Anxiety issues NEED solving!

So ive been diving for 2 years and except for at the beginning of my OW classes, I have never had any fear in or under the water. I have been to Cozumel and got my AOW there with no problem. The problems began a few weeks ago on my first venture to a local lake that was full of boats. Once at depth (25ft) I started to panic, could not calm myself down and had to surface. At the time I blamed it on the fear of the boats above but it happened again today with not a boat in the lake!
Has anyone ever had the unexplained panic attack?! I cant pinpoint anything that i was particularly frightened of, just mind-racing, heavy breathing, fear. I know that I am supposed to breath deeply and slowly to calm myself (like I did successfully in class) but even a few minutes of this did not help.
Can anyone relate and do you have any advise?? This CAN NOT continue or i am worried that my boyfriend, who is currenty very supportive of my recent handicap, will not want to be my dive buddy anymore! Whats wrong with me?!

Nothing is wrong with you.. This happened to a friend of mine as well. He is the manly man type so this was hard for him

Anyway in his case it took a few dives together to get him back to basics. I suggest that you get a few dives with an instructor to get your confidence back. I am probably to far away from you, I am in Superior, WI, so I suggest that you find someone local in Milwaukee to help you out.

If you cant find anyone to help PM me and we can figure something out.

M

Are these your first local dives? Local lakes, quarries, and the temperate ocean often present the challenge of diminished visibility that is not present in the tropics. Perhaps it's claustrophobia or perhaps fear of the unseen demons just outside the limits of your sight. I don't have a solution for you, but perhaps being aware of the cause might help.

What's different between the lake and your Cozumel experience? There could be a number of factors, ranging from physical to psychological (or a combination of both).

Comfort - was it maybe the extra reassurance of diving with a Divemaster in Coz that set you at ease?
Conditions - was the lake visibility perhaps less than you were used to, or hazier?
Temperature - I'll bet the water was colder than Coz, maybe your body is reacting to the cold.
Breathing - were you breathing shallowly, perhaps retaining more carbon dioxide than usual?

I hope you can work it out. Take it slowly, and work your way back up. Finding someone experienced, such as an instructor, to mentor you would be a big plus.

My wife is like a fish underwater till she dives in one lake. For some reason, it just strikes her as being the wrong place to be.

The human mind is a marvelous thing. It has had a lot of time to evolve. And, in doing so, it has gained the ability to give us subtle warnings. Panic, particularly, in some new circumstance could be a warning that there is something about the circumstance that requires some extra care. If I found myself repeatedly panicking while diving a specific location, I would (1) dive there with an instructor, and (2) not dive with a significant other. These two suggestions may be all that is required to reduce stress and panic.

Greetings Scubalaux and first and fore most relax! Yes many have issues with local lake dives ranging from temps to visibility and many more. I have been in some lakes where I felt great and others that I would have to say not so great.
I agree with the previous post that suggested getting a local instructor or DM to help you acclimate to your local scene. They can help you through your specific issues, train your brain that all will be fine! Once you get your confidence back, a healthy, safe , diving mental state you will be able to enjoy your local scene. Will it ever be like Coz?
I do not know, but you will be able to dive and be a good buddy!
Just relax and be committed to training taking it one step at a time! No big shake. It is a matter of training your brain that your skills are solid and that you are in control.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
CamG Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!

why not spend some time at the bottom of a swimming pool (with your buddy) to cross-check situational variables? If you get scared down there at 10 feet that's easier to work with than ten feet down in a dark lake. if you don't get scared in a pool then you know it's the lake, the environment that's getting ya and not the actual water. I think you simply need to be desensitized again and altering environments for stimulus reduction does help sometimes in anxiety treatment.

I agree with some of the sentiments above. Diving always has a modicum of stress associated with it - especially if you don't have so many dives under your weight belt. However I am in no means ashamed to admit that even with my thousands of dives, there are still times when I just feel that things are 'wrong'.

A 'bad head' can trigger lots of problems. For example - a diver had a fight with his or her significant other the night before, so their mind is not quite in the right place for diving. It might be an associated problem - I trained a very experienced diver to be a DM and when it came to her first attempt at demonstrating the mask removal and replacement skill, she bolted. This was down to a problem she'd had as a novice diver which resulted in a panic attack and rapid ascent. With that one exception, she was a brilliant student, but some psychological (or psychosomatic) reasoning had given her a lifelong fear of taking her mask off underwater. She sat on the bottom of a pool for an hour removing and replacing her mask over and over and over again until the panic went away - it was in fact a wonderful thing to watch and experience with her.

To scubalaux - it happens, and it's not abnormal. Regardless of how confident and well adjusted you might be at the surface, as ItsBruce pointed out - the human mind is a marvellous thing, and it's also very good at self-preservation, whether you want it to be or not! Being worried about overhead boats is probably very sensible so if that's the problem, eliminate it by making sure you ascend where there are no boats. If that's not possible, you can throw up floats and flags and whatnot to give you some extra sense of security.

It may well help to dive with an experienced instructor or dive buddy, just to give you that extra bit of confidence. Like all fears, repeated exposure to the object of that fear will lessen it's impact. If you're afraid of spiders, some people might suggest that the best way to overcome that is to sit in a big box full of spiders...! Don't let it stop you from diving, address the fear and you will overcome it. Having a dive expert (or spider expert if you're afraid of spiders!) will help.

In a way, fear is a good thing. It makes you recognise there is something you need to deal with. All too many divers seem to have this IOW (Immortal Open Water) certification and think there is absolutely *nothing* to be afraid of. This is when people start having accidents.

To scubalaux again - I think you should be applauded for owning up to your problem and ask for help in addressing it. I think it does you credit as both a diver and a person.

If I can help in any way, or you'd prefer to talk offline, feel free to PM.

Safe diving folks,

C.

A lot of great advice. You have all been so helpfull! I am going to spend time in the water for the next few days practicing my skills and getting to the bottom (no pun intended) of my fear. I will start off in a divers lake that we frequent regularly and slowly move to a more populated boating lake. I will keep you updated on my progress. Thanks again for all the help!