Anxiety

[Aggiebq86]

My girlfriend is working on her certification. Last summer she completed PADI's SCUBA certification. For those not familiar it has roughly the same restraints as a JR OW. You are limited in depth and must dive w/ either a DM or Instructor.

Anyway, she will do fine in the water for a little bit and then suddenly anxiety will rise and she will want to bolt to the surface. I'm trying to think of some exercises for her to do in the pool to help improve her confidence. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Codiak]

A lot of things can key anxiety, I suggest having her talk with the Instructor about her specific issue(s).
Most common seem to be
Closterphobia
Fear of Equipment failure
Vertigo
Some times it's just task loading.

They can be addressed if properly identified it just requires honest personal introspection and someone with experience at over coming them, but not always in a pool.

Just don't push her too hard.

 

[TSandM]

Make sure the equipment she is using is adjusted properly. If a reg is hard to breathe, CO2 can rise until the diver feels panicky.

 

[Peter_C]

Post below is not written in negativity, I am just trying to bring other thoughts to the table.

Please keep in mind that panic can kill and could create a serious issue. Scuba diving is not for everyone, and as much as you hope she will continue to join you under water, what are her desires? If she decides to continue to dive, I would recommend keeping her shallow for longer than you think once she is squared away.

Good luck and hopefully she finds a path to successful diving

 

[Aggiebq86]

Peter, I understand what you are saying. I think she is interested in diving for herself and not just to please me. I don't plan on doing anything but easy and shallow dives with her. I would prefer being shallow and getting to spend longer under than doing a deeper, shorter dive anyway.

I think the issue may be related to claustraphobia. To clarify, she isn't taking any lessons right now. She took the OW class, learned her dive tables, skills, etc but her instructor didn't feel she was completely ready for an OW cert but could have a SCUBA cert. I was thinking about getting her to spend some time at the pool with a snorkel initially, then just spend some time in the shallow end with her gear to become more comfortable with it and its performance. After she has spent a while on this, we would move to the deep end so hopefully we could alleviate her fears.

I'll check on the reg and how it breathes. If it was hard to breathe that may have led to the panic, even if the CO2 levels didn't come into play.

 

[robertarak]

I think you are talking about the PADI SCUBA Diver Certification. That certification allows the diver to dive with a Divemaster, Instructor or above. Please take this in the most constructive way it is meant. If you are not a Divemaster or an Instructor you may do more harm then good in getting her in a pool with gear. There are many things that can cause or contribute to panic. People trained in and with experience in diver education stand a far better chance of recognizing these causes and helping the diver work through them. There are times that a very good mentor can help with this as well, but as a new diver yourself (under 50 dives) for her sake you may want to leave this to professionals. One more bad experience and she may be scared off for good......or worse.

 

[Aggiebq86]

Robert, No offense taken. I realize my limitations. While I'm neither a DM or Instructor, I know a couple that would help us with this. I wasn't planning on tackling this alone. I know with her we will need plenty of pool time to help her become comfortable in her gear and surroundings. I also spent a night at a Holiday Inn Express so we should be good.

 

[tkdgodess]

Maybe diving without you. It's worked for me with people with anxiety issues. I've experienced one person of a couple or group/family that has had issues that needed to be given confidence and empowerment to dive without the person/family members, showing them to be totally independant and encouraging them to take "possession" of thier own dives instead of feeling pressure or guided. (even if you aren't) If she really wants to dive for herself she will!

 

[tengsr]

I'll check on the reg and how it breathes. If it was hard to breathe that may have led to the panic, even if the CO2 levels didn't come into play.

When I took my open water course I had a crap setup. My retal reg wouldnt give me enough air and my instructor dindnt even know that I fell behind**. I figured out that hitting the purge button was a ram air so I caught up on my breathing
Try renting or buying her a good quality reg.

**my problem was that the only other person in the course quit so it was just me and him... some f--kin instructors... but I'm still satisfied with the education

 

[spectrum]

My girlfriend is working on her certification. Last summer she completed PADI's SCUBA certification. For those not familiar it has roughly the same restraints as a JR OW. You are limited in depth and must dive w/ either a DM or Instructor.

Anyway, she will do fine in the water for a little bit and then suddenly anxiety will rise and she will want to bolt to the surface. I'm trying to think of some exercises for her to do in the pool to help improve her confidence. Does anyone have any suggestions?

A downside of these low level certifications is that divers in the ultimate "don"t know what they don"t know" situation are put in the water. The result is a diver that is very dependent on their dive master and that can be very unnerving for many people. Knowledge and training brings strength and confidence.

Odds are what she needs is the pool work and confidence building of a good long format course. Her Scuba Diver experience will probably put her near the head of the class. Together you should keep tabs on how the class goes and if the warm fuzzy isn't happening you can seek focused attention. By then perhaps she will establish a rapport with a local instructor.

There is always the chance that diving is not for her. However since she now has a history of initiating dives this seems unlikely to me.

As for exercises, get her in the water skin-diving, even laps in a pool pre-class. In many ways this will pave the way. More here.

Pete