that versus someone non-communicative, too self-confident or just non-perceptual in any fashion.

Select your re-training by thoroughly investigating which skill sets you need to work on. Several responders here made assumptions that you were in an actual formal program offered through a recognized Agency by a Professional thereof. I would suggest you go that route. It is more than obvious that the dive experience you are relating ascribed to no protocol allowed by any Agency. I don’t know what your perception was of the trip experience that you booked into was, but suffice to say, if you knew that was the deal, that was the deal.

Caveat emptor.

 

[Frosty]

My first thought is that its your life so don't hand responsibility for it over to anyone else.In your shoes I would have been at 15feet/5.0m once my needle was touching the red. Your life is worth more than seeing one last bunch of Purdy fish.
THAT SAID- Ive been the dive guide in this kinda scenario. EXCEPT that I knew exactly how deep we were and it wasn't 30 feet it was 16 feet/5.0m and I wanted my (very) nervous customer to chill out and do the safety stop in the best way--checking out fish. Then we did a slow ascent to the surface.