Suddenly gained Fear

[Fish_Whisperer]

From an article on Nitrogen Narcosis: "Nitrogen narcosis affects individuals differently. You may be more or less susceptible than other divers. Also, the degree of susceptibility may vary from day to day and from dive to dive."

Also, keep an eye on your breathing: If you are breathing in shallow, gasping breaths, you may be hyperventilating yourself, overbreathing your reg, and then still feeling like you can't breathe, and this, in turn, is going to exacerbate your feelings of apprehension.

Lastly, check your gear. Have you put on a little weight so that now, your wetsuit is a little tighter across your chest? Look for anything that seems to restrict your body's ability to breathe slow and deep.

 

[sunrise3]

Thanks for the article. I had actually lost weight and gained a lot of fitness before this trip. Maybe this is something to do with it? My stamina category is excellent for fitness as I do a lot of cycling and running but had raised my game as far as exercise was concerned prior to this trip.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Were you well rested? I'm voting narcosis with the others; I have had a very similar feeling when narced and I can get narced at shallow depths when I'm tired. I've been so narced I didn't recognize a safety stop at 20 feet, had no idea why my students had stopped and were hanging by one of the shallow attractions in the quarry. The max depth on that dive was probably 40 feet.

It IS a scary feeling. I never used to notice being narced, the more I dive the more I'm aware of my impairment, you may simply be awakening to a new level of awareness. Use that to your advantage.

BTW, retaining CO2 such as you may when you start to panic and breathe fast increases the effect of the narcosis. You HAVE to focus on slowing your breathing and exhaling completely or that panic feeling just escalates. Been there, done that and it's not a good time.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Right on, Ber These were exactly the points I was trying to make.

Okay: Maybe in the future, when you first feel that creeping feeling in the pit of your stomach, use that very feeling as YOUR CUE to check your breathing and consciously make it nice and slow. Focus ONLY on your breathing. STOP whatever else you're doing, and JUST. BREATHE. Nice and deep... No hurry... Just mellow out, let all of your muscles go limp, and just RELAX... From your new position of calm control, you can proceed with whatever else you were doing. Be honest with your dive buddy and tell him/her: "Hey, I've had the jitters, lately. Keep an eye on me." There's no shame in that.

 

[Bratface]

When ever something happens that makes you feel uneasy, remember what you learned in class: Stop, Breathe, Think, and Act. Sometimes taking a moment to stop and regroup will help you focus.

Taking another class might really help or even a refresher. Don't let this incident blow your confidence and keep you from doing something you love.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

One last thought, and I don't know if this will help you or not, but it's something that I've learned:

I used to have a horrible problem with my temper. It was always out of control. It got me into a lot of trouble and I hurt a lot of people. I finally decided to get it under control, and I began looking at it.

I realized that the reason it was out of control, is that I was denying and ignoring it, until it was so huge that it was no longer manageable. So... I started looking at it when I felt frustrated or angry, and just saying, "Yes, I am angry." In that moment, by the simple act of acknowledging it, POOF!! Like magic, I would just let it go.

I wonder if this is the way that your apprehension and fear are. Something happens, whether it's narcosis, or something that freaks you out a little, then you start overbreathing your reg and hyperventilating, and this triggers more of a panic reflex, and before you know it, you're incapacitated.

What if, when you felt the first twinge of apprehension, if you used it to cue you to take a nice deep breath, and you looked at it and thought to yourself, "Yes, I feel apprehensive. BREATHE. Is there anything to be worried about? BREATHE. I'm okay, and if I keep my breathing nice and slow, I will continue to be okay. BREATHE."

I don't know if this will help you or not... I hope it does, though. Good luck.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

What if, when you felt the first twinge of apprehension, if you used it to cue you to take a nice deep breath, and you looked at it and thought to yourself, "Yes, I feel apprehensive. BREATHE. Is there anything to be worried about? BREATHE. I'm okay, and if I keep my breathing nice and slow, I will continue to be okay. BREATHE."

Well said FW, well said. I always look at my pressure gauge and notify my buddy that I'm not quite right as well. That way I KNOW I have plenty of air and help is available and that helps me to let myself relax and breathe. If the feeling doesn't go away after a few breaths I signal my buddy and we go up a few feet and try again.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[girldiverllc]

Yeah...it's a scary thing. Happens to me every time I get narc'd...though luckily, I know to expect it below 110'. Not every time...but if it's going to happen, that's where it will.

I look at the anxiety and realize "Ok...well, this sucks. I'm narc'd...and then continue to focus on every little thing that could happen...while I concentrate on my breathing and reassure myself that it will be ok."

 

[Gil57usa]

Sometimes people have panic attacks for no apparent reason.

 

[CUunderH2O]

Have you recently been stressed about something or had something bad happen to you, outside of scuba diving? I had never had any issues with anxiety or panic underwater. Then at one point I was emotionally distressed over a failed relationship, but I didn't think it would affect my scuba diving. I was wrong: I experienced my first panic attack (I had over 150 dives at the time). I was a bit narced, so I shrugged it off. That feeling of impending doom continued on and off for a couple of months. Whenever I started getting that feeling again, I would just stop and breathe slowly, to calm myself down. I never got to a full-blown panic again, but it took some work. I've been fine since then, and that was over a year and many dives ago.

I found it also helped to practice basic skills to get my confidence back, so you might try that.