Fear of the Unkown

[qwertz]

Hey Guys,

picked up diving a couple of years ago and got since then around 600 dives under meh belt, NDL only. Except for the first 80 sth I dive cold waters exclusively, from lakes to northern norway.

When I started diving solo, quite a few things changed underwater, which is the reason for bringing me here.

Diving solo implements an unreasonable fear of the unknown. When I see a dark shadow underwater (meaning looking downwards) my pulse accelerates and I start to feel ... afraid. Quite afraid. Seeing underwater monsters, expecting Godzilla to show up and things like that. Turning around and swimming backwards makes things somehow easier, but at some point I'd love to see where I go.
I do not account that to being narced, since I never went below 15m solo - of course, a lot of dives I did do with a buddy went down to 39m. I feel reasonable capable of recognising narcosis and it aint the same.

Do you feel similiarily? How do you approach a dive? My dives go a little bit better every time, a little bit further, not really deeper. At some point, I have troubles keeping the drysuit dry, turn around and get out of the water as soon as possible. While that happens, I recognise that it is happening again and smile about myself after being back ashore. But only then. I know 'aborting' the dive is the right choice, but it is annoying being freaked out by foolish stuff.

Do you have any tips / ways to get your mind together?

Thanks in advance,
Sam

 

[Rred]

Anxiety IS a mind game. Sometimes hypnotherapy helps. Other times conscious thought helps. You can use biofeedback and other routines to clam yourself down. But if your "reptile brain" is upset about something and you can't come to terms with it? OK, so back to buddy diving. Do what you are comfortable with, panic during a dive is not a good thing.

 

[Ghetto Diver]

Embrace it..
The coolest things I have seen is when I am solo.
Sharks at safety stop, Goliath Groupers where they aren't normally. Just today joined a group of Eagle Rays for a bit.
For me, it's what am I going to be fortunate to encounter.

 

[Linke Seitentasche]

You describe the exact reason why I did my first solo dive: To know what it *really* feels like if you're down there on your own. To get an understanding of yourself at depth, to reflect on your actions down there, to know if you can handle the situation on your own.

Turns out it scared the hell out of me at 10m! But this posed an important question to myself: Why do I feel so comfortable with a buddy @ 40m, when I know I couldn't handle any of it on my own? Am I fooling myself and my buddy into thinking everything is OK, wenn in reality we're playing with our lives? Do I have confidence in my own abilities? What skills do I need to really be self sufficient?

I want to feel at ease when at depth, and I want to stay calm when the freshwater facility pump nearby goes *wwwwrrrrr* underwater every other minute. Which is why I will continue my solo dives and come out a stronger and better diver at the end.

Just to be clear: I don't mean to take any unreasonable risks. Just try to extend your comfort zone by careful analysis of the situation, your skills and the procedures required to mitigate those risks. Dive shallow, only dive know dive sites, etc.

 

[chrisch]

... Why do I feel so comfortable with a buddy @ 40m, when I know I couldn't handle any of it on my own? ....

Training. During scuba training we are taught that the buddy is "there for us" s/he is a redundant gas source, a safety knife for entanglements and a whole list of other things that might happen. After a number of years diving you begin to realise the idiot is more of a danger who will snatch the reg out your mouth or will knock your mask off with their fins. But that "need" is deeply imprinted by then. You "must" have a buddy. All the training organisations keep telling you how important it is.

The first time I experienced buddy separation and had to do a solo ascent I was full of anxiety. Terrified - I must get to the surface and safety. Not safe to be underwater alone. So I hear what you are saying and have experienced something like it. It is scary being in a hostile environment alone. We are social animals and long for company.

In any new situation where you are outside of your comfort zone you will feel stress. If you repeat the exercise often enough your comfort zone gets bigger and the activity is now inside rather than outside it. In my honest opinion this is the biggest danger in diving - being comfortable when really you are taking too big a risk, not being uncomfortable when it is perfectly reasonable to be so.

Solo diving is not inherently any more dangerous. There are no sea monsters and if they were they would eat both diver and buddy. Running out of gas should never happen and is nearly always due to not checking the SPG. We all make hundreds of dives without drama every year. One in a thousand give problems and then you really see if the buddy makes any difference at all. Probably not. If diving solo a few times makes people think a bit more and be a bit more cautious then solo diving is "A Good Thing" surely?

 

[Schwob]

Good Thread.
I, with too few dives to be sure about it yet, seem to be almost ticking the other way around.
I feel I am notably calmer and quite at peace when solo. While scenarios of what could go wrong and how I would react to it sometimes play in my head (solo or buddied up), there is no wife, daughter, son or other buddy to worry about. And I tell you, those solo scenarios about this or that going wrong are a lot nicer than those about "now, what did my buddy do to end up wedged in there... or dropping like a rock or...")
That said, it's just how I feel (more at peace solo, more trust in myself than my buddy) and I did not yet go deep solo and however I may think I feel, that calmness however is not really reflected in my air consumption (yet).

 

[northernone]

Diving without someone near can be frightening, if we are conditioned to look to them for comfort. Gaining confidence in self reliance helps.

My personal struggle is fear of deep water monsters, since childhood. The majority of the dives I dive with my back to the wall, or slope, with a bottom under me. Hanging midwater with black below and behind me leaves me feeling like bait and panic could develop. Psychology is fascinating, feeling like we're about to be eaten or attacked isn't so fun.

What I've done to work with this in my diving is to be aware of the specific 'trigger' situations. Do dives which don't include them, and then choose to introduce one every dive. Building up a history of safe response. This confidence in my training helps.

That's my thoughts for now, hope some of it is helpful.

Cameron

 

[dhaines429]

I find solo diving very calming and peaceful. I carry a 30 cf pony for redundancy and will do dives to 40 metres solo. I actually prefer solo to buddy diving in a lot of ways as then I only have to be keeping track of myself as I go exploring.

 

[chrisch]

...
My personal struggle is fear of deep water monsters,...

No such thing... Ooops

 

[qwertz]

Thanks for the various replys, thanks for sharing your experience with me here.

Training. [...]
In any new situation where you are outside of your comfort zone you will feel stress. If you repeat the exercise often enough your comfort zone gets bigger and the activity is now inside rather than outside it. In my honest opinion this is the biggest danger in diving - being comfortable when really you are taking too big a risk, not being uncomfortable when it is perfectly reasonable to be so.

That is what I think aswell, which is why I keep that one specific dive site just 'for myself' - meaning I do not stroll there with a buddy to be able to kind of measure progress there and slowly but surely enlarge my dive profile there.

Turns out it scared the hell out of me at 10m! But this posed an important question to myself: Why do I feel so comfortable with a buddy @ 40m, when I know I couldn't handle any of it on my own? Am I fooling myself and my buddy into thinking everything is OK, wenn in reality we're playing with our lives? Do I have confidence in my own abilities? What skills do I need to really be self sufficient?

What did you change to overcome that fear? How did you cope with it?

What I've done to work with this in my diving is to be aware of the specific 'trigger' situations. Do dives which don't include them, and then choose to introduce one every dive. Building up a history of safe response. This confidence in my training helps.

That is actually quite a neat thing to do. I will try to do the same, even though at first I have to figure out the specific triggers for my 'problem'. Can you elaborate your triggers?

Many thanks to chrisch for that picture. That's probably the most helpful reply yet. ;-D

Didn't think I would ever say this, but thank god I dive in lakes only at this moment.

Oh wait!

The Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie, is an aquatic being which reputedly inhabits Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands.

Doesn't say anything about Nessie travelling around european fresh water sites. Yes.