Overcoming scuba anxiety

[quin99]

Hello everyone,

this is my first post here and I hope I can get some suggestions to solve my problem.

I am a recreational diver who got his OWD certification in 2005. I have 18 dives in total.

Last summer while on a business trip I had a day off so I decided to dive with a small school I found at the resort, a decision I later regretted.

Anyway, there were three of us divers and two instructors. Two of the guys and one instructor were supposed to go to a wreck at around 40 meters, while I and the other instructor would stay at a plateau at 25 m.

However, the instructor assigned to me was completely irresponsible and decided during the descent that we'll with the other 3 to the wreck. Extremely irresponsible considering that I'm not certified for that depth, and have never been under 28 m. Of course, he failed to signal this to me.

I was following him, watching the scenery, when I suddenly realized that we were deeper that planned. When I saw that we were at 35 m and descending, I panicked. My heart started beating rapidly while I was sucking the air from the regulator like crazy.

I somehow managed to calm myself somewhat and get back to 20 m where I recovered completely and finished the dive.

However, I haven't dived since. Whenever I thought about diving after that experience I remembered that horrible feeling of panicking deep underwater, desperately sucking air and feeling like I'm dying.

I have been snorkeling for years and all my previous days were fantastic experiences.

I want to continue diving, but I'm irrationally concerned about getting that panic feeling again.

Any ideas on how to overcome this? My plan is to go to a school and start from extremely shallow dives until I regain confidence and feel natural again.

Thanks for all replies.

Regards,

Quinn

 

[GA Under Water]

Do you need a refresher? Maybe spend a few hours in a pool. Then move on to shallow bottom dives. That is what I love about diving. No one will give you a hard time for taking it at your own pace.

One way to stop this from happening in the future is to watch your gauges more closely.

 

[Sparhawk13401]

Your plan sounds great - a better school and staying shallow.

But don't sell yourself short....you may have panicked, but you recovered! You should never have been that deep on your first dive - but you didn't spit out your reg, or try to rocket to the surface - you recovered.

Everybody gets spooked sometimes - it's what you do when it happens that matters.

Get back on that - shallower - horse and keep riding.

 

[Teamcasa]

That guide would have a hard time explaining the black eye to his buddies.

Panic is a natural response to fear. The real problem in diving is panic can be very dangerous at any depth. Good for you in realizing and recognizing it upon its onset. That said, the best solution to avoiding panic is training and practice. You did the right thing, just don’t give up and join the ranks of ex divers that never want to try it again after one problem dive.

Hire another instructor that will actually listen, guide and mentor you. You won’t regret it.

 

[Gombessa]

Sounds like you did the right thing at first - you didn't just do a "trust me dive" beyond your agreed profile and dive experience, and instead ascended to a manageable depth. However, it sounds like you "completed the dive" at 20M. By yourself, solo? I'd be a bit worried about this, and if you weren't planning on or trained/equipped to dive solo, I wonder if that was really a better solution than going down with the rest of the group? Just food for thought. I would probably have ascended to the surface and headed to the boat/shore in that situation.

As to being a bit timid on getting back into diving, that's totally understandable, and I think your plan is a good one. Go shallower, and dive some sites with shallow bottoms where you CAN'T go below 10-15m. Once you feel more comfortable, slowly work your way back to where you want to be. You've learned good lessons about the importance of following a set dive plan and choosing a good buddy, these will serve you well as you continue to dive!

 

[tschmitt]

Hi Quinn,

So sorry to hear about your poor dive experience. Rec diving is supposed to be fun, relaxing and enjoyable. You sound like a very responsible diver that dives within your limits and comfort zone, which is very good.

As far as your experiencing goes, you handled it very well. If you're not comfortable and your buddy isn't being a good buddy - time to take care of numero uno.

Couple of suggestions:

1) If you enjoy diving and want to continue, get back in the water asap. Do a nice relaxing dive to 10m and remember why you feel in love with the activity to start.

2) Watch your guages more carefully and often next time. Don't get in the habit of relying on others to drive your dive. In a perfect world, you would have know, "Hey we're at 26m, the plan is 25m ?!" Remember, you're responsible for your own @ss.

3) On futures dives and especially where you don't know your buddy, DM or instructor personally, make your concerns explicity clear before the dive. Go over the dive plan several times, "Okay, now what depth are we leveling off at? 25m - okay good."

4) Consider investing in some additionally training. Not sure what agency you are certified with, but all of them have Advance classes to increase your comfort zone, skill sets, and training in the water.

5) Not sure if that instructor was an employee of the dive shop or charter that you dove with, but you should consider speaking with or writing to the owner about your experience. It may help save someone elses life.

6) The instructors in this forum may be able to offer some advice on how to file a complaint or give feedback to the certifying agency of that instructor.

 

[kathydee]

Last summer we descended into the vast blue (with strong currents & countless red tooth trigger fish:blinking extremely fast, wherre I was hit by an overwhelming paranoid narcosis. Actually we all felt pretty strong narcosis and for a minute nothing made sense to me except the constant air coming from my reg & even that felt toxic.

Felt huge panic, but like you, kept it together and slowly ascended till the symptoms subsided. Was nervous about getting back in the water so next dive joined a very small understanding group and voiced my fears. A shallower dive first, then the next day we stayed close and slowly descended to 32 meters. Despite slight anxiety, the narcosis was intoxicatingly pleasant, making the sharks so graceful and friendly.

To boost my confidence, I joined a family/dive guide with a cap of 12 meters for a day. It was so peaceful . Maybe you can search out boats filled with OW divers or dive one-on one with a master or instructor till your confidence is rebuilt. Or maybe visit shallow dive sites that will naturally cap your depth?

Also – remember that DIVE GUIDES AREN’T GODS. It is good to rely on an attentive partner even if you have a dive guide. A few times, dive guides have not been available, thankfully, in all situations I had a solid buddy to count on.

Even though you panicked, you should feel proud that you DID keep it together. After your confidence in both yourself and the concept of a partner is restored, you might consider taking an AOW course to learn more about deeper diving and narcosis.

Good luck

 

[Web Monkey]

I want to continue diving, but I'm irrationally concerned about getting that panic feeling again.

35m is an extremely deep dive by recreational standards and well below the depth at which almost anybody will get some level of narcosis. If your breathing became shallow or rapid due to exertion or anxiety you can also get hypercapnia, (an increased CO2 level), which can cause all sorts of nasty effects including panic.

The solution to both is easy; just dive where you're comfortable (depths and conditions).

Try a nice easy shallow dive with a good buddy, I'll bet you won't have the same feeling.


Terry

 

[TSandM]

I would be willing to bet that your episode was a combination of narcosis, manifested by anxiety and hyperventilation, with increased work of breathing at depth from your regulator, leading to CO2 retention. Narcosis in some people is manifested as anxiety, and CO2 retention gives a feeling of breathlessness and apprehension, sometimes to the point of panic.

You know the feeling now, and you overcame it. You may encounter it again at similar depths, but it won't be as frightening when you know what it is (or at least it wasn't for me).

 

[sea nmf]

Is there any way that you can dive more often locally? This would go a long way to helping you become comfortable in the water.

I think Lynn is correct in what brought on the feeling. You did great in handling the rising panic. My opinion is that panic is what kills or injures divers more than anything else. You need to pat yourself on the back.