Panicky. Frustrated. The ocean's too big!

[Ber Rabbit]

Kind of like being in a dark room with the lights on isn't it Your little voice is trying to tell you something. My best guess is you're not diving in an environment similar to the one where you trained but I can't know for sure. Listen to the little voice and do some easy dives like the others suggested...dives that YOU feel are easy not dives that are easy for someone else. If you got certified locally then returning to the place where you certified to practice will help increase your confidence. Don't push your comfort envelope too fast, only change one thing at a time. If you're changing any sort of gear then dive a familiar site and only change one piece at a time. If you're changing sites then dive in gear you're intimately familiar with...if you don't feel intimately familiar with your gear then stay at the familiar site until you do. Oh and don't take the camera along on your first dive in a new environment, cameras are task loading and you don't need to deal with that right now.

Don't let your buddy talk you into a dive you're not comfortable doing no matter how much experience they have. Knowing you are the weakest link in a team means you need to make sure the other members dive to your comfort level. A good buddy will do this, any buddy who won't should be avoided. Dive accidents are a series of small issues that stack up and become overwhelming. "I'm not comfortable with this dive" is issue number one, you've started your accident stack and you haven't even gotten in the water yet.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[TSandM]

I've got almost 600 dives under my belt now, and I still hate midwater (defined, in my book, as the period between when you lose sight of the surface, and when you can see the bottom). It's disorienting to be weightless and have no visual reference, and I get vertigo easily there.

My tips: NUMBER ONE is provide yourself with a visual reference if you can. That reference can be a descent line OR a competent buddy. On ascent, you can learn to shoot a bag, which will give you a visual reference for vertical. Your brain will be satisfied with very little (or at least mine is) but it needs SOMETHING.

Number two: Spend some time in the water balancing out your equipment so you can easily stay in a horizontal posture without finning. What you want to do is float slowly down in a position where you can acquire the bottom visually as soon as possible. If you have to swim to stay horizontal, you can't stay on the downline or with your buddy very easily.

Number three: Watch the crud in the water. If you're in low viz (and I assume you are, from your description of midwater), the water is full of particles. The particles pretty much stay where they are, so your motion through the water is visible with reference to them. It's quite reassuring, during that period where you don't feel like you're going anywhere, to watch the particles "pour" upward (or downward, if you are ascending).

Number four: If it is possible, do a bunch of shore diving, where you can descend and ascend along a bottom contour. The more comfortable you are in your gear, and with buoyancy control, the less overall anxiety you are coping with in midwater. Although practice along a bottom contour does NOT really help you with midwater control, it helps with overall facility with diving skills, and leaves you with more bandwidth to cope with midwater when you have to do it.

Don't give up. Midwater may never be a place you enjoy (I don't) but you can learn to transit it competently to get to where the diving is fun.

 

[avlena]

Instead of obsessing over the lack of landmarks, try focusing on your buddy. When you're going down, hold hands and look at each other. It's helped me limit the panic in really really bad vis (couldn't even see my computer unless it was plastered against my mask). Though my buddy is my husband - not sure if you're that comfy with your buddy!

 

[Dub5ire]

If you don't have a computer yet, get one. Watching you dept change as you decend should give your brain something to reference. Me personally, I enjoy seeing the wreck appear out of the grayness.

 

[diver 85]

earth is two-thirds water or something like that...accept you are in a different environment. Do not take the sea for granted. Take it easy and learn your limitations; in time you will relax. My imagination runs wild in low viz conditions...

Only once has the monster from the deep gotten me----luckily he only bit my left fin.....lol....Reminds me of a dive my 14 yo daughter and I made back in late summer of '85, both newly certified about 2 to 3 months..A friend of mine had lost a fishing anchor in the south end of Toledo Bend in Indian Creek...I said no problem WE'LL find it...Depth was about 40 feet and the water was DARK---@ about the 35' mark, I looked @ my daughter(we were on a 'free falling' descent) & her eyes were as big as saucers, lol..I gave her the thumbs down & ascent sign and she shook her head BIG TIME YES.....Was OK with me, about that time we started hitting logs etc with our fins and thought to myself, do monsters really live down here in the dark......LOL....A lesson we 'both' learned, don't ever be too macho to call a dive when you feel uncomfortable......

 

[Teamcasa]

You have been given some great advice so far. Let me just add a little more.
Mid-water can be disorientating but it does not have to be. It is all a mater of concentration and the confidence that comes with experience. Spend more time mid-water, focus on the little things around you and like Lynne said, “…watch the particles "pour" upward (or downward, if you are ascending).”, these along with watching your depth gauge and glance at your compass to insure you stay on the required heading. Pay close attention to your buddy and with these skills practiced, you will gain the confidence you need to dive without angst.

 

[Hoomi]

You know, reading this topic makes me wonder how long it will be until we have a diver-friendly sonar-system that works similar to cetaceans. I'd have a hard time believing someone isn't already working on a mask with a built-in microprocessor system and HUD, with an ultra-sonic transducer that "sees" through the murk and displays the results on the inside of the mask.

Even if it already exists or is in development, it would be a while before it was practical for the sport diver, but the applications to military, rescue, and professional divers would be incredible.

 

[Teamcasa]

You know, reading this topic makes me wonder how long it will be until we have a diver-friendly sonar-system that works similar to cetaceans. I'd have a hard time believing someone isn't already working on a mask with a built-in microprocessor system and HUD, with an ultra-sonic transducer that "sees" through the murk and displays the results on the inside of the mask.

Even if it already exists or is in development, it would be a while before it was practical for the sport diver, but the applications to military, rescue, and professional divers would be incredible.

This may be what your are looking for. I hope to demo one soon. (maybe)
Omega Aquatics

 

[phunk]

NJ diving is not the most newbie friendly, I second the recommendation to do some diving at dutch springs for a while. When you get more comfortable with your skills, you won't find the open ocean as intimidating.

 

[frogman159]

This may not be an option for everyone, But I booked an all inclusive resort vacation that included diving about a month after certification. I did two dives per day for a week at a resort- Which the depths were less than 70ft, crystal clear water, and for only about 30 minutes, less than 6 divers went out each time...no "hardcore" divers to worry about being intimidated by.

Its now after 14 dives I'm starting to feel OK at doing this and I don't "think" so much...Am I sinking? ascending? Do I have enough weight? too much weight? Oh, whats my depth?, haven't checked the SPG in a while? Is my mask filling with water, better clear it, oh no my ears hurt, need to clear them now, wait- check the buddy are they ok? etc, etc.......

Getting the experience also makes me very familair with my gear now, and I can better control my bouyancy and breathing- I think becoming very familar with the "feeling" of diving will decrease your perception of the abyss. On the last day of my vacation, I did a night dive- want to talk about the abyss? At the end of the dive we all held hands in a circle and turned our lights off to ascent so we could see the bioluminescence- If I would have done this right after OW training- well lets just say they would have had to hose out my wetsuit, but after a little expereince a gaining some confidence and familairity with my gear- I didn't have the slightest fear.