First Sense of Panic

[CoralSeaMan]

I had my first (and only) true panic response on my cert dives doing mask removal and replacement. Since I had never experienced anything like that, it disturbed me for months. It hasn't come up again and did not keep me from diving. It has probably helped me to stay focused when problems came up because I know what I am fighting. It has also given me a great deal more understanding about those students who panic under water.
In my case it was almost certainly caused by the cold water in the face (mamalian ? response?). I've never heard anyone describe a temporary physical blockage. How would a polyp move?

 

[bada3003]

Really? I would think there has be a medical condition or otherwise rational explanation. Maybe you have a medical condition that is prone to lead to blocked sinuses that you are unaware of. Otherwise, your claim doesn't make much sense.

I am glad you were able to overcome that rising panic. Well done!

I have a comment on your stuffed nose. It might not have anything to do with your state of health. I have had similar problems in the past, out of nowhere, with no clear cause that I can see. It can happen at any point in a dive, whether I am in an ocean, lake, or swimming pool. Suddenly my nose is completely stuffed. It becomes really, really hard to clear my mask. Fortunately, it does not happen often, but it has happened more than a few times. It goes away almost as soon as I surface.

I started a thread about it a number of years ago, and quite a few people reported similar problems. I don't recall anyone identifying a cause.

 

[boulderjohn]

Really? I would think there has be a medical condition or otherwise rational explanation. Maybe you have a medical condition that is prone to lead to blocked sinuses that you are unaware of. Otherwise, your claim doesn't make much sense.

So it can't happen? I am so relieved. Here I thought I and others were having this experience, and now I learn that it must not have happened.

 

[MrChen]

So it can't happen? I am so relieved. Here I thought I and others were having this experience, and now I learn that it must not have happened.

I don't think he's even worth replying to.

---------- Post added January 5th, 2014 at 10:32 PM ----------

I had my first (and only) true panic response on my cert dives doing mask removal and replacement. Since I had never experienced anything like that, it disturbed me for months. It hasn't come up again and did not keep me from diving. It has probably helped me to stay focused when problems came up because I know what I am fighting. It has also given me a great deal more understanding about those students who panic under water.
In my case it was almost certainly caused by the cold water in the face (mamalian ? response?). I've never heard anyone describe a temporary physical blockage. How would a polyp move?

Someone should start a thread about their first time panicking. Thanks for sharing.

 

[DanLW]

As a farily new diver, I see dealing with panic as a sort of "coming of age", or perhaps a "rite of passage" of sorts. In spit of all the training and knowledge, nobody knows how they will react with a given situation until presented with it. Being able to knock at panic's door and not walk through is an important experience.

I have heard of harassment drills where instructors try to task overload the student to artifically create this experience. Are there any agencies that conduct this sort of training, and if so, what course is it?

 

[MrChen]

I'm not sure harassment would be the same. When the moment of panic hit me I was at 60-70 ft, descending, and my mask was filled with water over and in my nose. It was completely unexpected.

If you practice harassment, you aren't practicing panic. You might be able to prevent panic through harassment practice, but I don't think it would prepare you mentally for when you do panic. Does that make sense?

 

[DanLW]

It does make sense. In the back of your mind, you'd know that you are still relatively safe. I guess the training is more for building a diver's problem solving skills.

 

[MrChen]

And confidence. I feel that water confidence is what saved me from my panic. I grew up in a pool and going to the beach. I competitively swam and played water polo. I was the top swimmer in my HS and among my friends. We used to push our underwater limits all the time. To me, the OW challenges were a joke. I honestly couldn't understand why some people were freaking out and heading for the surface. I completely understood it for the first time when this incident occurred and I was able to immediately snap myself out of it, calm my breathing, and work out the problem without aborting the dive. My dive buddy simply thought I was having problems equalizing my ears and in the meantime, I'd just had the first under water panic attack of my life.

Without water confidence, I would have been heading to the surface. I think harassment practice would help build that confidence, and like you said, build the problem solving skills, but it wouldn't simulate the actual panic unless something was truly wrong.

What I wonder is, why do we start breathing harder when we panic? I'll have to post that as a question.

 

[fsardone]

Apparently and according to some researcher, a panic attack causes an imbalance in brain pH (acidity) which the brain tries to correct increasing breathing to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (which in water/blood becomes carbonic acid) thus reducing acidity (or increasing pH).
see: Panic Attacks as a Problem of pH - Scientific American

The article see it the other way around (acid triggers panic attack).

Now back to the panic underwater ... I agree it is a rite of passage (sometimes to be renewed as per below).
I have been diving since I was 14 (1980) and my first panic attack was in 1996 after 16 years of diving and free diving. I also was a guy with gills and I thought I was immune but a small crack on the exhale membrane of my regulator allowed a tiny amount of water to get in my throat and caused coughing and almost a full blown laryngospasm. The feeling of lack of air and coughing underwater the need to swap regulator all added to my urge to surface (I was at 18 mt 60'), but years of training the fact I had been there for 30 minutes and the knowledge surfacing too fast would be bad and I could live up to 2 minutes without breathing (from my free diving) helped me keep it under control. Reason self confidence and preparedness win over instinct.

One more last year .... (16 years later, looks like I need one every such amount of time to be reminded about humility) First time with 2 stages in an unfamiliar wreck at 50mt on air (150') I get stuck with total silt out .... once again the three step useful in aircraft emergencies:
-maintain control (of yourself or the aircraft);
-analyze the situation
-take proper action.

Failing 1 you do not get to 2 and 3: you die
Failing 2 you will fail 3 (seriously in trouble because doing something wrong will almost always worsen the situation)
Failing 3 .... see the above number 2.

Dive safe and happy landings

Fabio

 

[MrChen]

Thanks for the info Fabio. It's also humbling to know that just because you've been through it doesn't mean it won't or can't happen again.