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

 

[ScubaFreak]

am i having déja vú..? :06:

 

[dlndavid]

Has your husband been an avid water person all his life or is this diving thing the new water adventure?
It looks like you will be in a place to spend some time in some nice, warm, tropical water, Honeymoon in French Polynesia!! Lucky you and congratulations.
Bring along your snorkels,masks and fins if you are not already doing so for diving. Get as much time snorkeling in as possible, (of course there are other things to do on a honeymoon).
There will be lots of beautiful things to see underwater, and this can be very relaxing and calming. Make the peace with the water and the diving will get easier the more relaxed he is. And I hope you do get some diving in too. Have a great trip.
David

 

[spectrum]

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

Having your face in the water while breathing is often something people need to work though. Until last year I could never get myself to open my eyes under the water.

Last year after deciding to go for SCUBA certification this year I began flooding my mask while snorkeling, then snorkeling for a distance with my mask up on my forhead to support my snorkel. After a while it was no big deal, i was even clearing my mask, it's much easier breathing from a regulator as you have probably learned. Good time to take the snorkel from your mouth, reinsert and clear, again even easier with a regulator!

This winter to cinch it I got belly down in the tub and spent time with the mask off and eyes open. In warm water it was incredibly relaxing. I could lay there looking at my fingers and forget that I had eyes open in the water. My wife was bothered by it some too so we spent some time at heated hotel pool snorkeling with mask up diagonally across the pool, she licked it in an evening. It's just something that many of us need to get accustomed to. It's probably fighting an instinct to avoid drowning so take it slow in comfortable setting. Sometimes starting with a partially flodded mask helps because part of the problem may just be the wet sensation under the nose.

Be supportive and take it step by step. Have fun

Pete

 

[RonFrank]

So he had issues flooding his mask, and he has issues just breathing underwater?

One way people overcome mask flooding and clearing is to dive in a pool without the mask. If he is having panic attacks because he is not comfortable breathing underwater some more info may be needed.

Is he breathing water into his nose? Does he feel like he is not getting enough air? What is the specific reason for his discomfort?

I am surprised that the instructor could not help with this problem, and make some suggestions. That is what good instructors do. I assume he did not pass his confined water dives? Or did the instructor pass him even without him being able to complete the skills??

Part of getting comfortable UW is just doing it more. It's a bit freaky when you first go down to 25-30' UW. It's can be easy to become disorientated, and sometimes hard to focus on the environment.

I'd recommend some serious pool time before doing checkout dives. You instructor should really be the one working with him if possible. Even a good LDS DM can be of help, but to be in the pool without certification, an instructor will need to be around in any event.

Good Luck, and enjoy the HoneyMoon.

 

[Rookie_J]

people aren't supposed to breath underwater. our body knows that and tries to protect itself. it's just another skill that gets better with experience.


not everyone learns at the same pace, if he's determined he'll get it.


good luck

 

[gypsyjim]

Not everyone is able to relax at first. Spend a bit more time in the pool, working on your more basic skills, and ask your instructor for a little more attention, helping you become more comfortable in the water. "Playing" arround in the pool with your mask, snorkle and regulator can make it fun. That is part of the job of your instructor, because if you can allow yourself to relax a bit, you will begin to become less intimidated by the process. There is no reason to rush through your certification. Take as long as your husband needs to get over the feeling of discomfort. It will become more natural after a while.

 

[markfm]

Time and practice are handy. Our local club did a pool night yesterday, I spent an hour just working buoyancy, reg replacements, mask remove/replace, swimming without a mask. Repetition can really make things easier.
Also, at least for me it turns out that doing stuff in the really shallow part of the pool is tougher. Just swimming along, slowly, in the deeper part of the pool a couple feet down made mask remove/replace much simpler.
I also found, only for me, that the gradually flood it more and more approach was harder than just pull the mask off and get on with it, either swim maskless or do a replace and purge.
Good luck!

 

[ScubaSym]

I had the same anxiety, two weeks ago. I have a fear of water anyway and sat at the shallow end of the pool thinking I am not comfortable going to the deep end, it is too far from real air. Some regs have an air flow control on the side of the mouth, It helped me to open it up at first. I slowly worked my way down to the deep end of the pool after telling my husband this may not be for me after he spent 1000's on equip. He was supportive. I still felt a little panick sometimes and would come to the top. I also kept getting water in my nose choking myself when I would flood or take my mask off. I helped not to hold it completely on my face before I started clearing, I think the pressure was pushing it up my nose. Practice with this will help. I also practiced in the pool before my open water skills and was not comfortable again, I decided not to get in the lagoon for my open water, too stressful. When I got there I decided to take it a step at a time 30 ft down in a lagoon was more comfortable than the pool more room, something to look at, and I just had to tell myself to breathe slow and calm. I ended up finishing my mask skills two dives early and then doing them again. Hope this helps, A lot of people are nervous, its not natural breathing.

 

[airsix]

I learned to dive with a family member as my buddy. I had a lot of snorkeling and free-diving experience and my buddy did not. Being underwater was a new experience for him. He didn't have any trouble with snorkeling, but breathing from a tank freaked him out a little the first time. As others have said - it's a natural physiological response. Our bodies know we aren't supose to breath underwater. To overcome this we sat in the shallow end and did nothing but relax and breath. I think that was key - not doing anything else until the anxiety subsided. Trying to perform other tasks while in a state of anxiety would likely complicate the condition. So we sat and relaxed. The anxiety subsided, breathing assumed a more normal rate, and he began to be comfortable. This took maybe 30-45min. at least. Once comfortable with breathing, the anxiety returned to a degree when we started to work on flooding and purging masks (next pool session?). We worked through this again together in the shallow end. Rather than pulling the mask off underwater he started out just breathing from the regulator without donning the mask at all. Pretty soon he was very comfortable breathing without the mask. At that point he was happy underwater, mask or no mask. At that point there was a breakthrough and he became a fish. Something clicked. The brain issued an executive order to the body that "diving is good" and the anxiety dissapeared for good. He was very proud of conquering the anxiety and reveled in it. I think he really felt empowered by overcoming it. Only a few months later we were doing near-zero-vis dives together and he was happy as a clam.
Not only do I think your husband will overcome his anxiety (if he keeps at it), but I bet the process of overcoming it will give him a lot of satisfaction. Right now he might be feeling uncomfortable with the fact that he is experiencing anxiety when others around him don't seem to be (including his wife). That can be a tough pill for a man to swallow. He needs to know that what he is experiencing is physiological - and not a sign of weakness. Luckily the brain is mightier than the body and he can overcome it. And when he does he's probably going to feel a significant sense of accomplishment.

Best Regards,
Ben M.