mi000ke
Contributor
- Messages
- 1,144
- Reaction score
- 1,735
- Location
- Massachusetts & Grand Cayman Island
- # of dives
- 200 - 499
In talking to some of the folks I dive with, I think my situation is not unusual, and maybe not dissimilar to yours. Like some of the posters, I got into diving by doing a few resort dives. I was totally ignorant about all aspects of diving, and that ignorance was bliss. I dove with no worries whatsoever, not knowing anything about the potential risks.
I then decided to get certified and the absolute opposite happened. I was introduced to all (well, most of) the risks through my course, as you will be. And then I discovered Scubaboard, as you did, and that greatly expanded my awareness of every and any risk that could ever possibly happen. Armed with all that information and very little actual dive experience, I had the fear of god instilled in me and would lose sleep before every dive day, and experience a healthy dose of anxiety right until I entered the water. Then once I realized I had my equipment set up ok, the air was flowing, and I was not going to drown immediately, all the anxiety disappeared. Until the next dive.
Fast forward to this year’s diving season (which for me started a few weeks ago) and after 75 dives I am finally (almost) totally comfortable with diving. Essentially no anxiety at all. The difference is that with more experience I am better able to calibrate my exposure to those risks. I know more about how to dive conservatively and safely. I have good control over my buoyancy and trim, so do not have to focus on that as much. I have learned how to check out my equipment so have no anxiety about equipment failure, and with less anxiety about diving in general comes less anxiety about how I would react to a problem. And I am now in a better position to evaluate the great information that is provided here at SB and not to return to panic mode every time I read about some dive-related failure.
You will get there eventually. Just go as slow as you need to. One of my certified dive friends spends hours in a pool each year just to practice basic skills so he is comfortable. You can do that. I always start the dive season with one or two easy shallow dives. You can do that until you are comfortable with deeper or more challenging dives. Find a DM that you like diving with and who will go gently with you – which I did when starting.
Anxiety regarding something new, especially absent much experience with that new thing, is normal. Take it slow and you’ll be more and more comfortable over time.
I then decided to get certified and the absolute opposite happened. I was introduced to all (well, most of) the risks through my course, as you will be. And then I discovered Scubaboard, as you did, and that greatly expanded my awareness of every and any risk that could ever possibly happen. Armed with all that information and very little actual dive experience, I had the fear of god instilled in me and would lose sleep before every dive day, and experience a healthy dose of anxiety right until I entered the water. Then once I realized I had my equipment set up ok, the air was flowing, and I was not going to drown immediately, all the anxiety disappeared. Until the next dive.
Fast forward to this year’s diving season (which for me started a few weeks ago) and after 75 dives I am finally (almost) totally comfortable with diving. Essentially no anxiety at all. The difference is that with more experience I am better able to calibrate my exposure to those risks. I know more about how to dive conservatively and safely. I have good control over my buoyancy and trim, so do not have to focus on that as much. I have learned how to check out my equipment so have no anxiety about equipment failure, and with less anxiety about diving in general comes less anxiety about how I would react to a problem. And I am now in a better position to evaluate the great information that is provided here at SB and not to return to panic mode every time I read about some dive-related failure.
You will get there eventually. Just go as slow as you need to. One of my certified dive friends spends hours in a pool each year just to practice basic skills so he is comfortable. You can do that. I always start the dive season with one or two easy shallow dives. You can do that until you are comfortable with deeper or more challenging dives. Find a DM that you like diving with and who will go gently with you – which I did when starting.
Anxiety regarding something new, especially absent much experience with that new thing, is normal. Take it slow and you’ll be more and more comfortable over time.