Dealing with Fears...

[daphis]

Hi

I am what you call a "vacation diver" (unfortunately) - I dive about twice a year and have only around 70 dives which are spread across over 10 years. Although I would like to dive more, I don't seem to find the time&money to do so.

I'll get to the point: although I LOVE the underwater world, I feel that I have accumulated some fears and phobias, partly because of some incidents that happened on dives and partly because I just get rusty between dives.

I'll concentrate on two main fears: Over the weekend I dived in Ras Mohammed (Sinai, Egypt) in the Thistlegorm and Shark and Yolanda reefs and have again encountered one of the toughest things for me: diving against a current. I encountered this before both in Galapagos and diving in the straights of Tiran, and I feel like I just get really hysterical because I feel that I get exhausted while trying to dive against it (even if others are ok with it or if it is for a short time).

So, basically, my question is - what can I do to improve on this? Take swimming lessons to learn to fin better? Work out more so I become stronger in my legs?

Another thing: I have become increasingly anxious about the regulator falling out of my mouth - I feel it's always on the verge of falling out and it makes me hysterical! (yeah, yeah, I know you just pop it back in).

I know one of the obvious reactions would be to tell me to just quit diving, but I DO believe in facing one's fears, especially if I enjoy what I see so much.

So any ideas on how to cope would be great.

Thank you

 

[drydiver]

Hi

I am what you call a "vacation diver" (unfortunately) - I dive about twice a year and have only around 70 dives which are spread across over 10 years. Although I would like to dive more, I don't seem to find the time&money to do so.

I'll get to the point: although I LOVE the underwater world, I feel that I have accumulated some fears and phobias, partly because of some incidents that happened on dives and partly because I just get rusty between dives.

I'll concentrate on two main fears: Over the weekend I dived in Ras Mohammed (Sinai, Egypt) in the Thistlegorm and Shark and Yolanda reefs and have again encountered one of the toughest things for me: diving against a current. I encountered this before both in Galapagos and diving in the straights of Tiran, and I feel like I just get really hysterical because I feel that I get exhausted while trying to dive against it (even if others are ok with it or if it is for a short time).

So, basically, my question is - what can I do to improve on this? Take swimming lessons to learn to fin better? Work out more so I become stronger in my legs?

Another thing: I have become increasingly anxious about the regulator falling out of my mouth - I feel it's always on the verge of falling out and it makes me hysterical! (yeah, yeah, I know you just pop it back in).

I know one of the obvious reactions would be to tell me to just quit diving, but I DO believe in facing one's fears, especially if I enjoy what I see so much.

So any ideas on how to cope would be great.

Thank you

One way to cope with the anxiety and rustiness is to dive more, if the only opportunity is to get into a pool right before your trips, to do a refresher of skills, then so be it.

Personally, I found the more I dived in local less than ideal conditions, the better my dive vacations were. The more comfortable and skilled I became in the water, the more relaxed I became, the more comfortable I was in my equipment, my SAC rate improved, trim, etc. I am not in the greatest shape, but I noticed the better my trim or horizontal position was in the water, the less energy I used, especially against current. I have heard that biking, not only for the cardio but also for increased leg strength in all the right places, is excellent exercise for divers.

In addition to trim, I found that an efficient kick as well as paddle style fins, as opposed to split fins, offered better propulsion per kick or unit of energy expended. My first 50 dives or so were in split fins and then I tried out the paddle style and noticed a big difference, especially in current.

You did not mention whether you owned your own dive equipment, but if you do, that can be a real comfort factor. I did not own all of my own gear when I first started diving and did not really recognize the benefit of the muscle memory/comfort of my personal setup and confidence in equipment performance due to regular maintenance until I needed to go back to rental gear. Recently I was on vacation and my dive equipment was temporarily misplaced, I was not a happy camper.

2 equipment recommendations on the reg falling out bit, one option is to bungee your octo around your next, so whether your reg falls out or is, ahem, taken unexpectedly, you know in the back of your mind, your octo is one quick movement away. I found the some regs actually are big for my mouth and are about to fall out, personally I found my jaw relaxes more with the use of the comfo-bite mouthpiece. My first reg came with this so I did not notice a difference until I was relegated to rental gear with a large mouthpiece and felt like my reg was literally about to fall out. There are some mouthpieces that can even be molded to your bite, I know a few people who love them. For vacations with rental gear, you can usually easily switch out the mouthpieces and replace the old ones upon return. If you do not feel confident doing this yourself, you can just ask your dive op/shop to do it.

Keep diving, be safe and good luck!

Donna

 

[CamG]

Greetings daphis and it is good to face things that make us afraid.
As a diver we need to be acutely aware of what pushes our buttons so that we can train them into our comfort level.
It really is just that simple, focused training designed to conquer those issues.
If you can not come up with a plan yourself employ the aid of a mentor or Instructor.
In my own experience I found the determination to conquer issues put me in the water doing more diving. Where do divers practice? IN THE WATER.

This fact has driven me to seek more local dive opportunities. The conditions are not always what one would call good but they are good enough to keep skills fresh and increase confidence.
Do not underestimate pool practice, if that was all I had I would dive it every weekend!
I am not kidding if all I had was mud puddles I would find the deepest and when it rained be there.

You would be amazed the more determined you become you will discover other divers who share that same passion and you will find yourself diving more.
Good luck and go after it and conquer it! You are the factor in the battle!
Meet it head on and knowledge is power! MIND OVER MATTER!
CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

 

[DevonDiver]

You live in Israel and you can't dive regularly?!?

Go to Eilat...it's lovely and you can drive from anywhere in Israel in a couple of hours. What's the snag??

If you can cross the border, then Taba has some amazing (no current!) pristine dive sites. It's a perfect location for gaining confidence.

So, basically, my question is - what can I do to improve on this? Take swimming lessons to learn to fin better? Work out more so I become stronger in my legs?

1) Stay closer to the bottom / side of the terrain where you are diving. Natural water friction slows the flow of water and reduces the effect of current if you are close enough (-1m).

2) Streamline your body and your equipment. Make sure you attain excellent horizontal trim and don't minimize water resistance against any dangling equipment.

3) Get a good pair of energy efficient fins. Force Fin Pro are worth investigating, as they require little effort of substantial power.

4) Regular diving/finning definitely eases the strain on the legs. When I take a break from diving, I notice how my legs tire more easily. I'd recommend some 'work-up' training prior to your diving holiday. Just enjoy some time in the swimming pool

5) Consider your equipment choices and configuration for minimising water resistance. Go minimalist with a BP&W. That makes a real difference.

Another thing: I have become increasingly anxious about the regulator falling out of my mouth - I feel it's always on the verge of falling out and it makes me hysterical! (yeah, yeah, I know you just pop it back in).

Get a Seacure mouth-piece. These 'mold' to your teeth like a boxer's mouthguard and take all of the 'bite effort' from holding the regulator there.

 

[TSandM]

I guess my first take is, why are you diving against the current? If there is strong current, you should be drifting with it. If you are on a wreck where you have to get back to the upline, you can use wreck structure for shelter, or pull on the wreck itself. Working against current is silly; divers are poorly streamlined creatures and have a limited ability to resist the water, and it uses up all your gas in a hurry.

But if you must dive into current, you've gotten some tips -- streamline yourself and your gear, stay as horizontal as you can, and use a steady flutter kick.

As far as the regulator anxiety thing goes, I think what you need to do is get comfortable without a regulator in your mouth. You can do that by practicing switching from your primary regulator to your backup regulator, or practicing regulator recovery procedures, or just taking the reg out of your mouth for a few seconds and putting it back. When I was first diving, I realized I was very anxious without a reg in my mouth, so I did a lot of those drills and it helped a lot. Figuring out something that makes the reg more secure in your mouth is all well and good, but doesn't address the underlying anxiety, which is that not having a regulator will be a disaster -- which it isn't.

 

[knowone]

Tackle your situations as you do the ones when you are not diving.

 

[Hank49]

Hi
I'll concentrate on two main fears: Over the weekend I dived in Ras Mohammed (Sinai, Egypt) in the Thistlegorm and Shark and Yolanda reefs and have again encountered one of the toughest things for me: diving against a current. I encountered this before both in Galapagos and diving in the straights of Tiran, and I feel like I just get really hysterical because I feel that I get exhausted while trying to dive against it (even if others are ok with it or if it is for a short time).

So, basically, my question is - what can I do to improve on this?
Thank you

For one who fears currents, you seem to have "grabbed the bull by the horns" and gone into high current areas. This could be good but it may put a permanent scare into you also.
Try dive places that are more mellow current wise. The Galapagos? My friends said it has raging currents that go out into the blue.
Come to the Caribbean.

 

[raoulsttexas]

+1 for seacure mouthpiece. spend time cutting it down to size if necessary. it's an entirely different ballgame. i never think about my reg (falling out) anymore.

 

[TMHeimer]

One of those "mold it to fit your mouth" mouthpieces may help.

 

[oceancrest67]

I can relate to getting out of shape and then not having the time or the money to keep up regular diving. It is a wake up call when one gets thrown off the horse on a particular dive. For me...it was wreck diving off of NC and I could not reach the anchor line after my giant leap in...the current (strong on that day) pulled me away and I had to surface exhausted and then get pulled in by the rescue line...I crawled back onto the deck exhausted. It was a wake up call for getting out of shape especially...and having to rush things to get ready for the trip in the first place. I have been diving for 15 years. I am a DM. I hold tech certifications for deco diving, nitrox, wreck and cavern/cave and this one day/first dive of the day humbled me.