Freaking out for no reason...

[LastManOut]

There are some really good posters in this forum, great advice guys

Uraluni, just remember that while you're with a good buddy, you can also use them as an underwater solid object if you know what I mean.

 

[gcbryan]

Have you had a long break from diving lately? Even with experience taking a break can add a little anxiety until you get back into the groove.

Or did you have coffee or soda or any caffeine before the dive when that's not the usual case for you?

It does sound like it might be that second stage however.

 

[Paladin]

When I first started diving back in the Dark Ages, I quickly learned that I get narked easily. In those days, I would get pickled as a sailor on shore leave at about 130 ft. I would start to feel the effects of nitrogen narcosis at around 80 0r 90 ft. At 80 or 90, it was a slightly giddy feeling; a bit of euphoria. But lately, my reaction to NN is anxiety. I first experienced this a few years ago during a visit to the dentist. He gave me nitrous oxide and I immediately had an anxiety attack. Again, back in the spring, after I had gotten back into diving after a long dry spell, I experienced the beginnings of another (light) anxiety attack at about 90 ft. I knew what it was and moved up to 70 ft and it went away. I don't know if your case is similar, but it appears that my reaction to NN has changed over the years.

 

[Uraluni]

Have you had a long break from diving lately? Even with experience taking a break can add a little anxiety until you get back into the groove.

Or did you have coffee or soda or any caffeine before the dive when that's not the usual case for you?

It does sound like it might be that second stage however.

Naw...no long break. It just happens to me from time to time. I seem to have odd luck with what should be an otherwise quality reg. I've recently changed shop affiliations and I don't do my own reg servicing (though maybe I should get qualified to do that). For now, I'll see if the new shop can service it better than the last one.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Uraluni, your not alone on this I have had the same discomforts, recently, and it really bugged me to the point I was not wanting to dive as much, I am thinkin as I got older and to be here on earth longer for my wife, was the problem. I went through a stage of these attacks, Then it was time to put an end to it. I dove deep, deeper,deeper and styrd longer, longer. This week alone I have dove deep deco dives bout everyday. I am going through a divorce, and it is comming to an end. I can't say that not having someone to come back to is it, but it is pitch dark down there, and bymyself, I think if something come into sight will i freak, or just look at it. Now I just do air, and that is what I like best, for deco obligations are a piece of cake. Now I hope you can go down and think that everything will be fine, thats what I tell myself. Yet as I am the only one in my life now, I have not a single pressure, weather or not, If I get into trouble would it matter. Like todays dive could be it, and I really dont care. I am addicted to it and right now in my life diving is all I have. On your next dive when you get to a hundred, stop breath and look at gauges, go through your dive plan in your head and then start to look around, make sure your air consumption is fine and that your are breathing continiously, yes basics, and then your narcosis is now under control. from your avatar, you have dark water at depth also.

Just my experience as of right now. good you can confront. My wife just did not no what was wrong with me and run, run away as fast as she can. I am not at all knowing if this will get my life on earth back on tract, But to be happy down under is all I care about, at this poit.


Happy Diving

 

[PhilEllis]

Naw...no long break. It just happens to me from time to time. I seem to have odd luck with what should be an otherwise quality reg. I've recently changed shop affiliations and I don't do my own reg servicing (though maybe I should get qualified to do that). For now, I'll see if the new shop can service it better than the last one.

Is this a regulator problem or a panic problem? You need to settle this out.

You seem to have settled on the fact that you have a regulator problem. In a panic situation, no regulator seems to provide enough air. That is part of the nature of panic. Take your regulator (or send it) to someone that will confidently provide you with a proper service. It the regulator was the REAL problem, you issue is solved. If not, well....you need to look a little further.

Phil Ellis
www.divesports.com

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Naw...no long break. It just happens to me from time to time. I seem to have odd luck with what should be an otherwise quality reg. I've recently changed shop affiliations and I don't do my own reg servicing (though maybe I should get qualified to do that). For now, I'll see if the new shop can service it better than the last one.

Terry covered many of the potential causes for anxiety attacks at depth, but another one may be gas. As an older guy who has been diving for awhile, I'm pointedly aware of the changes I've had to make simply to accomodate growing older.

Checked your profile, but didn't see an answer re training, so please excuse my questions - but are you breathing air or nitrox, or even adding helium at depths below 100 fsw?

Bad gas (e.g. with either carbon monoxide or oil vapor in it) is always a problem, but sometimes changing from air to mixed gas can help reduce anxiety. Adding helium to a mix intended for use below 100' can reduce potential for narcosis, for example - and narcosis can have all sorts of anxiety-provoking effects.

Other than that, I've had drysuits and hoods that have 'shrunk' over a decade, with the result that I can feel more constrained inside them; if you're overweight and out of shape it can play a role in comfort; if you've started taking maintenance meds for hyper-tension, high cholesteral, or cardio-issues that can also play a role. Physical and medical issues can contribute to psychological effects - such as anxiety at depth.

Equipment issues can certainly play a part, but if the equipment has worked fine for many years, unless there has been a sudden change to your equipment - it probably isn't the equipment. Simple to test - try a dive with a different reg. (Although high-performance regs are simply much easier breathing at deeper depths - but so is using helium in the mix.) I suggest you consider other potential causes besides just your regulators.
(Have you had a physical exam recently? Something to consider...)

Best with it.

Doc

 

[Web Monkey]

Terry covered many of the potential causes for anxiety attacks at depth, but another one may be gas. As an older guy who has been diving for awhile, I'm pointedly aware of the changes I've had to make simply to accomodate growing older.

That's a great point! I'll even share my doctor's sage medical advice, right here, for free!

When I told him "My ankle hurts when I carry my doubles up the hill to the car." he said "It sucks to get old"

If deep dives are getting weird and there's no equipment problem and it's not meds, maybe it's just a hint to just start doing shallower dives.

Terry

 

[BabyDuck]

good ideas so far in the thread. the only thing i'll add is next time it happens, stop & really think about it. what is bothering you? sit there a minute & think about it, go over all your systems internal & external & see if you can hit on anything.

the reason i suggest this is that i used to get anxious at a certain point in a particular cave. then i realized that since it's a vertical crack, when i went up it i had to speed up my breathing to a level that my body thought was anxiety, so i felt anxious for real. the answer - slow way down going up that crack. now, totally comfortable there.

 

[InTheDrink]

I find your post interesting. Sometimes I get anxious from 25m+ and struggle to understand why and it can ruin a dive. I love being underwater so when I am feeling 'can't wait for this to be over' I know something is wrong. When I come up slightly this goes away. It is a very unreasonable sense of anxiety. I have noticed that I get this more on wrecks than on walls/reefs. I think this is because of perspective, maybe slight vertigo.

The best thing I've found for it is a) focusing on something else (any task, fishies, anything) and b) more diving although b doesn't sound like a solution for you if you're diving lots anyway.

Anyhow, I hope it all clears up. It may well be your reg but my spider sense tells me it's probably not.