Question Panicking once in the sea

[KatieMac]

Man. I had to do a 200m pool swim. Guy said,” Doggy paddle, backstroke, front stroke. Whatever. Just don’t touch anything but water until I tell you to stop. “ Not an easy task for 54 and fat. Then he made me tread water for another 10 minutes before I could stop. Very memorable experience, I must say.

My instructor made me swim after returning from doing skills. I was tired already. I got off the boat, took off my BCD and fins, swam to a buoy, had to tread there for what felt like 1/2 hour, then swim back to shore. But I was in my 3mm wetsuit.

 

[MidOH]

I was in the Dominican Republic. Lunch and dinner half price for at least 3-4 days before this. Water was a little extra salty.

I was buoyant enough to raise the Titanic. Even if it was 45 minutes of swimming, I'm just kinda floating around.

 

[PirateFoxy]

I have always been mesmerized by fish and coral reefs in images but spent 50 years being afraid - well petrified really - to put my toe in the water. But with 4 divers in the family including my spouse, I decided to snorkel one day. Once I put my face under the water and saw the fish and coral, my lifelong fear seemed to disappeared. I saw divers down below and really wanted to be down there with them. I realized that I wasn't afraid of the ocean. I was afraid of what I couldn't see. So I jumped into OW and completed quite easily - with only the mask clearing as a hiccup that almost made me quit.

The only part of diving that has caused me any anxiety since has been after the dive is done while waiting in the water for my turn to get back on the boat because my face was above water and I couldn't see under the water again. I slowly worked through that but did overcome that anxiety too.

I know it's the opposite of what you are experiencing - my anxiety was OVER the water, not under it, but I feel most people who take on diving have some level of fear at the beginning. Only you can decide if it's a fear you can overcome.

This is super helpful - I get anxious in large bodies of water because I don't know what's down there! I've been thinking that anxiety about water meant I shouldn't try to learn to dive, but it sounds like it might not be the barrier I thought.

I'm confused about people learning to dive when they can't swim at all, though. If I couldn't swim I wouldn't get in the water. Maybe they're braver than I am.

 

[Boofymac]

G'day, My wife is going through a similar issue. She performed all pool skills with ease and felt completely comfortable. Upon undertaking the first open water dive she had an anxiety episode where she felt like she couldn't breathe using the regs and kept trying to breathe through her nose thus inhaling seawater. Her anxiety from this has prevented her from completing her open water. I have explained to her that in times of anxiety/panic we automatically fall back onto what we know and this is why we train and practice our skills to form muscle memory.
I'm not advocating the following but this is what we are doing to overcome the anxiety. We purchased a nose clip, the same ones used by synchronised swimmers and are using it when snorkelling. We make sure the nose clip does impede her ability to equalise but just makes it hard to breathe in. My wife has also taken to using the nose clip whilst doing breathing exercises whilst watching television.
Just recently she successfully completed a short dive (without the pressure of completing skills), although anxious it was successful, guided by a very patient instructor. Her instructor is confident she will be able to recommence her open water training soon.

 

[freeflowigb]

Generally, I’d hate to say this, but you need to push through this panicky period. Once your brain gets enough exposure to this activity and realizes it is not some mortal danger you are putting yourself in, the panic will be gone. It does not mean it will not return, but it may return in situations where you really are in danger. So, just dive more. If you do not want to rely on any anxiolytic medication (using which in diving is not a safe practice anyway), just take baby steps. Dive pools, shallow reefs, a bit deeper reefs, and you will see where it takes you.

 

[mac66]

What's the old response when telling a doctor "it hurts when I do this"

Doctors response: "Then stop doing that"

If you can't do the underwater part because it's too stressful, then don't do it. Find something else to do.

 

[PirateFoxy]

Generally, I’d hate to say this, but you need to push through this panicky period. Once your brain gets enough exposure to this activity and realizes it is not some mortal danger you are putting yourself in, the panic will be gone. It does not mean it will not return, but it may return in situations where you really are in danger. So, just dive more. If you do not want to rely on any anxiolytic medication (using which in diving is not a safe practice anyway), just take baby steps. Dive pools, shallow reefs, a bit deeper reefs, and you will see where it takes you.

I think medication could have a place, but only in a very controlled environment (like an actual pool) practicing specific elements, not for general diving. I'd want to be working with an anxiety professional (like a therapist) AND a diving instructor to develop a plan, too. (Like if putting your face in the water is a trigger, I feel like it's probably possible to develop a way to work on that safely while using medication to help you get desensitized to it. If you only freak out at depth? That's a whole different problem.)

What's the old response when telling a doctor "it hurts when I do this"

Doctors response: "Then stop doing that"

If you can't do the underwater part because it's too stressful, then don't do it. Find something else to do.

Based on general experience with stress/anxiety, I think it depends a great deal on what the stressful part actually is - it's quite possible to overcome anxiety related to specific elements of something but it starts with being able to identify the specific elements causing the problem so you can break things down and work on things individually in whatever way is best.

 

[freeflowigb]

I think medication could have a place, but only in a very controlled environment (like an actual pool) practicing specific elements, not for general diving. I'd want to be working with an anxiety professional (like a therapist) AND a diving instructor to develop a plan, too. (Like if putting your face in the water is a trigger, I feel like it's probably possible to develop a way to work on that safely while using medication to help you get desensitized to it. If you only freak out at depth? That's a whole different problem.)



Based on general experience with stress/anxiety, I think it depends a great deal on what the stressful part actually is - it's quite possible to overcome anxiety related to specific elements of something but it starts with being able to identify the specific elements causing the problem so you can break things down and work on things individually in whatever way is best.

In my experience, and I used to be scared of open water too, but now I dive almost daily in currents, low viz, and wrecks, continuous exposure will fix this problem. But it is important to find out the speed of progress that is comfortable for a person, because otherwise the risk for a panic attack is very serious. Diving pools helped me immensely to convince myself I know how to do it, although that did not fix the anxiety issue - I solved that problem in a very questionable way, which worked for me, but I do not recommend it. In short, it is all about convincing the brain you are not going to die.

But I also agree that if the terror and panic is so bad it kills all the joy and puts the person at risk, and if they only pursue this activity for instagram or whatever, it really isn’t very reasonable to continue forcing yourself to do it. Diving is not cheap, and it is supposed to bring enjoyment, so wasting your money and risking your health for something that scares the living *** out of you is not what I’d do. In my case, I just loved it too much, so I was ready to do whatever to desensitise myself to the anxiety.

 

[mac66]

I think medication could have a place, but only in a very controlled environment (like an actual pool) practicing specific elements, not for general diving. I'd want to be working with an anxiety professional (like a therapist) AND a diving instructor to develop a plan, too. (Like if putting your face in the water is a trigger, I feel like it's probably possible to develop a way to work on that safely while using medication to help you get desensitized to it. If you only freak out at depth? That's a whole different problem.)



Based on general experience with stress/anxiety, I think it depends a great deal on what the stressful part actually is - it's quite possible to overcome anxiety related to specific elements of something but it starts with being able to identify the specific elements causing the problem so you can break things down and work on things individually in whatever way is best.

I don't see much sense in forcing your way through something just to do it. It's okay to just admit you can't do something and move onto something else

 

[freeflowigb]

I don't see much sense in forcing your way through something just to do it. It's okay to just admit you can't do something and move onto something else

There is a certain level of machismo involved in this for some people. I know, because in some ways I also could not admit I can’t do it, seeing kids and girls dive, how can I, a big physically strong man, be afraid? So it is worth to force your way, but you also gotta like the sport.