Reading others experiences about wanting to bolt helped to keep me “calm”

[sunapeebob]

Thanks for sharing this. My second deep dive was on the Poling off Cape Ann. I had a new drysuit and was still learning the chest inflator. Well we descended to the wreck and I was periodically inflating the dry suit. It did not work. I did not really stop until I was at the top of the wreck. I knew that the dry suit inflator was not working, but not why. In retrospect it was inexperience with the suit and new at depth, etc. I was on a wreck course and I signaled the instructor. He spotted it right away. The inflator hose had disconnected. He reconnected it and things were good. I simply hung onto the wreck until the breathing settled down. I also had some tunnel vision - perhaps narcosis. As I settled down, I was able to explore the broken end of the wreck and felt fine. I would second others recc that practice, practice, etc. My dive buddy and I have practiced OOA, the dry inflator disconnected, etc. In my review of the rescue manual, I want to practice other potential problems and solutions so it is less of a shock when a problem occurs.

Bob

 

[Kim22]

Thanks for posting. I had a scary experience a few weeks ago doing a dive in a local sinkhole. I bottomed out at 107 feet (my deepest dive to date) in pitch-black, sulpher-infused water. The other 3 folks I was diving with had gone down a little quicker than I did - I have had some ear issues at depths deeper than 60 feet, and so I descended slowly to make sure my ear would be ok. It was fine, so I continued to the bottom. When my feet touched down, I could see absolutely nothing in the black, tannic water - not even the lights of the other divers. It was very cold, and I started to panic a little bit. I very briefly contemplated looking for the others, but then quickly decided that I would not break my "death grip" on the descent line. I figured that if they didn't show up after 5 minutes that I would just crawl back up the line, do my deco stop, and call it a day. As time passed, I could hear my breathing getting more and more ragged, and knew I was starting to panic. It started to feel like my reg was not giving me enough air. In my rational mind, I knew that my reg was just fine and that I would be able to ascend safely alone on the line, but in my must-have-air-mind I wanted to bolt to the surface. I fought that urge and just held on to the line while panning my light to see if I could see something, anything. In a couple of minutes (which seemed like an HOUR), I saw lights - not three lights to go with the three other divers, but FOUR lights. All kinds of thoughts rushed through my mind, including the thought that maybe there was another diver down there that we didn't know about (when I knew for a fact that we were the only ones there). Then I decided that I must be narced, which I have never experienced, so then I got even MORE scared. The lights came closer and closer, and sure enough, one of the divers (my instructor and good friend) wisely had 2 lights due to the utter blackness of the pit of hell we were diving in. They had seen me descend all the way down the line, and after a few minutes came over to see what was wrong - not realizing that I could not see their lights at all. They swam around me for a few minutes - at that point, nothing could have pried my fingers from the line, and I had already decided that I would just stand there and hold the line until it was time to ascend. After a couple of minutes, I let go of the rope and grabbed my friend's arm, and we swam in tandem for a few minutes until my panic started to subside. She could also hear my crazy breathing and knew that I was freaking out. After a few minutes, the panic went away, my breathing returned to normal, and we continued the dive without incident.

I know that I am a relatively new diver - have only been diving for a little over a year, but I did not expect that reaction at all. I have assisted with several open water classes with other divers, and have seen others' stress reactions to different situations and have been able to help them through it, so I did not expect such a dramatic reaction, because I have been in very low to zero vis numerous times. I guess in my mind I thought that I would be able to handle just about anything that came my way, especially after completing my stress & rescue course.

I am glad for this experience (NOW), and think I will be a better diver because of it. But it just goes to show that probably just about anybody could freak out at anytime, but if you try to mentally prepare yourself for it you will be better able to handle the situation.

 

[RogerAGrimes]

Yes, I've always thought that could have played a role in that particular incident. Since then my minor attacks have occurred mostly more shallow so I'm not 100% that I was narked, but it could have been involved. About half my dives have been 100+ and I don't ever remember feeling narc'd...if you can ever really self-diagnose such a thing underwater. Others have told me that I "over breathed my regulator", although I'm not 100% what that means. I've seen in other related threads, and it seems to make good sense, that another good thing to do is to take long, slow deep breaths, to help blow of the CO2.

Thanks for the friendly reply.

TSandM>My reaction when reading it is that something which was probably playing a significant role in your original event was narcosis.

 

[dave4868]

Thanks for posting this experience. Sadly, years ago I thought panicking was only for "whimps and those mentally challenged" individuals that shouldn't be doing extra risky sports. I was wrong, and I think I've become a better scuba diver...possibly a better human being...for it.

I have over 200 skydives and over 140 scuba dives. Previously, I'd had never been close to panicking, even in situations (e.g, skydive reserve ride, BASE jumping incident, scuba equipment failure while deep diving, etc.) where others may have panicked or not acted calmly. Well, that was before I was unexpectedly hit by my first panic attack at 130ft.

I was diving with my wife on a normal deep shipwreck/shark dive, with my regular dive club. Things couldn't have been better...almost. Water was warm, clear (vis 100+). I was taking underwater photos. The wreck had a strong current that day and the boat captain warned us to stay on the down line till we got to the wreck. Still, while descending, my wife and I saw a big sea turtle and headed off the line just above the wreck (around 100ft) to take those "once in a lifetime" shots. In under 1 minute I realized that we were about 150ft down current, and it took everything physically we could do to make the wreck, where the current died down. Once there, I was very winded. My wife took the lead and began poking around the wreck (around 120-130ft). I however, was still hot and out of breath.

At some point my mind began to tell me that I was not getting good air. I told myself to calm down, and took some long deep breaths. Still, I felt like I was not getting air. I then told myself that if I was not getting air, or good air, that I would have passed out by now...so I was just having a panic attack and I should try to relax. I'm a rational guy and I could reason my way out of being concerned...or so I thought.

No dice. My panic attack was not going to listen to anything my head was saying. Every fiber in my body wanted to head to the surface as fast as I could, rip off the regulator and mask, and breath fresh air. The only thing I wanted to do was to live! I was in a full blown panic attack.

I had to swim a bit more to catch my wife as she was exploring...I barely caught her fin tip and gave it a yank. She turned around and I gave her the thumb's up signal. She responded back with a smile and a cheery OK sign. She hadn't gotten it. She was used to me being the one that was her diving "rock". I hit her again with the thumbs up sign, and this time, looking in my wide open eyes, she got it.

We got close together, held each other's harness, and began to free ascend off the wreck, slowly, just as slowly as we would during a normal ascent. The current carried us off a bit, and the dive boat's DM saw us in the water column and brought out a wreck reel line which he tied off to the down line so we could float freely.

Once I was up to 70ft, I felt great. The panic attack was gone. I motioned to my wife that I was now alright and we could go back down. She wisely said no and we ascended the rest of the way including the normal safety stop. Back on the boat I was super embarassed (for lots of reasons...for my deflated macho manhood, for getting off the wreck on the way down and the way up, and for panicking...all stupid reasons, but I was embarassed just the same).

On the next deep dive an hour later, I was fine. Not even a hint of panic. I'm not a 100% why it happened, but yes, the information in this thread, is pretty consistent. Being anxious and overworked seem to be the common threads. I was worried about being down current, and I was exerting myself beyond the normal dive limits.

Some say I didn't really have a full blown panic attack, because I didn't shoot to the surface...but if not, it was as close as I would ever want to come. I certainly understand all these reports I read about new and experienced divers shooting to the surface even though they know they shouldn't. I'm convinced that our dive training played the largest role in preventing this dive from becoming an even worse event.

Even so, this was not an insignifcant event for me or my wife. I had to come to terms with the fact that "even I" can panic if the circumstances are right. Second, my wife, who use to think of me as the scuba "god" that would never panic, had to learn that I was human, and she improved her skills to compensate (a good thing). This one event actually shook our love of scuba diving, and we didn't scuba dive much for many years, perhaps taking 5 years off, or only diving once per year. Over the last two years we are back into it as much as we can, and we love it just as much as we did when we first joined...maybe more. But we think differently now. And we hang together as buddies a bit closer than before, and check each other out with OK signs just a bit more than we did before, especially if the workload increases.

Since then, over the years, I've had probably a half-dozen other dive situations where I've felt a panic attack coming on. I've learned to recognize it. Like the original and subsequent posters have said, it is almost always happens when I'm anxious about one or more other events (e.g. down current, deep, chasing a DM through vis, buddy not staying close, not 100% sure about my mix, flooded dive camera...whatever), and I'm working harder (sometimes only slightly) than normally underwater. I get that slight overheated feeling and then I feel the air panic starting to build.

I've learned to let some cool water into my wet suit, and to stop working hard...to relax. I've found great help in focusing on some minute detail for 30 seconds. Like on a shipwreck, I'll focus on a small soft coral in the wreck. I hook a finger to rest and just concentrate for a short while. On drift dives where I can't stay locked to a single object, I'll focus on something insignificant floating in the water column with me. That has always gotten rid of the panic attack before it had a chance to build.

It's interesting. Before I had the first panic attack, I had never had one before (underwater or above the surface). Since then, I seem to get the beginnings of one about every 10 or 20 dives. Don't know why...but I do know that thinking rationally, relaxing, removing the current workload, always helps. I've also learned to empathize with those who do have panic attacks. I recognize that panicked look and fast ascent in others more easily underwater, and I try to help the anxious diver to relax, and explain topside that it happens to a lot more of us than you read about.

I've found a few things that also help:
-Never be worried about air quality, gear, or medication. When that anxiety comes on...the less you have to worry about the better. This means always trust your gas filler and measure and re-measure any mixes. Know how to handle gear breaking...something will break every now and then, so expect it and handle it accordingly. Research any medications and their affects on diving, and when in doubt stop taking the medication appropriately or don't dive.
-Practice OOA skills frequently
-Stay close enough to your buddy that if something goes wrong, you don't have to make a big swim for them
-The better in shape I am the less I feel overworked.

I want to thank the original poster for posting this message. I brought out a flood of feelings that I haven't spoken of to anyone besides maybe my wife before.

Roger

Roger, regarding avoiding panic, you've just provided some very helpful and practical advice! Indispensable even!

I'd like to just add to one of the risks you've alluded to: having a need to live up to some rigid self image, whatever that may be.

Such self-imposed pressure can make one ignore the warning signs that usually precede panic.

Your personal revelation will help many divers.

Thank you and welcome to ScubaBoard!

Dave C

 

[mario_speedwagon]

Great thread.... My wife and I have over 250 logged dives (cold and warm water), and I experience panic every now and then (usually on deep dives). First time it happened, we were on our first 100' dive in the Cayman's, with me I was starting to realize how deep we were and also looking down into the blackness of the 4000' trench off the wall, sudenly the 3 mil wet suit was way to warm and the rented regulator was not giving suffecient air. I was starting to freakout looking up and thats where I started thinking what a bad Idea that would be, I simply turned stared at the beautiful coral, stretched the neck on the wet suit allowing the cool water in thus calming me down. Still to this day, I sometimes get those panicky episodes but I simply cool myself down and enjoy the beauty of the ocean environment. I really enjoy the sport and travelling to much to let it get to me. I really appreciate the thread and hope everyone stays safe and wet.

Mario

 

[urbanrob]

I have a story to share as well.

The day started with all the normal excitement of knowing you're going to be diving
soon. Well hydrated and a good six hours of sleep behind me, I pull up to the dock that
would soon be headed out to the Oregon, a local wreck dive favorite. The gear was loaded and the boat departed as scheduled.

The Oregon is a steam ship that sank in 1886, eight hours after a collision with a
schooner. All 845 passengers were rescued that day. Today, the Oregon sits in about 130 feet of water approximately 21 miles south east of the Jones Beach Inlet. The wreck is well known for artifacts and abundance of lobsters. I had planned two dives with 30-minute bottom times each on 29% mix and a two-hour surface interval between them. I dive independent double 120's, so gas was not a problem. I brought along a third steel 120 and planned on swapping out one fresh tank between dives. I use two computers, one is a console mounted Aeris Atmos Pro and the other is a Dive Rite Duo mounted on my wrist. I always write my dive plan on slate mounted to my left forearm complete with fsw, minutes at depth, and accumulated time. As soon as we anchored in, I suited up, jumped in and headed for the bottom.

My first dive was fantastic. I pulled out the reel and tied in about ten feet from the
anchor line. The water temp registered 44 degrees and I never submerged lower than 121 feet. Vis wasn't great, maybe 8-10 feet. It was cloudy out so the bottom was dark. The water was a bit murky too, despite the current. However, I took in the pleasure of a nice swim and even caught sight of what looked like a small blue shark curiously spying me at a safe distance. This dive was totally uneventful and
very enjoyable.

By the 30-minute mark, I was on my way back up the anchor line. I did my hang
according to plan and surfaced with a nice smile. The surface interval gave me plenty of time to chow down, hydrate, and prepare my equipment for the next dive. I swapped tanks and strapped back on my home-made 50W halogen canister light. Two hours and seven minutes later, I was jumping back into the ocean again.

Everything started the same way on this dive. The plan was a 30-minute bottom time
but this time I wanted to find me an artifact. Another diver surfaced with a corked brown bottle of what could have been whiskey. So, naturally, I too must not return without a prize. Once at the bottom, I again tied off some ten feet from the anchor line and took off in a direction, this time into the current, and started perusing the side of the boat facing the brunt of the current. I was working pretty hard but still
monitoring my air supply and I was fine. I picked up the pace a bit to get a good look of the area further down the side of the boat because I knew there was a prize just sitting there in the sand, clear as day, waiting for me to swim by and pluck it from the bottom. I stopped to wrestle with a lobster when my light gave out. No worries, I
have my backup. I turn back to the lobster.

At a few unsuccessful attempts to reach this lobster, now in a dimly lit hole, I realized its time I start heading back. Compared to my main light, the backup light felt like the
equivalent of a bic cigarette lighter. It seemed darker and murkier than ever. No big deal, I ran a line to the anchor so I'm fine. By the time I got back, I was breathing hard, chewing though my gas. The anchor line should be about 10 feet in “this” direction. I untied my reel and swam over to where the anchor should be. But it wasn't
there. Still breathing hard, I tried another highpoint on the wreck. It wasn't there either. I checked my computer and I've just about hit my planned time. I look around but I can't see much with my bic lighter. I spot a cloud of soot and figure divers must have been there, so naturally, that's were the anchor line must be. I swim quickly over and I find nothing. At this point, I'm getting disoriented and everything looks the
same.

Need to relax, but I'm past my planned dive time. No problem, I'll shoot a bag.
I reach back and grab my lift bag. I secure the reel and route the line under a cross
member so that if for whatever reason the line snags, it won't take my reel and possibly me skyward. I grab my alternate regulator and begin to fill the bag, making sure I won't tangle in it. I'm still breathing pretty hard but I feel the bag break the surface and the line go slack. I cut the line and prepare to tie off to the wreck. I clip my reel to my BC before I lose it into a crevasse and turn to find that I am no longer holding the line to the lift bag. I look up but see nothing. In fact, looking up just aids the disorientation. No problem, I have another lift bag. I reach around to the other side but I feel nothing. The other lift bag is missing. It occurs to me that when I swapped tanks, I must not have re-attached my second lift bag. At this moment, the realization of no second lift bag was unsettling.

I'm alone, it's dark, I'm breathing hard, and I have no line to the surface. Still not sure
which way is which. I check my computer and I'm now fully 35 minutes on the bottom, facing a sizable deco obligation. Mild panic ensues. I have to get off the bottom.
Feeling like I have no other choice, I decide to free ascend to the surface. Need to
trust my gauges. I have to monitor my depth and not ascend too quickly. In fact, I'll resist the urge to pump too much gas into the BC and instead help my progress by swimming upward. I begin to sink. I try swimming faster. Still sinking. I have no choice but to use some gas to lift to the surface. I pump gas and start ascending quickly. I dump it all to quickly stop. Now I start to sink. I pump it up again and I start
accelerating again. I dump it all again. I pump. I dump. As if all the work at the bottom didn't take its toll on the volume I had in my tanks, this repeated pump and dump method of maintaining buoyancy in mid-ocean chewed right through my gas supply.

I tried to stop at around 60 feet for a minute. Then again for a minute at 50 feet.
Then again a minute at 40 feet. This is purely what I thought I was doing. But, the time and depth relationship was really hard to maintain. If I took my eyes off the computer, disorientation took over due to no fixed points to look at in the middle of the ocean. I know I wasn't doing the proper stops but at least I know I wasn't shooting to the surface. Need to trust the gauges.

I slowed down around the 25-foot mark and wanted to hang some amount of time. But it occurred to me that the longer I hang, the longer I drift in the current away from the dive boat. I hovered for what seemed like a minute or two, slowly inching my way to the 20 foot mark. Then I realized that the further away I got the more likely I could drift into boat traffic, especially dangerous as I'm now rather close to the surface. Need to decide whether I follow deco and risk the chance of boat traffic or surface and hope that I'm still close enough to be spotted by the dive boat before I take a hit,
maybe even pass out. My computer is screaming, informing me that I have only fulfilled two minutes of my 29-minute obligation. I decide to surface and hope the dive boat spots me.

The waves are now rolling. I haven't taken a hit yet but I know its coming. Not sure
what to expect but I'm committed now. I saw the boat whenever the crest of the rollers brought me up. Must be about a ¼ mile away. They don't see me. How could they? No hit yet. Every time the roller lifts me up, I wave both arms toward the boat. I try swimming toward the boat but make no progress. I'm getting tired. I fill my BC and
pump up my drysuit so should I pass out, I won't tip face first into the water. I don't have much air left in either tank, under 1000 psi in one and about 500 psi in the other. I try waving again. I stick to the routine of waving as I crest the wave.

Seems like an hour but the alert crew actually spotted me quickly and picked me up in
less than 17 minutes of my breaking the surface. As they rolled up, I told them I blew every stop. They gave me the choice to either go back under or get out of the water. I said I wanted to go back under but requested they send down oxygen. Although already past the point of aborted decompression procedures (within the first 5 minutes), I still didn't receive a hit and wanted to take my chances at 16-18 feet on
oxygen. The Captain joined me in the water and I did almost 20 minutes on oxygen before I got out. At the surface, the crew stripped off my gear and had me lay down for the next two hours on pure oxygen. I never got hit.

In hindsight, I made a number of mistakes that clearly placed me at risk. I had options but the combination of events threw reason to the wind. To start, I suppose simple
math should have told me that my 50-minute light could not possibly last two 30-minute dives. Certainly, I was overexerted and stressed from my swim, which just compounded from darting back and forth looking for the anchor line. When I launched the bag, I should never have cut the line before the lift bag was tied off to the wreck.
I should have wrapped the reel around the wreck a few times, then tied off, then cut the line. After the lift bag got away, I could have tied off to the wreck and then ascended to the surface using my BC. That would have prevented me from drifting
off. Had there been no wreckage to tie into, I could have dropped my weights and tied my line around them as anchor. On the surface, a BC hose whistle would have been handy. I did not have one, not even a regular whistle.

So many little events, so many things to think about. I wrote this up for a dive club newsletter so that I could share the experience. I've gained a great appreciation for panic, mild or not. Hope this helps the next diver.

 

[Jan Kruger]

My first real panick attack happened after i have done at least 140 dives and we were doing a deep dive which would have been 56 metres but as we went down a bouy line, at 45 metres i suddenly felt this pannick attack coming on .My heart was pounding and i could feel an absolute rush of blood through my veins.Things happened in slow motion, like the look on my good friend and dive buddy's face when i showed him the thumbs up sign, meaning to ascend a bit.It took what seemed at the time forever for him to realise that there was a big problem. I had to show him again that we needed to ascend a bit. We ascended up to 40 metres and the pannick attack was gone. I was ready to descend to 56 metres but as we went down, our instructor and another diver came up from the bottom and showed us to follow them up.

Once on the surface of this old mine i felt like an idiot for not going down all the way and for letting my dive buddy down.


These days i seem to have similar pannick reactions as soon as we dive deeper than 30 metres especially when i have had to swim hard for some reason and i become out of breath.I again feel my heart pounding and the rush of blood also follows.It literally feels as though i dont get enough oxygen but then i know the feeling when it starts.

My way out of it is to ascend 3-5 metres and to hang there concentrating on taking deep slow breaths.Another thing that helps, is to find something to take a picture of with my camera , anything as long as it requires my attention ,to let the pannick situation pass.Thinking of my loved ones at home or my kids also helps to calm me down.Once that happened i am quite able to dive deeper than 40 metres and finish the dive normally.The fact that i get pannick attacks so often is a big drawback for me as we tend to dive at least once to twice a month.I love the diving and will always .

My dive buddy has become used to my attacks and is always on the lookout for any signs of it. He stays very close to me as we have discussed this matter quite often.I must admit having a buddy that still dives with me amazes me. He is my best friend and i am very thankful for him being there for me.

 

[BoomerNJ]

Great thread, especially for a new diver like myself. Thanks to everyone who posted! It helps to hear how others deal with it when those feelings start to creep up... I haven't had a full blown panic attack, but I have definitely felt like I couldn't get enough air once or twice. I have begun to learn to just stop where I am in the water column & relax for a minute or two to let myself relax before continuing on. And if need be I have ascended a few feet until I felt more relaxed...

Thanks again everyone for sharing you stories!

C

 

[hypersonic]

Too much CO2 or not enough???

On a Cozumel dive I entered the water in a state of high anxiety and breathing heavily. In spite of dropping to the sand to try and settle down on three different occasions, I could not stop the heavy breathing and the urge to bolt and panic. I went thru a 120 cu ft tank of air in 25 min.

Upon returning home, I discussed the dive with my doctor who dives and lectures on medical issues related to diving. He suspected too little CO2 and suggested that the problem may have been solved by taking short breaths or while on the bottom, holding my breath.

 

[DiverLS]

On reading these posts, I think I may have had a panic attack. I had been diving for 5 days at Pt. Hardy, British Columbia, Canada, off a boat. On the first day the exhaust valve on my dry suit failed. This caused me to shut it and dump air at the neck on the surface. After I jumped, I had to get down to about 20' quickly. Then on the way up, open the valve and get wet. At Pt. Hardy, if you have to get wet, it's much better at the end of the day. The boat had a dryer.

On the last dive, the current was screaming. Because of the valve problem and waiting for a camera, I didn't get down fast enough. It caused me to be plastered to the reef upside down and my back to the reef. I struggled so hard to right myself that I got out of breath and hot. I thought I was having an asthma attack as I have exercise induced asthma but medication takes care of it. I couldn't get enough air out of the tank. I think I had a panic attack.

Anyway, whatever the cause, I stayed plastered to the wreck, right side up until I calmed down. Then I slowly surfaced. One at the surface I could breathe fine. Because I was usually the last person back to the boat, they were concerned when I aborted the dive. I didn't tell them because I thought it was asthma.

Thanks everybody, now I know it was a panic attack.

Since I don't think I will be diving there again and it's the only time I even suspect panic, I know I'm fine.