is there any way to prepare for scuba panic?

[Jim Lapenta]

How you prep for it is by diving regularly and working on those things that you feel may freak you out. Mask coming off? Halfway through a dive just whip yours off and swim without it then replace it. Make sure your buddy knows you are going to do this. Reg kicked out? Don't get so close to people. Keep your distance. Switch between your primary and octo several times on every dive. Make it muscle memory.
And work on buddy skills. There is no reason as an OW diver to get separated from your buddy unless something catastrophic happens. Too bad many OW classes are not taught this way. You should never be more than arms reach away from your buddy in the beginning. If your buddy is always behind you, slow the heck down. If they are always in front, they need to slow down. Above or below you? Somebody needs to work on buoyancy skills. And if you have to go single file through an area as a new diver you really have no business being there in the first place. It's too tight.
But this message is also often lost when instructors show new divers that buddy skills are meaningless by taking them on single file swims.

 

[TSandM]

We ALL have a threshold where we will panic. What you can do is make that threshold as high as possible, and then do everything you can not to get there.

People have already mentioned practicing skills. I'll add to that that, if you have a particular thing which frightens you -- for example, you seem to worry about losing a regulator -- then you should practice that until it no longer worries you. I call those things "rattles", and if you have one, the water will find it eventually. Dealing with that kind of problem starts with thinking about how it happens and seeing what you can do to avoid it (because problems are always better avoided than solved). You might consider switching to some kind of longer primary hose/bungied backup system, so that your own backup regulator is right under your chin, and you pretty much cannot fail to find it. Work on your situational awareness, so that you notice if someone is turning his fins toward you. If you have a regular dive buddy, talk to him about team positioning -- if someone needs to turn, they should always turn so that their head goes TOWARD their buddy, not their fins. And then, practice regulator switches during your dive -- just go from your primary to your backup and back. Don't rush this -- you should be comfortable with time with no regulator in your mouth (remember to keep your airway open, or blow tiny bubbles during this drill).

Don't skip buddy checks . . . many underwater problems can be avoided by finding and fixing them on land. Be pushy if you have to -- any buddy who refuses to do a buddy check is not much of a buddy at all.

Take a Rescue class as soon as you are ready for it. Rescue will help solidfy your emergency procedure skills, and help you develop a mindset of looking at the hazards of a dive and preparing for them.

Dive a lot . . . the more you dive, the more comfortable you become with the process, and the less the mechanics of diving will occupy your mind. When the mere acts of diving -- managing buoyancy, trim, positioning, navigation, and dive monitoring -- are second nature, your baseline arousal is much lower, and you have more bandwidth and more stress tolerance before you are overloaded.

There is a LOT you can do to push that panic threshold further away -- and most importantly, to avoid ever getting near it.

 

[TMHeimer]

It's pretty much all been covered. Pony bottle is good advice, especially if you're deeper than where you can comfortably do a CESA. Practise regularly all the skills you learned-- I would think too few do this. Agree with TS & M that anyone regardless of experience can panic given the right circumstances, so imagine scenarios, and imagine stopping, thinking and acting. Devon D points out honestly assessing your ability, confidence. I try to approach each dive (site familiar or not) as if it were my first, but with more confidence now. Ei. don't become experienced to the point of being complacent. I have been in several uncomfortable situations due to unexpected current or cramping (or fear of both together)--fortunately I remained calm and found the best solution. Jim L's point of regs/masks being dislodged makes sense. I would guess this happens more when people are diving with a group, though I have been kicked by a lone buddy. I once almost had the reg ripped out going down an anchor line in the Gulf of Mex. by current. Since then I use a mouthpiece molded to my teeth (not very expensive).

 

[lionfish-eater]

There is a component of panic that is beyond our control. I had a recent nondiving event. I entered a tight confined space that was perfectly safe, but I got an immediate physical reaction that I could not control. I needed to get out immediately. I was in no risk of danger, but the panic was real. I got very hot, my face turned red, then pale. I knew I was in no danger, but was helpless to control the feeling. It was a psychological and physical reaction to a nonthreatening situation. After a few minutes of calming myself down I had no problem reentering the space and had no further issues. I was very disturbed when it happened because I thought of what might have happened if I had that panic while diving. I have hundreds of dives and have had a few underwater issues that I was able to stay calm and work through. I have dived in confined spaces and once got stuck in a narrow swim thru without any problems. The panic I felt was real and beyond my mental control. I hope it never happens while diving.

 

[TMHeimer]

lionfish-eater, That's a strange one. This happens to my wife, as she is extremely chaustraphobic. But it happens all the time, not just once.

 

[DevonDiver]

There is a component of panic that is beyond our control.

Here's an article on acute panic response in scuba diving: Scuba Diving Stress Management and Acute Panic Response

 

[MalibuJerry]

+1 on don't skip buddy checks. We are taught it and most people think that for some reason they will be looked down upon if they do them. Do them!

Then dive with a buddy you trust and tell him/her that you want to do some skills as part of the dive. Do this enough and you will become comfortable with your ability to handle problems under water so that when they occur you will just say to yourself "oh yeah been here before."

Also, the comments on swimming to the surface without a safety stop are right on. This is something you can practice with your buddy as well. Take the time to learn your skills well and you will really enjoy diving without fear of panicking, encountering a zombie diver excepted.

 

[dive_turkey]

As with any emergency procedure, you need to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE, and you need to do it right. Whenever we dive for the first time in a while, we practice. We practice buddy breathing, we practice octo breathing and controlled dual ascent, we take our gear off, we put it back on. If we're at 10m or less we'll take our gear off and leave it at the bottom and practice a free dive to the surface, followed by a free dive back down to don our gear. (Keep in mind your computer might not log that movement if it is air integrated) We practice everything at least once. Then, and only then, do we complete our dives.

On dives where we feel we are current on emergency procedures, we at least talk about them and brief one another on our gear. "This is where my octo is." "Just take my primary, I'll worry about me." etc...

As for remaining calm and rehearsing the drill you're talking about... I did it when I was 12. On my second open water dive during my certification at the age of 12 my regulator was ripped from my mouth when the hose snagged on a piece of coral. I suppose you could classify this as my first "emergency situation". I stopped breathing, I proceeded with my regulator retrieval stroke bringing my right arm down, and then sweeping it up until my hose was in my elbow, I located my primary, and continued my dive. It was not that big of a deal. However, my instructor had rehearsed this drill with me over and over and over and over again.

Emergency procedures in any activity, diving included, need to be second nature, instinct, and acted upon without conscious thought. That being said, do not forego all conscious thought. Only the procedures need to be this way. The actual state of mind in the emergency needs to be cool, calm, collective, observant, and controlled. (Also, if you're those things all the time you'll have less emergencies. I'm not going to talk about avoiding emergencies... just do your buddy checks and know your gear)

Sorry, that got really long, and I know I could go on for so much more. I work with lots of emergency procedures...

Just remember to PRACTICE your skills.

 

[TMHeimer]

There are two ways I know of to retrieve one's reg. If for some reason neither work and you think you're close to panic, just grab your own octo.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Actually I train students to go for their octo.first. Then find the primary at their leisure with a working reg in their mouth.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2