Mask/Panic Problems

[eclipse785]

Andi,
Panic is just a fact of the matter. Each persons response to a possible panic situation will vary widely. I also learned in/around Cozumel and I am fully aware that the mask clearing excercise there can be painful due to the salinity of the water. (BTW, I always close my eyes when I clear. I can't imagine having my eyes open for that). But as far as panic goes, I was on my third dive ever when I unintentionally and unknowingly spit out my regulator at 70 feet. It wasn't until I realized that I wasn't breathing that I noticed that my reg wasn't in my mouth anymore. Talk about what could have been a panic situation. Fortunately, I surprised myself with how calm and collected I was, and retreived my reg....
Stuff like that happens to all of us at one point or another. It's all about getting comfortable. Once your there, panic doesn't tend to get a foot hold.

 

[Scubaguy62]

Hi Andi

I briefly glanced over all the posts in response to your question, and just to give you my .02 psi, let me tell you how I got a former buddy over the same problem:

Since we didn't have our own gear at the time (we were still in OW class), I took her to my pool and had her sit on the steps, where she was fully submerged, thus she had to breathe through a snorkel, wearing no mask. After about 20 minutes, she got the hint and learned how to inhale and exhale through her mouth, although before getting there she was inhaling through her mouth and exhaling through the nose. Anyway, with that and the help of a friend who's a certified hypnotherapist, she conquered her panic and never suffered from that again.

Hope this helps.

Good luck!!!

 

[Heavenstorm]

Hey Andi! I have also been certified earlier this month and I experienced the same problem during my first confined water session ... although mine was caused by an extreme reluctance to open my eyes in the water. It seriously hampered my learning progress to the point that I had to do 4 tries with my instructor instead of the getting it right on the first. And even though I got it then, I still felt I wasn’t confident enough to do it on a spontaneous basis. I was only able to fine tune that skill when I did it alone (meaning I was practicing in the shallow water area of the pool while the instructor was down at the deep end attending to the other students by taking them down there one by one to do the next exercise).

As for my suggestions:

- Take your time. Try to practice at your own pace and try to do so alone. Maybe it is also the pressure of getting it right at once or the notion that you have to keep up with the other students that causes you to panic. Try doing it as if no one is watching you and you don’t have to compete with anyone. My solitary practice helped me leaps and bounds.


- Relax. At the risk of sounding cliché, panic won’t bother you if you don’t let it. You can rest assured that you won’t drown because there is a regulator is in your mouth; hence there is no need to shoot up to the surface. If your nose inhales water while flooding and clearing, try to snort it out or cough through your reg. And there is no definite/set time for clearing your flooded mask so just stop, close your eyes, breathe normally (through your mouth), and clear it at your own tempo.


- Try opening your eyes (without contacts of course just to have a taste for it). - After forcing myself to do so, I found out that it actually doesn’t hurt as much. Even though I was already comfortable opening my eyes in pool water, I was actually still a bit paranoid about the impending stinging feeling associated with the salt water during the advent of our open water session. Surprisingly, opening my eyes 60 ft below the surface doesn’t sting as much as I had expected. In fact, for me, the salt water stings my eyes more when I swim at surface level.


- Get acquainted with your mask. What mask are you using? When I upgraded to an x-vision type mask, I had to practice my flooding and clearing again a bit due to the substantially lower volume and slight differences from the generic. Even though there’s not really much to be known, being aware of the ins and outs of your mask helps reduce the chances of panicking.



Oh and take it easy. I’m sure one day in the very near future, you’ll find that mask clearing becomes second nature and you’ll be treating the water getting into your mask as a minor inconvenience that can either be totally ignored (if the amount is trivial) or easily eliminated while moving three score feet below the surface without even having to stop and think.

 

[Kinski]

hi andi!

i remember what our OW instructor suggested we do in the midst of a panic attack: talk to yourself, calm yourself down.

so i do just that. when the first signs of panic start creeping in, I tell myself, "Silly girl, why are you panicking??" :shakehead

the mere recognition that I'm being utterly ridiculous is usually enough to get me level-headed again. And the rationalization that comes after that just keeps my brain occupied so i do not give into flight instincts.

now, if i'm still anxious after that, i start counting my blessings. think happy thoughts! you'll be all right :nod:

 

[illumiGeek]

I wear contacts and have flooded and even removed my mask under water with my eyes open lots of times and I haven't lost a contact yet. Not sure if it's different with hard lenses; I wear soft lenses and often swim under water with my eyes open and they seem to stay in just fine.

You definitely need more training and practice. This is something you should be able to overcome, but you really need to work on this before you dive again. Your hold your breath and bolt for the surface response is VERY dangerous! As someone else already stated, pressure chage is greatest nearer the surface, so staying shallow is not going to keep you safe. If you are breathing pressurized air (as opposed to snorkeling) you can hurt yourself even on a shallow dive. Please, for yours' and your fiance's sake, work on fixing this panic problem before SCUBA diving again.

As for working on your panic, there's not much more I can add to the fine advice offered already. I'd say start with the snorkleing techniques. Get used to breathing through your mouth with no mask. Try opening your eyes under water. It will probably be less stressfull if you can work on this with your eyes open. My eyes are pretty sensitive on the surface; if I get splashed in the eyes it burns; but if I'm under water I can open my eyes and it doesn't bother me. Regardless of your eyes (open or closed) it is important to get comfortable with breathing through your mouth with no mask in the water. You need to learn that water in your face is not a cause for alarm.

Good luck.

Aloha, Tim

 

[Andi30]

I'm amazed at the number of responses! Thanks! I agree with illumiGeek in that I should not be diving until I can control the panic. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the panic should subside pretty much on its own once I get my mask skills. My intial concern was perhaps that I might just be too panicky/anxious in general to be a safe diver, but it seems now that by learning to deal with the panic that ensues when I'm clearing a mask will help me learn to deal with panic in general.

 

[ChrisA]

I'm amazed at the number of responses! Thanks! I agree with illumiGeek in that I should not be diving until I can control the panic. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the panic should subside pretty much on its own once I get my mask skills. My intial concern was perhaps that I might just be too panicky/anxious in general to be a safe diver, but it seems now that by learning to deal with the panic that ensues when I'm clearing a mask will help me learn to deal with panic in general.

Here is what you need to do. Just go swimming. Skip all that SCUBA gear, skip the mask. Find a pool. Join the YMCA, 24 hour fitness gym. Whatever just get access to a regular lap swimming pool. Next try swimming under water. can you do the frong kick/breat stroke thing and get about 15 metrrs down the lane before needing to come up for air. The idea is to do this so many times that it is just plain _borring_. Become more then "comfortable" become borred to the point of wanting to fall asleep. Ok done? Next drill is "bubble rings" Lay down on the bottom of the shallow end. Likely you will have to skull water with your hand to stay down unless you have zero body fat. Now look up and attempt to blow a big bubble. Make a little dounut shape hole with lips and toung in the center and let out a breif puff of air. Watch the bubble go al the way (four feet) to the surface. The idea is to make a perfect ring shapped bubble to is symetric and does not break up before it reaches the surface. Bubble rings are a hard enough skill that it will take time to learn.

After you are done with the above you will have spent much time underwater with no mask (and no fins and no scuba) in fact you will be bored of it. Now it comes time to try scuba training when you take the mask off under water it will be just like those hours you spent at the YMCA swimming around and blowing bubbles except you will have a BC and tank. Peole typically do not panic in a situation they are completely used to.

Had you lived near the ocean when you were a kid and ben a surfer you would have spent countless days swimming around in the ocean under waves. Just remember that "mask off" is what swimmers have been doig for thousands of years. It is the normal case

About thse contact lenses. Try a corrected mask. Needing to close youe eyes in a bad option. even in the 5 foot viz we have here I can see well enough with no mask to find thinks that are near me. I know a diver who keep glasses in his BC pocket and switches glasses for dive mask when he gets in and out of the water. The first time your mask gets knocked off you will want the abilty to find it.

 

[swimswitheagles]

My mask has prescription lenses and it works well for me. My prescription has changed a little, but I don't really notice the difference when I'm under water. I asked my optometrist about this since he is a diver and he gave me a couple of things to think about:

-The content of the water can affect how the contacts fit. For example, chlorine will shrink the contacts slightly making them grip the eye a little tighter. You may need re-wetting drops to get them off.

-Particles from the water could get trapped under your lenses and irritate or scratch your eye. For this reason, if you do wear your contacts for diving, you should throw them away when you're done diving for the day or sooner if you have to open your eyes under water.

 

[jgmaroe]

Hey Andi30-

I am glad to inform you that I have first-hand knowledge on this matter :14:. During my very first open water dive, at a depth of approximately 30 ft., we were doing the out of air- signal- buddy share air simulation. I took my reg out, the other's octo was tangled, and it took awhile to get to my mouth- already bringing me to the edge of panicing (it was my very first dive). As I had almost no air left in my lungs, and had been keeping a steady stream of bubbles during the complications, I had no carbon dioxide to blow out. Right after pressing the purge button, I sucked in, and to my dismay all that came was water. I, and I stress, paniced! I swam like crazy straight to the surface (at about 1000 feet a minute :lol. I surfaced with a bloody nose, but was lucky to have just that.

This scared me my few following dives after; I was worried as to how my mental-state would keep. Yet I didn't let it stop me from diving, as I'm glad it didn't you either.

The solution I found to this?
Getting comfortable in the water. Really, it sounds ridiculous, but it's true. Not until recently finishing my advanced cert. did I truely feel at peace while under 80 ft. of water. I now know that if that happened, I would stay calm. I personally believe that the key to not panicing is exactly this.

I hope this helped

-James

 

[scuba-girl]

i had the same problem w/ being panicked. my husband is a fireman so he was used to the gear and flew thru the challenges. i ended up quitting and he dove w/o me. sad to say i toughened up and found my dm who got me interested in scuba in the first place. (we did our whole course in the dominican republic) he made me swim w/ regulator in mouth and no mask for 15min after that no probs. although i was nervous down 45ft and doing the 1/2 way part. i'd rather just take off and do it. oh and its all in ur head be sure to close ur eyes and remember to remain calm and to believe all the time that ur air supply is in ur mouth and you will accomplish this task.