Question about first time Panic

[spirit_lupis]

I took an introduction to scuba, there was a three foot side of the pool and a ten foot side. Whenever we were in the three foot side and was told to go to our knees or sit on the bottom my breathing would go to short erratic breaths every time my head went underwater. Then we went to the ten foot area, I was apprehensive, but wanted to try it. When I went underwater to sit and wait my turn my breathing got short and erratic as before then I slipped off the edge we were sitting on, and had to pull myself back up on the ledge that caused alot of panic ,and my breathing got worse. After all that it was my turn, and as soon as I was taken down to the bottom of the ten foot area my breathing became normal. Now I find this to be backward of normal panic. Now I have a snorkeling class in two weeks and am afraid when my head goes underwater I will start that short erratic breathing again. I have been planning to fill up my bathtub and put on my mask and snorkel and stick my head underwater to try and get used to it. Anyone have any opinions or tips on what else I can do to get used to breathing underwater, or why I panicked in a backward kind of way? Thanks.

 

[Tienuts]

Breathing underwater is not a natural thing for humans to do. Some find the task uncomfortable or even impossible.

Practicing breathing underwater is a good start. Do you have access to a pool? Standing in waist deep water, you can put your face in the water and practice breathing through a snorkel and/or regulator. See if you can get comfortable with this. Remember to be calm, and take slow deep breaths.

Once you can do this with ease, try it with a slight bit of water in your mask. Try adding bits of water until your mask is full, or breathing with your face underwater without a mask. You will eventually need to do this skill underwater.

 

[H2Andy]

yes, breathing under water is like, 100% against your every natural
instinct, so the apprehension is normal

for me, i find that repeated and gradual exposure to the stress-causing
situation is the best way to get comfortable.

as Tientus suggested, i'd do progressive steps in a pool, and just familiarize
yourself with the environment until you feel comfortable

 

[ItsBruce]

I'm sorry, what you described does not sound like a real panic to me. Panic in dive terms is a whole lot worse than what you described. It entails stuff like irrationality. If it was a real panic, it would be an indication of possible problems later. What you described sounds more like a reasonable reaction to a new situation. Given your report as to what happened when you went down to 10 feet, I'd say, if I had to guess, that you won't have any further problems. If you can get into the bathtub without too much discomfort, give it a shot. There was a time in my life when I was so in need of going diving that I dove the bathtub. I did not, however, log it. AND NO ONE HAD BETTER BUST ME FOR NOT HAVING A BUDDY.

 

[PaulChristenson]

There was a time in my life when I was so in need of going diving that I dove the bathtub. I did not, however, log it. AND NO ONE HAD BETTER BUST ME FOR NOT HAVING A BUDDY.

I was going to ask you how your computer logged the dive???

Or are you one of those rich Californians with a 5ft deep bathtub...

 

[PaulChristenson]

I took an introduction to scuba, there was a three foot side of the pool and a ten foot side. Whenever we were in the three foot side and was told to go to our knees or sit on the bottom my breathing would go to short erratic breaths every time my head went underwater. Then we went to the ten foot area, I was apprehensive, but wanted to try it. When I went underwater to sit and wait my turn my breathing got short and erratic as before then I slipped off the edge we were sitting on, and had to pull myself back up on the ledge that caused alot of panic ,and my breathing got worse. After all that it was my turn, and as soon as I was taken down to the bottom of the ten foot area my breathing became normal. Now I find this to be backward of normal panic. Now I have a snorkeling class in two weeks and am afraid when my head goes underwater I will start that short erratic breathing again. I have been planning to fill up my bathtub and put on my mask and snorkel and stick my head underwater to try and get used to it. Anyone have any opinions or tips on what else I can do to get used to breathing underwater, or why I panicked in a backward kind of way? Thanks.

Panic would have been you popping to the surface stripping your gear...

Being nervous doing anything for the first time is normal...
You need to come to trust that the equipment will function as designed...
You might try to visualize what you are going to do and then you do it...
You might practice breathing thru the snorkel before you get in the water...
Then have someone pull you as you concentrate on breathing thru the snorkle while you are face down in the water...
And then if you are still doing fine...do some face down glides while breathing thru your snorkel...
And then practice some shallow dips below the surface...

Good Luck on your class...

 

[radinator]

AND NO ONE HAD BETTER BUST ME FOR NOT HAVING A BUDDY.

Of course not, that's why you have a pony bottle.

 

[Joanne Hughes]

I have every sympathy for you as I was in exactly, if not worse, situation 7 weeks ago, and have just completed my OW confined pool dives - not with ease and I have had to get over many difficulties so dont worry at all at this stage. On my first pool session I was so panic stricken that I would not stay under water for more than a few seconds and this was in the shallow end where I could easily stand up. My instincts just couldnt trust or get used to the concept of allowing the regulator to do its job. My instructor spent the whole hour with me talking me through it and gradually I kept under for say a minute at the most, he admitted to me later that he never thought I would make it as I was so scared. Anyway, as the weeks went by I would say that for 4 sessions I was so conscious of every breath I took that I wondered if it would ever come naturally but I can honestly say that now 7 weeks into the course I can cruise along without even thinking about my breathing at all, I have my open water dives this weekend as a result of my progress. Do hang on in there, I am sure that when you start to panic your airways narrow, as they do in asthmatics, and it is a viscious circle, the more you panic or are conscious of the problem the worse it gets. My advice is take it slowly, take no notice of how well others around you are doing, and breath slowly and deeply and go at your own pace. I dont know what type of regulator you use, I am using the basic school one, but I found it helped to have it turned to the maximum air flow so that you have air all of the time, and then buy a good one if you decide to buy where the air is balanced as you go deeper, etc. I have made many posts on this site for problems (most of them appear silly now to me) and have some very good advice back which do work, so keep posting and keep going. Good luck

 

[**ping**]

You are not suffering from a full blown panic reaction.

You are apprehensive and your body reacts to something it perceives as an unnatural, non-life sustaining environment.

Do NOT worry about it, it will go away very very soon.

The worst thing you can do while underwater is starting that inner monologue of worrying, checking yourself for signs that something is not normal and so on...

Try the contrary. Go underwater, sit on the bottom and completely relax your body- thats the beauty about being underwater. You are near-weightless, so you will not tumble and fall when you relax.

It is impossible for a body to panic when you relax and breath slowly. Thats what the pool sessions are for, get accustomed to the underwater experience.

You will do fine and you will be diving like you were born an aquatic animal in no time, trust me-

 

[spectrum]

You'll be fine.

It sounds like you did a discover sort of dive and you were not totally at ease breathing underwater. This is a normal mental reaction. It was only meant to give you a taste of the adventure and I hope you got a good dose!

The good news I read in your post is that your class begins with skin-diving. This will get your face in the water and breathing through your mouth and take care of the reprograming. Relax and have fun.

Some regulators that I have used breath the worst at or near the surface. Your gear may have been working more naturally in the deep end. Either way you will be fine with more time in the water.

Your class should cover the panic cycle, if not seek information about the term, it could save your life.

Pete