Newbie diving anxiety - how to overcome?

[aeonflux10]

Hi!

My husband and I went to do our second night of pool work for our open water certification last night (we finished all of confined dive 1 and most of 2). I was fine, but when we jumped in, headed for the deep end, and picked up where we left off underwater, my husband panicked when we started to do our first skill of the night, and spent the rest of the evening in the shallow end. He seemed to get more comfy with breathing thru the regulator after a little while in the shallow end. The night before, when we had done our first night of skills, both in the shallow and deep ends, he was fine until the end, when we had to lose our masks completely, put them back on and clear them.

I asked him if this sport just wasn't for him, but he assured me that he wants to get certified, but he still wasn't "comfortable" breathing under water yet. We are going to spend a ton of time snorkeling (he's new to snorkeling but fine with that) on our honeymoon, so maybe some of the breathing underwater anxiety will dissipate. Can you suggest any other exercises for him to do to get him more relaxed?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

Chantal

 

[El Orans]

<snip> and spent the rest of the evening in the shallow end. He seemed to get more comfy with breathing thru the regulator after a little while in the shallow end.

My wife had the same problem when we were doing our pool dives. But, after a while, it just went away. Take your time and remember: this is something you want to do, not something you have to do.

Laurens

 

[ScubaFreak]

There's no doubt that snorkellig will help out lots and lots.
Your husband seems to be doing ok except for this particular skill of the mask removal and replacement which is nothing to worry about as lots of people stumble slightly on this task. Regarding the discomfort your hubby feels breathing underwater, that confidence comes with time and practice, like I mentioned already, don't worry so much about that, as the snorkelling will boost his confidence 10 fold. ALso there's no harm in mentioning this to the instructor as he may be in a position to spend some extra time working with your husband to improve his confidence underwater.

Enjoy the honeymoon!

Scubafreak

 

[scubamate]

You may want to get him to fill a sink with water, put the snorkel in his mouth and then put his face in the water and breathe through the snorkel for several minutes several times. It helped me when I first started diving.

 

[rainmaker]

When it came time for mask removal in the pool, I inadvertantly breathed in through my nose (after the mask was off), and choked. Things really went downhill after that, and I nearly got out of the pool and left.

However, my instructor had me get into shallow water (where I could stand up) and float face-down without my mask while breathing through my snorkel. After about 10 minutes of that, he told me to kneel underwater and repeat the mask removal/clearing skill until I could do it without thinking. Knowing I was not in water over my head, and that I could simply stand up if I choked, really helped. After about a half hour of additional work, I mastered the skill and was able to repeat it in my open water dives with no problem.

Your husband's problem could be the type thing that seems insurmountable initially, then fades into insignificance later. I hope it works out.

 

[Scottri]

This is a common problem with students. It just take some people a little longer to get comfortable with breathing off of a reg under water. Sometimes I just have the student get on their knees in the shallow end of the pool with no mask and the regulator in their mouth. This gets them to getting used to breathing through the reg. It really works. But not to worry, if SCUBA is something he really wants to do he will get through it.

Good luck.

Scott

 

[tkrock]

Lets face the facts! We (humans) are built for the most part to be on land. Then you add this thing called water... and it becomes a whole new ball game to survive. With that said get ALL the pool, lake, ocean, bathtub time you can get. This will make it better for him. He just needs to get used to being, performing, breathing in water. It's just not natural!!! Just keep encouraging him and don't let him get down on himself if he falls behind a little. I currently am helping a lady go through this exact same thing. However, she is saying "back to special ed class" which is not the truth. She has waited to long and is now beating herself up about what is actually natural.
So Practice, Practice, Pratice, and remind him to keep his head up and that it just takes time to get used to this new world. I hope BOTH of you enjoy the underwater world like all of us here do!!!!

 

[Jason B]

I'm with scubamate, have him fill a sink and have him submerge his face and use a snorkel.
On a side note, I used to think I wouldn't get water up my nose if I exhaled through my nose. Later I found that using the nose to exhale, and then not using it to inhale didn't work as well as just not using the nose at all.
And yet one more side note. A lot of us had issues with this when we started. Face it, it is just unnatural. When I was in open water class my instructor pulled me aside and mentioned that he noticed I was having trouble with this skill. He told me I could not pass if this skill was not mastered. He allowed my to hang around after every pool session to work on it. I would just swim laps without the mask. Worked for me.
Good luck to you both, I'm sure things will turn out fine.

Jason

 

[Randy43068]

Do It More..

Dive often as you can, within comfort limits. For example, dive 20-35 feet 'till your comfortable, then dive to 40 to 45 feet...

Dive familiar locations 'till you're bored.

Hi!

My husband and I went to do our second night of pool work for our open water certification last night (we finished all of confined dive 1 and most of 2). I was fine, but when we jumped in, headed for the deep end, and picked up where we left off underwater, my husband panicked when we started to do our first skill of the night, and spent the rest of the evening in the shallow end. He seemed to get more comfy with breathing thru the regulator after a little while in the shallow end. The night before, when we had done our first night of skills, both in the shallow and deep ends, he was fine until the end, when we had to lose our masks completely, put them back on and clear them.

I asked him if this sport just wasn't for him, but he assured me that he wants to get certified, but he still wasn't "comfortable" breathing under water yet. We are going to spend a ton of time snorkeling (he's new to snorkeling but fine with that) on our honeymoon, so maybe some of the breathing underwater anxiety will dissipate. Can you suggest any other exercises for him to do to get him more relaxed?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

Chantal

 

[boulderjohn]

So far a couple of people have talked about something that might be part of the problem--breathing through the nose. In the past few weeks I have worked with several students who really struggled with this. For some people, it is wholly unnatural to breathe only through the mouth, and it is very difficult to overcome a lifetime of nose breathing.

To see if this is part of the problem, look at him breathing through a regulator or snorkel without a mask. If you see any bubbles coming out the nose, he is exhaling through the nose, and if he is, it is a good bet he is going to inhale at least a little through the nose, too.

Rainmaker's suggestion is a good one if that is the case. The use of a snorkel in the bathtub can be generally helpful, but if the problem is nose breathing, then it will need to be done without the mask.

If nose breathing is not the problem, then it probably is just a matter of comfort, and the practice that others suggest would be all you need to do.

Here is one final thought--is he afraid of heights?

The no mask problem and the deep part of the pool problem might be unrelated. I have found that some people who are afraid of heights have trouble once they get into the deeper water, as if they really can't believe the water will hold them up. If this is the case, once again the solution is practice, but the bathtub won't be much help.