Did anyone else panic the first time?

[Adrouault]

I did an introductory dive in Guadeloupe, French Caribbean this past week, and when I was starting to go underwater, I had a moment of panic, as if I couldn't breathe. It felt like my throat was blocking air from coming in. Not pleasant. Has this happened to anyone else? My dive-instructor was fantastic, and patient, and ut me on my back, floating while I calmed down, which was greatly appreciated.

Just want to know if anyone else has had this experience.

 

[Diver0001]

Well.... a lot of people have had similar experiences for a wide range of reasons.

Basically speaking, it's about "comfort zone". You probably heard this term during your training. When diving in new conditions it's normal to feel a little stress. The trick is to push those boundaries slowly so "a little tense" doesn't develop into panic. Everyone has their own personal limits and everyone has a "breaking point". You found yours.

In terms of solutions, visualization before the dive can help. Slowing things down can help, talking about it with your buddy/instructor beforehand can help and concentrating on breathing can help. The more open you can be about how you feel, the better it is for yourself and everyone around you.

When I say concentrating on breathing, I don't mean like meditation (although meditation is an outstanding way to deal with stress). What I mean is to make sure you focus on not breathing with quick shallow breaths. Quick shallow breathing is a natural reaction to stress but ironically, it can also amplify stress. Relaxing into your breathing to slow it down and make it deeper will help "back off" that stress feeling to some extent if you are having it again.

R..

 

[Adrouault]

Well.... a lot of people have had similar experiences for a wide range of reasons.

Basically speaking, it's about "comfort zone". You probably heard this term during your training. When diving in new conditions it's normal to feel a little stress. The trick is to push those boundaries slowly so "a little tense" doesn't develop into panic. Everyone has their own personal limits and everyone has a "breaking point". You found yours.

In terms of solutions, visualization before the dive can help. Slowing things down can help, talking about it with your buddy/instructor beforehand can help and concentrating on breathing can help. The more open you can be about how you feel, the better it is for yourself and everyone around you.

When I say concentrating on breathing, I don't mean like meditation (although meditation is an outstanding way to deal with stress). What I mean is to make sure you focus on not breathing with quick shallow breaths. Quick shallow breathing is a natural reaction to stress but ironically, it can also amplify stress. Relaxing into your breathing to slow it down and make it deeper will help "back off" that stress feeling to some extent if you are having it again.

R..

Very helpful! Dank je wel.

 

[Marktan]

Heck yes! My first ever dive was in Hawaii while on honeymoon. One of those resort deals to get you to look at timeshares. My wife was more experienced. I hadn't told her I has a fear of open water and wasbt a seeing swimmer. In retrospect, a beginner like me has no business on that dive. Basically, did skills at resort pool, then took the boat to the site. Was told that I'd need to do skills again in the open water before proceeding.
Long story short, I was freaked out once in the ocean and breathing so hard during the skills that I was at 300 psi once I completed them (about 10-15 minutes). DM put me back on the boat and told me to think about what I had done while he found the rest of the group.
Got back in the 2nd dive, relaxed, enjoyed it. Loved it ever since.
Keep going, it gets great.

 

[Kevo88]

Don't worry, it's not uncommon! I had a panic moment during my discover scuba.

I was mostly excited and a little nervous after the short orientation we received. We were gearing up and I was trying hard to reassure my girlfriend, who was admittedly extremely nervous. I didn't realize it but small stressors were mounting against me and I wasn't doing much to keep my own pace in check. We then had to wadd through a breaking surf to work our way to a calm area for our confined water portion before swimming out. The first moment of putting my head under and sitting on the bottom was kinda terrifying. I didn't shave, so water started flooding my mask. We were in a calm area with no waves, but I could feel the swell and pull of the ocean. Oh yeah, first time in the ocean lol. My fingers started to tingle in that panic attack fashion, and I remembered what the instructor said in the little classroom. Stop, relax, think, act. So I stopped looking around, closed my eyes. OK, they showed me how to clear a mask. Hold the top and blow, holy crap it worked! I opened my eyes and the instructor was signaling, ok? OK, I'm ok. Did the skills, went for a swim, and had the time of my life.

 

[TMHeimer]

I've been very lucky. Of course I've had a few uncomfortable experiences--cramps, current, surf, etc. So far I have always been able to do the cardinal rule of stop, think, act. Checking one's remaining gas first is step one. Then again, I've never been in any real trouble, knock wood. I believe everyone regardless of experience will panic given the right circumstances.

 

[Rred]

To the other extreme, I could have fallen asleep and had to remind myself why I had that pesky regulator thing in my mouth, the first time we were told "get in there and don't come up until your tank is empty."
Submerging yourself, changing from open space to "confined" in the water and gear, requires a shift in mindset and yes it can be easy to start panicking about that. Work with your instructor, preferably in a pool or beach or other place where you can stand up and it is calm, and get in the habit of transitioning with a practiced deliberation, i.e. you stand, you put some air in the bc, you check your mask and regulator, all in whatever order suits you, so that you've gone through a checklist and re-assured yourself before you submerge fully. If taking your time and practicing doesn't help, then you have to decide on either skipping diving, or more professional help to figure out why you are panicking and how you can overcome it.
When diving wasn't just a lucrative market, some instructors and organizations actually screened students for being panic-prone, and would not certify them if they felt the student had that problem. It wasn't considered odd, it is just part of the human spectrum.

 

[3D diver]

Panic? No. But got a big shot of adrenaline the first time I was snorkeling out on a shore dive in murky California waters and saw a big dark shape looming up in front of me!!!! Turned out to be kelp.

 

[TMHeimer]

One thing that may cause panic would be if I ever ran into a shark (well, not a tiny one). I know most divers seek out sharks, but I'm a rare one who doesn't. Haven't seen one anywhere yet, but who knows what I'd do. My plan would be to slowly leave the area and head for land. Last summer I was on the surface during a shore dive and saw a seal or two on the surface in the distance--somewhat unnerving--I went the other way.

 

[PugHugger]

I freaked out so much on my first dive (a Discover Scuba) I got a foot down the mooring line before calling it. Same sort of thing, I was convinced I could not breathe even though the logical part of my brain knew I could. I knew I wanted to dive though so went back the next day and completed that dive (we were on a scuba/snorkel live aboard).

A few months later when commencing my Open Water I freaked out again when I had to do mask skills. Again, went back the next day and managed to complete that skill and get my referral.

Then when I was doing my Open Water Dive #2, you guessed it, freaked out on the mask skill. And in my usual true form, went back the next day and completed it cool as a cucumber (quite a few times). My instructor was in stitches at how badly I did the first day compared to how smoothly I did it the second through to ninth!

My advice - as someone only recently qualified with less than 20 dives under my belt (for what it is worth) is take it slow, it took me almost two shots on everything I did up to my certification, but now I'm over that mental hurdle I'm finding diving much more relaxing than it was when I still had the tasks etc. ahead of me.

Oh and my mask was slightly dislodged on a dive recently and I cleared that baby like a pro