Biggest problems for Newbies???? Hypnosis Related- sort of

Ok, I have a question that I welcome any and all answers to but PARTICULARLY those who recently when through basic OW cert and instructors who teach them.

The question is: What are the top problems (challenges, fears, blocks) that seem to affect MOST new dive students?

Ie- Breathing smoothly, taking the mask off without panicking, remembering to keep breathing, breathing slow and deep, that sort of thing.

The reason I ask is this: I am a hypnotherapist, and am going to be releasing a new self hypnosis tape designed to help people get OVER those kinds of scuba related issues that are largely mind over matter- I know what MY issues were during recent open water certification, and I know what some of my class mates were, but I like to get a broad specturm so I make sure I cover as many bases as possible.

I ended up working with a few people I knew who were also going through dive classes and having some issues, and that sparked me to decide to work on a regular self help tape as well.

Thanks in advance to any isnight you offer into your personal challenges... and if you care to share, How YOU overcame them.

Dean

Some people dive into scuba (no pun intended) with relish. We call them water-babies. They are normally already swimmers, surfers, syncro-swimmers, water polo players, etc before they come to scuba.

Other people are afraid to death of water, whether pool or ocean. They are often taking the class because someone else wants them to. They are afraid to breathe on scuba, afraid to trust the equipment, afraid to take off their masks underwater, and then cannot wait to jerk their masks off once at the surface.

When you have both groups in a class, it is a major challenge to the instructors and the D/Ms.

When you have all water-babies, then life is good.

I really did not fear anything other than that initial issue of having 40/50' of substance between me and the surface. Like being covered with 50' of blankets or earth or whatever.
The way I over came this was I new if I could see the bottom before decent I could see where I'm at vs where I have to go and it worked perfectly.
At the surface I simply looked at the bottom (the water was clear) and at that point was completely calm.
I think every diver should do this when getting OW certified.

There are many common issues. Different teaching techniques can help to overcome most any of them so long as the student remains calm and is motivated.

Problems include:

• Claustrophobia, particularly in poor visibility
• Airway control. Breathing in only from the mouth.
• Fear of losing buddy/instructor
• Fear of the dive environment (water, fish, possible entanglements)
• Learning to establish proper breathing pattern - Slow & Deep
• Self doubt about their training and ability to handle problems
• Fear of failure

Not all inclusive by any means.

im just finishing up my ow cert. we had a guy in our class who claimed to be a champion triathalete...I BEG TO DIFFER! he quit within 10 mins of our first confined dive. we got int he water with our gear and we did our laps and our float all was fine, he actually did the best in my oppinion. well once we started swiming just face under on the surface switching between scuba and our snorkle..he couldnt do it! he was swimming with his hands and not using his feet and he couldnt figure out how to swap between reg and snorkle! he got all flustered and quit! and the weird thing was our instructor knew he was gonna quit or get kicked out because he sensed something weird about this guy. good thing we werent in open ocean or he would have freaked and drown im sure!

Some of the most common "challenges" students have.

1) Breathing from a reg with the face in the water for the first time.
2) Mask flooding.
3) Mask removal. (this is "the" most common)
4) Claustrophobia. They usually conquer this fear in the pool, but it is usually heightened when a full wet suit is put on with the rest of the gear for the first time.
5) Diving to 25 - 30 feet for the first time during the OW phase of the training. Can be part of claustrophobia or just plain old fear of the unknown.
6) Panic attacks at the surface, usually brought on by heightened anticipation of what to expect and fear of the unknown.
7) Fear of loosing the air supply, usually indicated by the student continually holding onto the reg while it's in the mouth. This could also be considered a fear of drowning.
8) The "surface is my savior" syndrome. At the first sign of something out of the ordinary, the student will bolt to the surface, often holding their breath. Trying to instill a "go to your buddy" response in place of this is one of the most challenging.

Does this help?

pt40fathoms once bubbled...
Some of the most common "challenges" students have.

...
8) The "surface is my savior" syndrome. At the first sign of something out of the ordinary, the student will bolt to the surface, often holding their breath. Trying to instill a "go to your buddy" response in place of this is one of the most challenging.

Does this help?

Click to expand...

That is the one that is truly, truly dangerous!

Nice list.

Your comments are ALL very helpful and helping me to round out the subject matter I have to cover in the tape set.

Many thanks!

I'm recently qualified and as such have limited experience, but I think the "unknown" element is a big fear for many people. It was for me on my first qual dive, which was in salt water, 2' vis, and strong current. We only went down to 20', but I had no idea where the bottom was and it felt like I was going down forever. On the seocnd dive 10 mins later, my SAC rate was half that of the first dive and I felt more relaxed as I knew what to expect. One of our group would not go below the surface and aborted, yet he had no problems later in a freshwater lake, less unknowns I guess.

On a recent rig dive, several of the divers had not dived in the ocean before and there was a definite hesitancy in jumping into the dark blue, more so after they saw the 'cuda swimming around the boat. They wanted to see other people in the water first, I'm guessing to reassure them that it was actually safe down there.

The only other thing I've noticed people not comfortable with is the mask flooding and removal, for some reason people do not seem to like this.

I can associate with the "surface is my savior" philosophy too. On an early dive I somehow swallowed some salt water at 90'. I though I was going to choke, throw up, die or all three and really wanted to be on the surface right away. I made a controlled ascent to 50' and suddenly felt better, I suspect in part as the surface was nearer and within my minds grasp, but for a moment panic was knocking at my door and wanting in.

Id go with mask removal - from trainees ive seen this has seemed to cause the most problems and attempted bolts.

One person i know of is going through the class again in the new year intake purely because of not being able to clear a fully flooded mask (or the confidence to fully flood a mask more like) in the pool, yet alone OW.

My own personal fear was an uncontrolled ascent and on the first few dives i really weighted myself down to make sure i could hold that stop. Didnt help with the buoyancy but it was a subconcious fear.

Im still a little bit nervous about it (a little nerves is healthy) especially if its a deco dive. Keeping ever so slightly negative all the way up is my way of dealing with it.

The main thing beginners need to learn is STOP > THINK > REACT method of dealing with things. The natural instinct when surrounded by water and things go wrong is to get out of the stuff ASAP and is the single most dangerous reflex whilst diving.