Freaking out for no reason...

[Uraluni]

sorry to hear that, I cant offer any more realistic help than others already mentioned.

On a side note, you are welcome to come over to Catalina anytime. We will do a 210fsw on air then deco on EAN 36. If that doesn't nark you out of your mind and raise your anxiety, you are not human. After that 120fsw on EAN 32 will be easy fo' sheezie

In my younger days Pitty, I'd have taken you up on that challenge...Nowadays, I'd pitty you after I died, then my wife killed you

Wait: Maybe she'd like that challenge for the insurance money.

All we need now is to not be laid off anymore to train for that challenge....me a Philly-based Corporate Financial Analyst and her an Executive Non-Profit Director. :'

Oh! The possibilities!

 

[mafiajoe]

Jumping in a bit late but I've just registered and I've found this interesting thread.Yeah because i also happen to have a friend who....ok it's me!
Something like that happened to me about ten years ago.I've always been accustomed to dive deep on air,I still do it.I went down to 70m. last saturday.Now I use a 12l.twinset(sorry I reason in terms of litres,meters etc. you make the calculation),but at that time I used a single 18l..Never been badly narced but that day I was leading the dive,not because i'm a dive leader or something just because I was the most experienced diver and I happened to know the site,and in less than 40m. i suddenly felt terrible!I could hear my own heartbeat in my head,it was hard to breath and I felt like pressure on my chest,impeding sense of doom,it felt like I was about to loose consciousness. I was scared ****less...but I managed to complete the dive,fighting the urge to zoom up to surface.Thing is that even ascending to a shallower depth didn't do me any good.I remember that at the 5m. deco stop I was trying to press the valve to inflate my drysuit.The only thing is that I was in a wetsuit!
I surfaced shaken,nobody seemed to notice though.Of course I didn't say anything to anyone.Something like that can throw you into a vicious circle:you feel anxiety building up at every dive.Even at 20m. I was afraid to have another attack.Funny thing is that whenever I went on "holiday diving"that is when I was diving with a dive center with someone else guiding I was perfectly fine.It took a couple of years to return to my "former self".In those two years I wouldn't venture deeper than 25m. and I was nervous.I could only be calm when diving with a dive center!Then little by little I regained my confidence and everything has been back to normal ever since.Now I've been into technical for a few years.When I feel narced well,I just feel just a bit light headed,most of the times not even that.
I think that my episode was actually a case of C02 retention,due probably to a bad breathing pattern caused by a "hard"reg. and certainly by the psycological pressure of being always the one who led the dives.
I don't think this has anything to do with age(I was ten years younger and super fit).
Just my experience.
Regards
J.

 

[oldschool]

Think back. Did anything out of the ordinary happen during a dive prior to you having these feelings? I recently experienced the same thing but I know what did it to me. I was diving in Lake Travis. We were at 109 ft and heading back towards the wall. The plan was to get to the wall (about 60 ft) and follow allong it for a bit then surface. Visability that day was dismal, maybe 2 ft tops. As we were headed back to the wall, I glanced up and saw rock above me. Now, I don't mind grottos and have explored quite a few. Not expecting to find myself in one is what unnerved me. I stayed at the ceiling and worked backwards until I found the outer ledge. I'm sure it was only a matter of seconds but it seemed forever. Since that dive, I cannot bring myself to diving in areas where I know there are grottos / overhangs in limited visability. As long as I can see them, I'm ok.

 

[InTheDrink]

Jumping in a bit late but I've just registered and I've found this interesting thread.Yeah because i also happen to have a friend who....ok it's me!
Something like that happened to me about ten years ago.I've always been accustomed to dive deep on air,I still do it.I went down to 70m. last saturday.Now I use a 12l.twinset(sorry I reason in terms of litres,meters etc. you make the calculation),but at that time I used a single 18l..Never been badly narced but that day I was leading the dive,not because i'm a dive leader or something just because I was the most experienced diver and I happened to know the site,and in less than 40m. i suddenly felt terrible!I could hear my own heartbeat in my head,it was hard to breath and I felt like pressure on my chest,impeding sense of doom,it felt like I was about to loose consciousness. I was scared ****less...but I managed to complete the dive,fighting the urge to zoom up to surface.Thing is that even ascending to a shallower depth didn't do me any good.I remember that at the 5m. deco stop I was trying to press the valve to inflate my drysuit.The only thing is that I was in a wetsuit!
I surfaced shaken,nobody seemed to notice though.Of course I didn't say anything to anyone.Something like that can throw you into a vicious circle:you feel anxiety building up at every dive.Even at 20m. I was afraid to have another attack.Funny thing is that whenever I went on "holiday diving"that is when I was diving with a dive center with someone else guiding I was perfectly fine.It took a couple of years to return to my "former self".In those two years I wouldn't venture deeper than 25m. and I was nervous.I could only be calm when diving with a dive center!Then little by little I regained my confidence and everything has been back to normal ever since.Now I've been into technical for a few years.When I feel narced well,I just feel just a bit light headed,most of the times not even that.
I think that my episode was actually a case of C02 retention,due probably to a bad breathing pattern caused by a "hard"reg. and certainly by the psycological pressure of being always the one who led the dives.
I don't think this has anything to do with age(I was ten years younger and super fit).
Just my experience.
Regards
J.

I think this might be a really useful post. Anxiety tends to be self fulfilling. Someone gets an anxiety attack one day going into the canteen. They get all caught up in this. The anxiety persists so they get anxiety the next day when they go into the elevator. Next thing you know full blown agoraphobia. I've seen this happen many times with people otherwise extremely confident.

One bad experience may be reinforcing the negative feelings with your other experiences. I'm slow to suggest this not being a doctor but in the past when this happened to me beta blockers really helped such that I didn't need them any more because I'd forgotten what it was to feel anxious. CBT might also do the trick.

In any event, try to break the cycle of anxiety.

Safe - and happy - diving.

J

 

[SailNaked]

definitely stop reading Scubaboard, before I found the board I had no idea what could go wrong on a dive, now I have 16 things at any moment that can go wrong floating about in my head.

I just accept that I will die and that it may happen at any moment and try to remember to tell my kids I love them at all opportunities.

Breath deep slowly, enjoy what you are seeing and play a little.

 

[Uraluni]

Breath deep slowly, enjoy what you are seeing and play a little

I want that quote on my headstone.

 

[toddthecat]

Sure, it could be equipment. I would have thought too much time out of the water but you said that hasn't happened.

I'll be honest, it happens to me sometimes too. It seems to happen more often in colder water temperatures. My educational background is in psychology and I would love to create a graduate thesis regarding dive psychology. I have never pinpointed the reason for the times it has happened to me. Regulators were functioning properly at a site I have been to with recent diving experience...It just seems to...happen.

Regardless of the reason, don't EVER feel bad for aborting a dive because of being uncomfortable. I've done it. Diving isn't a contest or a test of one's ability to 'tough it out'. It is supposed to be fun. If I get panicky and have to quit the dive I attribute it to a higher power. It just wasn't the time to dive and maybe there was a good reason for it.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Some great posts here but I have to agree with all of the last 4 posters! Sometimes it is just not comfortable to be diving.. so many little things can contribute to the unease! It is when we fixate or over analyze that we get in trouble.

Sometimes we just need to say.. "that sucked" next one will be better an believe it! The more we think about it and try to work it out the bigger the monster grows in our minds. Obviously checking equipment, health issues are advisable ... if there is really nothing that stands out... let it go.

Every day has it's stressors and pressures without entering the environment we are not evolved to frequent! Put someone who already has a load of pressures into a situation they normally cope with but is still a stressor and it could just be the last straw phenomenon at work!

 

[TomP]

The good news here is that you’ve successfully managed each ‘episode and that is a testament to your character and training. You’ve also recognized the pattern, considered possible causes and asked for input from your fellow divers.

There is little left to add so I’ll simply suggest that you organize these thoughts and recommendations into a plan to help you figure out what’s going on. A few first steps might be:

• Life happens and these certainly are unusual times. I think the suggestion of keeping a journal to see what might be below the surface while you at the surface was first rate.
• You need to have confidence in your gear. There are some really good dive shops in your area that can assess whether your gear is in good shape and appropriate for the type of diving you generally do.
• The advice to stay shallow for now is also well founded. Yeah, you prefer the deeper dives – I presume Atlantic wrecks – but the anxiety is obviously impacting your enjoyment. You need to figure out what’s what so I’d say hit the quarry for a few diagnostic dives. The quarry is a great place to sort things out. The wrecks aren’t going anywhere.

I hope this helps. Hang in there.

 

[mafiajoe]

In any event, try to break the cycle of anxiety.

Right!

Regardless of the reason, don't EVER feel bad for aborting a dive because of being uncomfortable.

Right!Something I wrongly didn't do(ego involved)

Also for the OP:it's not the end of it!:I thought that episode to be the end of my diving"career".I was crushed.In fact I've been back on the saddle for years now and I'm enjoying it more than ever