Panic Attacks - is it normal?

[jessinthas]

I was on my 6th dive after my open water dive course... it was supposed to be 2 leisure dives and I had this panic attack on my first dive. My first one was cut short in 12 minutes because i felt my mask was too loose. I thought I'd tighten it up and wait for the next one. When it was time for the next dive, I started getting really nervous.. but thought once I jumped in, it would go away. I jumped in and felt so scared. The DM and my buddy were really amazing though, they led me down patiently, but I lasted only 18 minutes and was too afraid to go further down.

I attribute it to my last dive during the open water dive course, where I had wanted to purge my primary and accidentally swallowed a large amount of salt water, felt like I was drowning then immediately inflated my BC to surface.

I wonder if this is normal and if we do get over these panic attacks. Does anyone have a similar experience?

 

[Cave Bum]

The more you dive the less these things tend to effect you. Another issue to watch for is these things tend to make you over breathe or breathe too fast. This causes a CO2 build up. Excess CO2 is the trigger that causes our minds to tell use we need to take a breath so we continue to over breathe. This, in turn, causes a reaction in the hypothalamus called ‘fight or flight’.

The bottom line is, if you start to breathe rapidly due to anxiety, consciously slow down your breathing, get it under control. That's the first step to controlling panic underwater. Your first instinct will be to run away, bolt for the surface. You have to consciously force yourself to just stop!

Be safe and have fun in the water! Bruce

 

[tstormdiver]

Is panic normal? Well, I would say it depends. To some people it is, to some it is not. Panic is a response to situations that your mind & body can not cope with. In Scuba it can be very dnagerous! Bolting to the surface has the potential to cause you serious harm. It is obvious that you have some serious stresses that are causing you massive problems. I only know what little you have explained in your thread, as to your experiences. It does sound like you could use several more sessions both in confined water & in open water with an instructor, practicing your skills until they become second nature & to also allow you a chance to become more comfortable under water. If you are serious about wanting to dive, you may have to go a slower route to achieve your goals. Get with a patient & clam instructor who is willing to work with you at your own pace. Nothing wrong with that. Hopefully you'll be able to overcome your fears & enjoythe underwater world.

 

[iztok]

I panicked on my first day during my first confined water dive. I've put myself on the bottom kneeling and calmed down. It went better after that.

Second day on my first dive I had problems with feeling restrained by equipment. It just didn't feel right. I attributed it to the way I've put it on and might have lead to less desirable positioning. Second dive was better as I've reajusted gear.

I found out that when I am not stable I get that way but key for me is to stabilize and once there I can manage and move forward.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Some good advice here already. My answer to your question would be: In many cases at the beginning, panic (or at least mild discomfort/concern) is likely relatively common. When this happens, you need to STOP, let your buddy know you are stopping for a second but that all is OK for now (be sure to have mentioned this problem to your buddy ahead of time during the pre-dive), just hang there and breathe. Watch your buddy, watch a fish, watch anything. If the "panic" passes, then continue your dive but you can opt to go no deeped on it or even head up some but still continue. Deeper is NEVER a requirement if you do not want to go there for ANY reason. I find that on my first very cold dive of the season (36-40 degrees), I have to drop to the bottom slowly, and then just stop to get my breathing under control. I dive wet so this is why....but after a minute, I adjust and my breathing comes back to normal and I can have a fun dive. If I tried to storm through that without the (pardon the pun here) "breather", I know for fact I would be surfacing after a very short dive.

Just to clarify, you have already been certified correct? Did you have any issues during certification? Perhaps you could talk to your OW instructor and ask them if they would be willing to spend a little extra time with you even though you are certified. The "Safety" of confined water with an instructor would likely make you feel better about being underwater. This way you can work on your skills with your instructor to gain not only more experience but also confidence. The more time you spend underwater, the more confident you are likely to be and therefore the less likely you are to experience what you did. Either way, I would suggest that you keep diving but start with very shallow dives. I personally enjoy a 15' deep dive as much as a 100'+ deep dive. If you start at 15, just to be comfortable, and work your way down progressively with each dive, then you will likely find yourself at 60' in no time and no longer concerned.

 

[jessinthas]

Thanks Everyone. I was feeling really unnerved at the end of the dive trip with the panic attacks. I guess the key is to NOT panic and just breathe. With your pointers I am motivated to give it another go.

 

[Blackwood]

If you are truly prone to panic attacks, I'd think very hard about diving (in particular not doing it).

Panic kills divers. There's nothing down there worth dying to see.

 

[DennisW]

For starters, anyone can experience a panic attack. It happens to the best of us. Happened to me after I had been diving for years. It was on a shallow dive off Venice Beach. The visability was nearly zero, I was diving with my daughter and Walter, but not tied to them with a buddy line. They were using a buddy line to stay together. I thought I had enough experience to stay together and if not, just surface, go to the flag and descend. I was underweighted and had a hard time staying down which caused me to work and begin breathing hard. I probably had some CO2 build up and it caused me to get uncomfortable. I really started to hyperventilate which only makes things worse. I stopped, controlled my breathing, then surfaced and waited for Walter to come looking for me which he did within a minute or so. I called my dive, swam back to the beach on the surface, and they had a great time looking for shark teeth.

It took me several dives before I didn't feel a bit apprehensive before getting back in the water. So, my advise is to take it easy, calm yourself before you get in the water. Make the first few dives shallow and fun dives. If you feel panicky, stop, breath slow, calm yourself, then continue if you get control of the feeling. If you can't, call the dive. Tray again later, but try again. There are just too many cool things to see to stop diving. Most of all, have fun.

 

[jessinthas]

If you are truly prone to panic attacks, I'd think very hard about diving (in particular not doing it).

Panic kills divers. There's nothing down there worth dying to see.

I thought that too.. that I would have to give it up if I continued feeling this way. It jsut wasnt worth putting me and my buddy in jeopardy.

 

[jessinthas]

For starters, anyone can experience a panic attack. It happens to the best of us. Happened to me after I had been diving for years. It was on a shallow dive off Venice Beach. The visability was nearly zero, I was diving with my daughter and Walter, but not tied to them with a buddy line. They were using a buddy line to stay together. I thought I had enough experience to stay together and if not, just surface, go to the flag and descend. I was underweighted and had a hard time staying down which caused me to work and begin breathing hard. I probably had some CO2 build up and it caused me to get uncomfortable. I really started to hyperventilate which only makes things worse. I stopped, controlled my breathing, then surfaced and waited for Walter to come looking for me which he did within a minute or so. I called my dive, swam back to the beach on the surface, and they had a great time looking for shark teeth.

It took me several dives before I didn't feel a bit apprehensive before getting back in the water. So, my advise is to take it easy, calm yourself before you get in the water. Make the first few dives shallow and fun dives. If you feel panicky, stop, breath slow, calm yourself, then continue if you get control of the feeling. If you can't, call the dive. Tray again later, but try again. There are just too many cool things to see to stop diving. Most of all, have fun.

Your post made me feel alot better. So I suppose I just need to get into it again and just calm myself down. Thanks alot! I really cant wait to go on my next dive now!