Randomly feeling panicky and anxiety -opinion

[Scubafanatic25]

hello all,

Thanks in advance for all your insights. I plan to go to a doctor but in the meantime wanted to leverage the years of experience and 1000s of dives each of you done. I have my Advance and have logged nearly 30 dives but my last two dive trips when I’m at a depth of 60+ feet I get panicky and feel the need to be on the surface immediately (haven’t aborted a dive yet though). I’m not sure what is triggering this as I am often diving in tropical places with crystal clear visibility. I’m starting to get frustrated with it to be completely honest. Before this I had never had issues diving at these depths.

The only thing that could possible come to my mind is when I was getting my advance cert. it was done in a lake. Once we got 30+ feet down it was 0 visibility, black and had to use a line to guide us to the bottom. This was prior to our last 2 dive trips. I had never been exposed to these conditions before and it definitely made me very nervous and panicky.

Has anyone else had this challenge before or have any thoughts? As I mentioned above, I do plan to seek medical guidance but hope this isn’t a long term challenge that impacts my diving.

 

[DanSinks]

I am not a psychologist or in any way qualified to answer your question, however I'll offer an opinion for what it's worth. Some people are innately afraid of heights, some are afraid of spiders, a friend of mine can't stand to look at snakes. A lot of people have some nervousness in certain situations. The way some people conquer their phobias is to do the activity, in controlled amounts. Maybe you should continue to dive but be careful to try to stay within your comfort zone.

For the first couple years of my diving I only did shore dives from a few spots(we were going for lobsters and those were good spots, they were convenient), but came to know those spots like the back of my hand. Was very comfortable in those spots.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

I concur with the above. Perhaps some shore diving will help...

I don’t really think your issue is overly uncommon though..I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it. You are still under 30 dives.

Do you use your own BCD etc? You may find you are more comfortable when you are in your own gear, you know where everything is, the weight/bouyancy is the same every time etc...

 

[boat sju]

Take DanSinks advice and stay within your comfort zone. Work progressively out of it - baby steps. But, nervousness can easily snowball. You may be fixating on this issue and it starts to affect your breathing. And you start to hyperventilate. Stop and take a few deep breaths.

Also, have you changed wetsuits?

boat

 

[abnfrog]

all good replys also try to stay insight of the surface that might alleviate some anxiety DONT over think every dive , slow down and enjoy every dive no matter how shallow

 

[boulderjohn]

You may be fixating on this issue and it starts to affect your breathing. And you start to hyperventilate. Stop and take a few deep breaths.

This is what I would immediately suspect.

Panic is not just psychological--there is a biological component to it. If someone smothers you with a pillow, the incredible panic you feel is not due to an intellectual understanding that you are in danger. It comes from the fact, believe it or not, that you cannot exhale. That causes a rapid CO2 buildup, and it is the CO2 buildup that triggers your need to breathe and the feeling of panic you get when you can't.

Fearful breathing tends to be rapid and shallow. Your breathing does not allow the CO2 building up in your lungs to be released. This is the start of the "panic cycle," in which your growing sense of panic further influences poor breathing and deeper panic. People prone to panic attacks are usually taught diaphragmatic breathing, a slow, deep breathing exercise that allows your lungs to be purged of that growing CO2 load.

The next time you are in that situation, take full breaths, being especially sure to exhale fully before your next inhalation.

 

[cneal]

Consider any medications. Personally, I can't take Sudafed and dive. The component that keeps you awake combined with some stress will side me into a chemically induced panic. I can feel it happening, know it isn't real but not very comfortable. I would hate to experiance what it would be like with a real problem. So I use Benedryl if I'm comgested.

 

[ofg-1]

Back in the stone age, I had a student that told me that when he was in crystal clear water, with the bottom below him he got the same anxious feeling that some people get standing on a ledge looking down. I had not heard of that before. How are you on ledges? He said it cleared up when he could touch the bottom.

 

[BlueTrin]

I don’t have as much experience as the people above but I agree with exposing yourself progressively to what you don’t like to control your fear.

I used to avoid giant strides because I have slight vertigo and hated the moment right before you jump when you’ll know that you will fall.

I am ok after practising it at every opportunity when I am not too anxious and I can do them without fear.

If you just take progressive steps towards what is scaring you without forcing yourself too much and without traumatising you, I think you might be able to get over it and changes what you associate with this fear: now I associate the giant stride with positive feelings like being in the water.

 

[Doc]

My first recreational dives, my now unoccupied mind had time to wander. After many “working” dives with no incident, i started getting panic attacks.

I stopped the pre-dive coffee ️ IV’s and it went away right then. I also started to notice the pretty fish and coral....interesting diversions.