Breathing problems

[drbill]

Anxiety can cause problems like this. I one had a tank valve get clogged at 80 fsw and had to do a controlled emergency ascent to the surface which took 70 seconds. For many months after that, I felt anxious as I descended and short on breath (and I've been diving for over 50 years). Once I was down, the anxiety was gone and everything was fine.

Don't think your situation was entirely unique... it happens. As Lynne has suggested, a more patient introduction to the skills necessary to dive may be a wise option. I have seen many people experience anxiety on a "Discover SCUBA" experience because they feel rushed and often don't receive enough pre-immersion training due to the nature of that experience. In a dive certification class, especially a private one, the instructor would spend more time with you and help ease your anxiety.

 

[Sandie7]

Hello !

I went to a second try today, as I had mencioned, and I managed to complete it ! I can't say that it was wonderful and perfect, because I was really very nervous. I also panicked again, and almost couln't breathe like the other time, but it only happened after quite a while, and I managed to control it by antecipating I had to stop. So I had time to signal I wanted to go to the surface. After calming down, I dived again.

My instructor used a totally different approch, not only starting from the beach, but also everything was very slow and quite different. We had time to talk and I told him what had happened before. So, I had him explain in detail how the regulator worked, although I already knew from Tbone1004.

I honestly thought it was going to be much worse to breathe, like before. But thanks to a very patient teaching I was ok. I also felt very safe.

Thank you to everyone who helped and supported me during this past week !

 

[fisheater]

Next time will be even easier.


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[Becca65]

Glad to hear things went better!

 

[Aguablanco1]

As with anything, the more you do it the easier it becomes. Glad to hear everything went OK. If you really like it don't give up.
RichH

 

[Sandie7]

As with anything, the more you do it the easier it becomes. Glad to hear everything went OK. If you really like it don't give up.
RichH

I will not. I know it will not be easy. I was already considering doing the OW, but hearing what the instructor told me after the dive - that he was going to be there to help me face every single problem and fear I had and that I could take all the time in the world, made me decide.

 

[Aguablanco1]

Sounds like a great instructor. Good luck.
RichH

 

[DukeAMO]

Taking all the time in the world is great! Often the root of the anxiety problem is feeling like you're not in control of the situation. Now, don't be afraid to ask for that extra time and practice! Any time a skill bothers you, do it over & over again until it's not scary any more. For example, if you do something right 5 times on one dive, and 5 times on the next dive, I bet it'll feel easy by then. If you do this extra practice, you'll probably come out of the OW class as a better diver than a lot of newbies.