Bittersweet Trip to Coz . . . Question

[Bubbletrubble]

Mild anxiety ≠ panic attack

I think your wife would gain a great deal of confidence from figuring out the cause of the anxiety on that one dive.
Potential causes span the gamut of gear, medical, and psychological issues.

It would make sense to rule out gear-related issues first. Teach her to do a comprehensive, functional reg test during pre-dive checks -- it takes less than a minute to do. A diver should be doing such disciplined checks regardless of whether the reg is rented or owned. The checks would reveal a loose/torn mouthpiece, a ripped/torn 2nd stage diaphragm, or a malfunctioning exhaust valve if they exist. The vacuum test on the 2nd stage would demonstrate whether the system is air-/water-tight.

It would probably be worthwhile to get a comprehensive physical check-up.

After a scary, anxiety-ridden incident like that, it's not surprising that there will be some sort of psychological component to the re-entry into diving. Take as many steps as possible to make her comfortable -- pool practice sessions, conservative dives, DM guide, more formal training, etc.

One technique that she might want to learn is how to breathe safely off of a "wet" air source. This is done by blocking the direct path of inhaled air with her tongue. Also, switching from primary to secondary air source (octo) or air sharing with a buddy should be a fairly comfortable transition. Practicing air sharing ascents would be a good thing, too.

As others have mentioned, it makes sense for her to evaluate whether diving is something she really wants to do. It's understandable that a certain amount of pressure might be overtly/subconsciously being placed on her since her husband enjoys diving and wants to plan diving vacations with her.

Best of luck with everything...

 

[Brules]

I met a couple at the PR while there over the 4th of July - his wife had a FULL ON panic attack at depth during a dive due to water in her reg - she ditched weights, BC and ascended to the surface. :shocked2::shocked2::shocked2:

Luckily she wasn't injured, but the experience pretty much ruined her on diving. Heard it straight from her in the pool. Glad she wasn't riding the chamber after that!

 

[ggunn]

I met a couple at the PR while there over the 4th of July - his wife had a FULL ON panic attack at depth during a dive due to water in her reg - she ditched weights, BC and ascended to the surface. :shocked2::shocked2::shocked2:

Luckily she wasn't injured, but the experience pretty much ruined her on diving. Heard it straight from her in the pool. Glad she wasn't riding the chamber after that!

I had a scary incident at Colombia Deep a few years ago. I got separated from my group and saw them (or so I thought) quite a ways upcurrent from me going the other way. I guess there was an eddy current there that day, but as it turned out, it wasn't my group, my group was behind me. But anyway I kicked, and kicked, and kicked, and I just couldn't catch up to them. Then I got severely hyperventilated, no other divers were in sight in any direction, and I was pushing 100'. I knew the thing to do was to relax, get my breathing under control, and then either find my group or do a leisurely ascent. I knew it, but doing it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I felt like I was drowning and it took all the willpower I had not to rocket to the surface so I could get that regulator out of my mouth. I don't know if ever in my life I have been so frightened. Maybe that time I got separated from my board in the surf at Hawaii...

But I followed my training, got my breathing under control, and a few minutes later I saw a straggler from my group and was able to join them. My DM (Jorge) gave me a stern talking to, which I deserved. I guess my point is that is very hard to keep your wits about you when something like that happens, and I can understand how panic can kill.

 

[MMM]

My DM (Jorge) gave me a stern talking to, which I deserved. I guess my point is that is very hard to keep your wits about you when something like that happens, and I can understand how panic can kill.

I can almost hear him in my head. I recall a dive with him where a diver got separated and joined another group with which she surfaced. He was NOT impressed and gave her a lecture after he picked up everyone else. She got left to the very last, at his instruction to the captain, I expect.

PS. She spent a lot of time before the dive talking about her broad diving experience. Uh huh.

 

[cvchief]

It has always seemed to me diving instructions is all about learning little, easy skills but really the whole point is fighting the panic. I remember the only time I dove the wreck on like my first or second day of diving after get OW and we were swimming to the rear of it. The current was ripping and I was over breathing the reg. I wasn't 'in trouble' I could have slowed down at any point and even dropped to the sand for a minute. The only real problem I had was controlling the panic creeping up as I felt like I was running out of air. Once I got to the back and stopped I was fine. I was asked to stop denting the tanks by breathing so hard....

I had a friend who took OW with us but didnt finish. The crappy op we used in Antigua left her get the panic first dive in open water. She is totally done with diving. She had all the skill down, the panic got her.

 

[Ms. Ann Thrope]

I once had a similar experience to Gordon's, on a deep-ish, current-swept, sharky pinnacle out in the Pacific. I didn't notice my buddy drop behind me into an out-of-view lee as I finned hard into the current, and I couldn't catch up with the pair ahead as they rounded the pinnacle and out of my view. That's when I turned around and saw nothing but wild, lonely ocean. Finding yourself alone in a challenging spot can be scary. Once I got myself back to breathing halfway normally (which took a lot of concentration) and found some others from our group, they were hanging off the pinnacle like pennants in a stiff wind. It was all I could do to force myself to do the second planned dive on that spot (this time staying on the protected side of the pinnacle and peeking into the wild).

I love diving, and I still sometimes fight a bit of anxiety, especially on the first couple of dives on a trip. If skill/comfort remediation looks like the ticket, I wonder if it would help just doing a few nice, easy, shallow shore dives somewhere, where she doesn't have to worry about keeping up with a group or its perceived performance expectations, and the surface is a comforting short distance away.

 

[weeezer]

I experienced panic at the Flower Gardens almost 20 years ago. On my first dive of the first morning, I descended about 25 ft. and breathed in pure sea water. Like an idiot, I tried to take another breath. Now I’m choking on water. What I didn’t know was that the tie that held the mouth piece to the regulator had broken and the regulator had floated behind me. My mouthpiece was still in my mouth. One quick swipe for my other reg came up with nothing. Pure panic set in. I was able to swim to the surface and cough up a lot of water. If I had been down another 25 feet, I don’t know what I would have done. It took 20 more dives before I could be comfortable diving again. Ever since, I carefully check all of my equipment before each dive. I also constantly remind myself of actions I need to take under various emergency situations.

 

[atatt]

As so many have said keep your skills up by practicing in the pool. I had an experience where I started to descend, literally just got my head underwater and I swore I couldn't breathe! I tried again and felt the same way, well knowing myself I just couldn't push it and aborted the dive. I hung out on the boat while everyone else had a great time as I totally beat myself up the entire time. Lot's of reasons this can happen but I couldn't figure out what my problem was. I decided I would try the 2nd dive and was fine but still a bit worried. I pushed through it and had a great time. The next day I started to hyperventilate on my first dive (due to anxiety I am sure), I was half way to panic mode but was able to calm down and regroup. I think my biggest help was gaining the confidence to get through by slowing down, focusing and thinking about training. I truly think if I would have let my worry of panic get the best of my I never would have got back in the water but there was no way I was going to let happen. If your wife really wants to continue diving just keep practicing her skills, I found there is nothing more helpful than being comfortable with everything which then gains confidence. Best of luck to her, I hope she was still able to enjoy the trip eventhough that happened!