Nitrogen Narcosis Resistance

[XxMerlinxX]

I've been reading that Cozumel accident thread lately, which got me thinking about narcosis. I've never been narced before, but I've also never been down very deep either, and was wondering about people who don't get narced very easily. Do these people also show a high tolerance to alcohol? Conversely, do people who get narced easily also wake up half naked after a party, unable to remember anything? Personally, I have a very high tolerance to alcohol, in that I have fairly good motor skills and even better cognitive reasoning after consuming quite a lot. I was just wondering if this would translate to a high tolerance to nitrogen at depth as well, or if there's something different going on here?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I've been reading that Cozumel accident thread lately, which got me thinking about narcosis. I've never been narced before, but I've also never been down very deep either, and was wondering about people who don't get narced very easily. Do these people also show a high tolerance to alcohol? Conversely, do people who get narced easily also wake up half naked after a party, unable to remember anything? Personally, I have a very high tolerance to alcohol, in that I have fairly good motor skills and even better cognitive reasoning after consuming quite a lot. I was just wondering if this would translate to a high tolerance to nitrogen at depth as well, or if there's something different going on here?

Humans are amazingly adaptable, and some people have an easier time training themselves to operate on "auto-pilot" than others ... but you can't really change physiology all that much. Those who claim to have been deep and not been narc'd really mean that they haven't felt the affects ... or that they have an easier time dealing with the effects. But that doesn't mean they're not narc'd. A lot of times you won't really notice unless something triggers your need to respond quickly or rationally to an unforeseen circumstance. And it's often the case that your buddy will notice you're narc'd before you do.

I haven't ever noticed a correlation between alcohol tolerance and narcosis tolerance ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[knowone]

It does seem to work that way but it works far better if you also include dive experience and narcosis experience which these days seems more difficult to obtain within an industry and in a training environment that just ten years ago was dead against mixed gas and now trys to cuckold your brain against air below 100 feet


"auto pilot posting" from instructors noticing their narced buddy from a glass bottomed boat is something that defies physiology

 

[Laurie S.]

My instructor, who also is a retired psychologist who specialized in alcoholism studies, told me that age has a great deal to do with it. Younger people, teens to early 20s, may be more susceptible to being narced because their neural pathways haven't been completely set in stone yet. By the time you're 30 or more, your pathways are well established.

He has one student about 18 who got narced at 40 feet. He took me down for a test at about 110 feet and I did the math problem faster than I did it on the surface. He said that was the first time in hundreds of students he's taught where that happened. About 20 percent of my 104 dives have been below 100 feet and I've never felt any effects of nitrogen narcosis. Two dives have been to 136 and 137 feet. Yeah, I'm in the "older" category. :kiss2:

He has a number of interesting narced diver stories (been teaching 38 years). I think the funniest is a friend of his who tried to make love to a boulder at about 100 feet. He hauled him back up and the guy didn't remember any of it.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

My instructor, who also is a retired psychologist who specialized in alcoholism studies, told me that age has a great deal to do with it. Younger people, teens to early 20s, may be more susceptible to being narced because their neural pathways haven't been completely set in stone yet. By the time you're 30 or more, your pathways are well established.

He has one student about 18 who got narced at 40 feet. He took me down for a test at about 110 feet and I did the math problem faster than I did it on the surface. He said that was the first time in hundreds of students he's taught where that happened. About 20 percent of my 104 dives have been below 100 feet and I've never felt any effects of nitrogen narcosis. Two dives have been to 136 and 137 feet. Yeah, I'm in the "older" category. :kiss2:

He has a number of interesting narced diver stories (been teaching 38 years). I think the funniest is a friend of his who tried to make love to a boulder at about 100 feet. He hauled him back up and the guy didn't remember any of it.

Hey, you do what you gotta do, if you wanna get in the 100 foot club....

 

[Edward3c]

Not very scientific, but I don't suffer NN, Two pints of beer and I'm a gibbering wreck.

Regards

 

[TMHeimer]

I've done some deep dives-- one to 130'. Didn't notice anything (Am OLD). But I imagine I was a little narced--they say you have to be when down there. Maybe it was like having one beer? I don't know.

 

[Buoyant1]

I've only been noticeably narced one or two times...I've done about 50 something dives over 90 feet including about 20 dives over 100 feet...I'm sure I get a little narced, but nothing crazy to write home about. The times it was noticeable, was pretty weird! But I've never done anything weird...it's just a different feeling! (and I'm 47, so...)

 

[j2s]

It's fun to watch a twenty year old try to give their regulator to a barracuda 'cause they think it's their 'buddy' and they need air !!!......As Yogi Barre once said "Youth, it's wasted on the young"......Or maybe we just develop a bigger dose of 'common sense' as we get older and experienced........

 

[lowviz]

....//.... Personally, I have a very high tolerance to alcohol, in that I have fairly good motor skills and even better cognitive reasoning after consuming quite a lot. I was just wondering if this would translate to a high tolerance to nitrogen at depth as well, or if there's something different going on here?

The exact mechanism of alcohol intoxication is not exactly understood (Ethyl Alcohol - Toxipedia) and neither is nitrogen narcosis. In that respect, they are the same.

A diving concept that I have found to be useful: If you think that “common diving knowledge” or “accepted diving practice” does not include you, you may possibly be wrong. Being wrong in diving can have serious consequences.

Please proceed with caution.