Diver anxiety

[Oldbear]

I too hat hoods and prefer to dive with a beanie if I can get way with it. I can handle about 45-50 degrees depending upon the duration. In hoods my anxiety has been known to rise also.

Diving should be fun...if you are experiencing any anxiety it is had to call that fun. I suggest that you hold off diving the quarry and dive somewhere you call fun. Get back to a happy place. With more experience and confidence try the quarry later.

My 2 cents on an Internet forum.

 

[Gareth J]

@Kevin W. Blaylock

As @TMHeimer said. You don't mention the visibility or the amount of light.
As has been said, cold, or overly tight hood or suit can present a problem.

The other consideration is visibility and light. Even if the visibility was good, but If it was dark, that can raise the stress.

One of the UK tech instructors told a story of when he first started diving. On his first wreck dive. He got to the bottom of the shot with his buddy, it was dark as anything. His breathing rate was through the roof, he was just about to signal up and leave, and his buddy turned on this huge torch. They where in a hold, and suddenly it was as if they where in room with flood lights. He had a great dive, when he got home, he went out and bought the biggest torch he could find.

You did the right thing by aborting the dive. If you are uncomfortable again.
STOP.
Let your buddy know you have a problem.
Breath in for a count of four, breath out for a count of four. - do this a few times.
If you are still unhappy, then abort the dive or ascend a bit until you feel comfortable.

Cold, poor visibility, darkness, physiological stress (concern over being deep), working hard, breathing restrictions (tight suit), all are potential contributors. A tight hood freaks a lot of people out.

Continue your shallow dives, and make small progressive increases in depth. Ensuring you are comfortable at the new depth before the next increment. Make use of the topography, a gentle slope gives you more control than a wall.
Also, keep the work load down, swim slowly rather than sprinting, keeping your breathing relaxed.
It is always better to stop and regain control, than press on. If you are out of breath, if you have a kit problem, if you are apprehensive, stop, regain control. If things can't be resolved, ascend.

 

[Kevin Blaylock]

You didn't actually mention any lack of visibility at depth-- was it bad? Was that perhaps a factor? Poor viz can cause concern, particularly when the bottom is not in sight. I can feel a little funny descending to a 20' shore dive if the viz is say 3' or less. On almost all of my deep dives I pulled myself down the anchor line, so I could always see THAT.
Shallow dives in "brighter" conditions may well be the answer if this is the case.
I have never had any problems with depth and have dived as deep as 130', yet when swimming (not scuba) I get the heebee jeebees when in water over my head. Everybody's got a thing I guess.

The vis was not great (it never is at this quarry) but we were following a line from a sunken bus to a plane

 

[CanadaDan]

All respect to those trying to figure out the why... it may be irrelevant. I've had anxiety attacks diving warm clear open reefs, cold dark Canadian lakes etc. For those predisposed to the problem sometimes environment is irrelevant. My usual trigger is thinking about the fact that I'm underwater and shouldn't be so relaxed. In the past I've resurfaced, been unable to descend. etc. I've gotten past those results but only by working through the attacks themselves which still happen and may always happen.

If you suffer from anxiety or panic attacks then you need to develop tools and processes to prevent, cope and recover. Work with a therapist/counsellor to develop those. As for diving keep at it, stick with shallower dives if that's where you are comfortable. You can gradually work to deep depths. The biggest thing is to learn to settle the demons and breath through the moment.

You're not alone.

 

[tbone1004]

All respect to those trying to figure out the why... it may be irrelevant. I've had anxiety attacks diving warm clear open reefs, cold dark Canadian lakes etc. For those predisposed to the problem sometimes environment is irrelevant. My usual trigger is thinking about the fact that I'm underwater and shouldn't be so relaxed. In the past I've resurfaced, been unable to descend. etc. I've gotten past those results but only by working through the attacks themselves which still happen and may always happen.

If you suffer from anxiety or panic attacks then you need to develop tools and processes to prevent, cope and recover. Work with a therapist/counsellor to develop those. As for diving keep at it, stick with shallower dives if that's where you are comfortable. You can gradually work to deep depths. The biggest thing is to learn to settle the demons and breath through the moment.

You're not alone.

that's a good point and that's why I was trying to disassociate the anxiety from the depth as correlation does not always imply causation

 

[Belzelbub]

@TMHeimer think of this quarry as a pit. It has a small roughly 30ft "brim", but then drops down quite deep and is a pretty much straight dropoff. It's a weird place to dive.

View attachment 639816

The vis was not great (it never is at this quarry) but we were following a line from a sunken bus to a plane

This place sounds a lot like Hudson Grotto, which is used for a lot of checkout dives. It’s ideal for Deep and Night/Limited Vis as it maxes out at around 115’ and the water is so tannic that it gets dark real quick. The first platform is around 20’ and lights are required there on a good day. Temp is pretty consistent at around 72. Sounds like Mystery Lake is colder.

It can be a spooky dive. I’ve seen a diver panic there and attempt to bolt to the surface, and that was on a relatively clear day.

 

[Kevin Blaylock]

that's a good point and that's why I was trying to disassociate the anxiety from the depth as correlation does not always imply causation

Im not entirely sure it was the depth that triggered it. I have been to 70 plus feet more than a few times. But since this happened, anytime i think of going that deep, i can feel the anxiety coming back up. Also thank you @CanadaDan for the advise and words of encouragement

 

[Kevin Blaylock]

This place sounds a lot like Hudson Grotto, which is used for a lot of checkout dives. It’s ideal for Deep and Night/Limited Vis as it maxes out at around 115’ and the water is so tannic that it gets dark real quick. The first platform is around 20’ and lights are required there on a good day. Temp is pretty consistent at around 72. Sounds like Mystery Lake is colder.

It can be a spooky dive. I’ve seen a diver panic there and attempt to bolt to the surface, and that was on a relatively clear day.

Its not a bad quarry, and the people that run it are awesome (very interactive with the divers, and constantly trying to improve the quarry.) But it does get deep (105 at its deepest) and dark quick. If you do a walk in entry, you have a few feet that are walkable, then it drops dramatically to 80 feet.

 

[kelemvor]

This place sounds a lot like Hudson Grotto, which is used for a lot of checkout dives. It’s ideal for Deep and Night/Limited Vis as it maxes out at around 115’ and the water is so tannic that it gets dark real quick. The first platform is around 20’ and lights are required there on a good day. Temp is pretty consistent at around 72. Sounds like Mystery Lake is colder.

It can be a spooky dive. I’ve seen a diver panic there and attempt to bolt to the surface, and that was on a relatively clear day.

I know what you mean, one time I could have sworn I saw a skeleton on the bottom at HG. Really freaky.

 

[RyanT]

@Kevin W. Blaylock, you've already gotten some really good advice here. One more thing, I'll add is that that it may have been a combination of factors. Any one of the potential factors by themselves (dark, cold, CO2 retention) may not have led to the anxiety, but in combo, things get worse. Most of my dives are ocean tech dives, so deep, dark, and low viz don't bother me. However, some of my worst times underwater have been in a quarry. I find that even in a 7mm wetsuit, quarries quickly get uncomfortably cold for me. The combination of dark and being cold does not make me happy.