Nervous Nellie in the water-- even after a dozen dives

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TheWonder3FeetUnder

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Hello,
New here. I was certified last summer under PADI in southeast Alaska. I'm still terrified in the water! Especially in low viz or even worse, pea soup. I think that is the major problem. The odd flip side is that I am fascinated with diving and the sea life, and I'm constantly on my husband about "When are we going out next?!!" My question is, will I ever be free of the constant anxiety when diving or should I learn to live with it?

Some things about my diving history:
--Alaska diving only
--Dry Suit certified
--I am scared to go deep and like to stay in 3 to 20 feet, although I've been down to 70 feet once and down to 40 feet about 6 times.
--Panicked during my first training CESA and ripped the reg out of my mouth during the (uncontrolled) assent
--will alternately beg to go out diving, and then 30 minutes into a dive I may panick about something and call the dive.
--only deal with a great dive shop, all my gear is high quality and well maintained

Am I doomed to a life of Nervous Nellie diving? As a note, I do realize that this anxiety is irrational and even detrimental to my/our safety.

Thanks!
 
My dive buddy was nervous and worried for her first ~20 dives. She was convinced she'd never be able to manage her buoyancy and dreaded the safety stop. She also hates even the idea of diving in low viz conditions and that's why she's never dived the Puget Sound, which is where I got my certification.

She is a much more confident diver now but she still won't dive in really murky water. Maybe you should try some blue-water diving and see if that suits you? And also know that lots of people feel really nervous about diving when they start out and lots of them feel better the more they dive.
 
It doesn't seem irrational given the viz you've been diving in. I think most new divers are nervous for quite some time after getting certified, at least I would hope there would be some apprehension in a newer diver. If at all possible try going on a vacation where you can dive in some better viz, that may make a big difference, and give you the confidence you will need to dive more comfortably in your local conditions.
RIchH
 
It doesn't sound like you are having any fun- why do you want to keep diving? The recommendation to dive in some warmer water with vis will do several things for you- you will feel less encumbered in the water, you will see hopefully some cool fish, and you won't have to necessarily go too deep. But if you are having panic attacks you are endangering yourself and the people you are diving with. No way to know what the future will bring, but do you want to dive or does someone else want you to dive?
 
Whoa. I appreciate the responses. The last post is just bizarre. Did you read my original post? I am fascinated with diving and am in fact the one who is constantly asking, if not begging, when we can go out next.

Some dives I am more anxious than others. No, I do not enjoy the dives as much when I am more anxious than usual, but there have been a number of dives when I am more comfortable. I enjoy every dive at some level, regardless of my anxiety level. Considering that I describe SCUBA as a "life changing experience" that has "improved my quality of life exponentially", I would answer your question about my enjoyment of this sport with a solid "of course". That doesn't mean it is all rainbows and unicorns.

Have you ever done anything that is both exhilarating yet a bit terrifying? Have you ever been on a roller coaster? It is well within normal human experience to seek out experiences that are both scary and exhilarating.

But that doesn't mean I don't want to conquer the more extreme anxiety. I guess I will always be high strung in the water.

I only dive with ONE person, and I lead the dives. If I am nervous, we stay at depths of 20 feet or less, greatly reducing the danger. If I am feeling panicky, I just call the dive. Safety is extremely important to me, considering I am diving with my husband and will always put our safety first.

Thanks.
 
My personal opinion, and it is just that, an opinion; is to just keep diving and you will become more relaxed as you build confidence and experience.
 
I like your idea of staying in 20' of water, at least for now--maybe always. I do a lot of that. I know many will say you can die just as easily in 20'--ei, panic and breath hold to the surface. And that is of course true. But I will always feel that the shallower you are the safer you are in general. Ei., if you don't panic, a CESA is a piece of cake from 20'. At times I run into some pretty lousy viz, and if it gets to like 2-3 feet only, I just turn around. It's natural to be uneasy when you are faced with that. I've dived in even worse viz than that and "toughed it out", then asked myself why. A good suggestion was to go somewhere in the South (if possible). There you may get the visibility needed for you to be comfortable with going deeper. I have heard that 100' viz can make some uncomfortable as well, as it can be overwhelming and also cause vertigo. The best I've seen is about 40' in Panama.
 
My prescription for you is to dive in Florida/Caribbean or Hawaii next. Warm water, 3 mil wet suit, 50 feet of vis or better, and you will have a wonderful time. I had 30 such dives before I even consider local cold water limited visibility dives. In the meanwhile, you have done well to dive within you comfort zone, as to conditions, depth, or even duration. You dives have been great growth experiences for you, I am sure. But now treat yourself to some fun. My wife Debbie has over 200 dives, and she still has no desire for cold water limited viz. Compared to her you are a real adventurer. Keep at it, I say.
DivemasterDennis
DivemasterDennis
 
I may suggest something a bit unconventional. Take a Skin diving class and skin dive with a buddy. Breath hold dives are very short and if you can become a comfortable skin diver, it will transfer over to being a comfortable scuba diver. The opposite however is not true.

May be a bit troublesome in Alaska, since you cannot skin dive in a dry suit. An alternative is to practice skin diving in a pool. The key is to practice submerged swimming, while keeping with safety-buddy protocols that apply to that activity.
 
Thanks everyone. We do hope to get a dive trip in warm water sometime in the next year. Until then, it will be cold water diving in Alaska. It can be pretty clear even here in Alaska, but this time of year is the murkiest. On top of that, this weekend we are having extreme tides. For example, tomorrow morning it is going from 17 feet at high to -4 at low. It really sifts up everything.


I like the suggestion of staying in 20 feet and even just calling the dive in these pea soup conditions. We are planning to go out again tonight but maybe I should rethink it since we're having extreme tides. Or maybe we should go out and even stay 10 feet or shallower. I can still see great things even at 5 feet down. Yesterday I saw an Opalescent Nudibranch in about 6 feet of water, for example. And we saw a Decorator crab at 5 feet. This was during an extreme low.
 
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