Question Panic in the experienced diver?

It would seem to me that, as we gain experience and go through some minor glitches on dives, we should increase our capacity to tolerate issues underwater. I'm wondering what could cause an experienced (say, more than 200 lifetime dives) diver to become distressed enough to lose rational thought. Has anyone here (who meets those criteria) been through a panic event? What caused it, and what did you do?

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I think some people are less prone to panic than others but all can get there. Lots to learn from this thread and well worth reactivating it.

I agree some desensitization works. Training and muscle memory works in expanding your "cone" Good description Thal.

Closest I have come as an experienced diver. We were diving in an area where the waves pounded into the wall creating up and down currents. I have never enjoyed that feeling. Anyway we came up over the wall and had to go out into midwater swimming into a ripping current to get back to the boat. The mooring had broken so we had a job to get back to the boat.

I started feeling like the effort was too much, started feeling like a CO2 hit. I managed to grab my buddy's fin and indicate to "stay close" as he was getting ahead of me. I figured if I couldn't make it back against the current I'd rather have two of us with SMB's deployed to make it easier for the boat to find us. He just kept going :doh: I sure had words with him later! (Reminded him I wasn't insured for enough to make it worth his while and he'd better sleep light for a while). I figured I was overbreathing my reg because of the effort of fighting the current but I was afraid if I stopped finning so hard I would get separated and swept away in the current. I really think what turned me from that feeling of near panic was being pig headed and how ticked off I got!

The 4 of us made it back to the boat on our own steam. The other group of 6 with the other DM inflated their SMB's formed a ring and let the current take them. Boat picked them up.... much smarter decision!

 

[Water Boy76]

I remember being so narc'd one time I couldn't figure out which way was up. I looked at my computer and the numbers looked like Mandarin Chinese.

Immediately bad thoughts started poking into my brain. I stopped where I was and took 5 long slow breaths to calm myself. Had enough clarity to realize that bubbles always go up. Around 90 ft I was completely normal again. Weird.

 

[TMHeimer]

Can't recall if I posted here back in 2011, but I have yet to have any experiences with panic. I have had numerous uncomfortable situations, due to such things as unexpected current, cramps (I am very prone). Fortunately, I have always remembered to "stop, think, act" as they say. Recently I was at a very benign site where right near the shore it dropped from 3 to 10-15'. Got to about the usual 4' or so to remove fins and exit, but I slipped out a bit, and my boots then couldn't get traction and sunk in the mud. Surfaced (only time I even broke the cardinal rule and added air to my BC, because you can't swim up without fins on and putting them on down there was not a great idea with all the mud I kicked up--didn't want to lose a fin), put the fins back on, exited better this time, and that was that. I did release air as I ascended to keep a slow rate--after thinking, this seemed the way to go. The only bad thing about NOT being in a really bad spot is you have no reference as to how you will react when panic is on the horizon. Maybe I'll get lucky and skate through until I'm too old to dive?

 

[Diver0001]

It would seem to me that, as we gain experience and go through some minor glitches on dives, we should increase our capacity to tolerate issues underwater. I'm wondering what could cause an experienced (say, more than 200 lifetime dives) diver to become distressed enough to lose rational thought. Has anyone here (who meets those criteria) been through a panic event? What caused it, and what did you do?

I haven't experienced panic during a dive but I've had a few hair raising moments that thoroughly convinced me that everyone has a breaking point.

R..

 

[Kevrumbo]

Just this latest Truk trip, lost my lead diver off the reel line, inside the engine room "tomb" of the Aikoku Maru at nearly 60m/200' deep in hazy visibility conditions. Was probably no more than a minute before my buddy found me but it seemed like an eternity. Instead of panicking, I stayed put where I was and started laughing thru my Reg: buddy said heard the laughter and it helped to locate my whereabouts --and was reassured that I wasn't in panic (actually I was about to deploy my safety spool for a lost line search).

 

[Akimbo]

... Instead of panicking, I stayed put where I was and started laughing thru my Reg: buddy said heard the laughter and it helped to locate my whereabouts --and was reassured that I wasn't in panic...

Humming a tune might work better. Nothing says narc'ed like laughing in the dark at 200'. One commercial supervisor told his divers that if he hears them laughing over the comms and they can't make him laugh after explaining the cause it was time to clear their hose and leave bottom.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Humming a tune might work better. Nothing says narc’ed like laughing in the dark at 200'. One commercial supervisor told his divers that if he hears them laughing over the comms and they can’t make him laugh after explaining the cause it was time to clear their hose and leave bottom.

Well the humor behind the laughter (as well as stifling the growing panic being lost in an engine room at 60m/200' max depth) was it looked like my buddy "de-materialized" or disappeared right in front of me! In retrospect it might have been a zig-zag partition he negotiated with a Z-axis three foot ascent and then 180deg change direction right over me, but I never saw him: he literally vanished into the bulkhead in front of me in the haze as far as I could tell! (Wasn't narc'd at all on 20/20 "Tropical Economy Trimix"). . .

 

[kcstark]

I am by no means an experienced diver but I had a situation that increased my stress level to a near panic state. On my first dive trip after certification I had an experience that still causes me anxiety. It was the last dive of our trip and not difficult. Reef dive in Belize with a max depth of 50-60 feet. It started with ear problems for me. I was having trouble with me ear/sinuses and was not enjoying the dive. I had been battling a cold and couldn't equalize well past 40ish feet. Told my buddy, told the DM. I just stayed above the group with my buddy at about 40 and was comfortable but looking back I think this was a piece of the total stress load I ended up with. All of a sudden a dive boat started screaming back and forth directly over us. Back and forth, back and forth. The dive master to me looked panicked/excited. He was whipping around in circles, looking up, looking out. He started banging his tank, pointing and swimming as fast as possible motioning us to follow. I had no idea what was going on. We kept this up for a while. The DM surfaced briefly, came back down and started motioning to follow. The boat kept up the fast driving directly over the divers. At this point, in my imagination, I had decided that this boat was not our dive boat and was not going to stop and/or let us surface. I wanted to surface, told my buddy, told the DM but the DM motioned not to surface and to follow him more. So now in my mind I have decided that DM is worried about this boat as well. I started at that point breathing too fast and too deep which was causing me to have trouble with buoyancy. I was ascending now, without a lot of control towards this boat that wont stop driving overhead. I know I hit 15 ft because my computer went into safety stop and the dive master again motioned to return to depth and follow the group. I was at around 700 psi in the tank. I tried to slow my breathing returned to the group and we saw three dolphins, very close at about 40 foot. As soon as they left I immediately motioned to my buddy to end the dive. The boat had stopped and we surfaced. I know now what the boat was doing but at the time had no idea. My threshold for anxiety was nearly met. One small problem could have sent me completely over the top. The mind is definitely your greatest enemy in the water. A cool head prevails, especially at depth. I am a firefighter by profession and have never felt anywhere near the anxiety I did that day. All I really wanted to do was surface and I didn't feel that I could.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

OK I will bite.. WHAT was the boat doing????

I don't think I would be happy under those circumstances either. I have had an uncomfortable moment or two on hearing a boat above me and a rattle of anchor chain.... watching to see if an anchor was likely to land on one of us!

 

[kcstark]

I was not fishing for a bite. Afterwards everyone but myself and my buddy (also a new diver) knew what was going on. They were trying to lead the dolphins to our dive group. I guess since dolphins follow along with boats they believe this to work. We did see the dolphins so take that for what it's worth. It seemed reckless to me. If someone would have had to surface it would have been very dangerous. My brother has dove numerous times in Belize and says he has seen this a couple times. I figured everyone knew about this. Just not me ...