Mental Illness and Diving

[adurso]

Leaving aside the little hijack...to the OP much will also depend on your medication. Some medications are contrindicated with diving. As your description is vague of your symptoms but you do mention PTSD and anxiety I can say this; PTSD me too, not medicated but what does happen is that I always "dark nark" I have never experienced the nice dreamy nitrogen narcosis, I always go into the paranoid anxious heebie jeebies. I know this and must compensate for it.
The information you give would indicate you are a veteran; contact the SUDS folks, see if they have more experience with what you are feeling.
Discuss specifics with your team, find someone who is knowledgable about your condition and diving.

Rather than take a course far away, find an instructor you can establish a rapport with and discuss matters with him or her. It may be you would benefit more from private instruction.

Good luck

 

[Lead_carrier]

Estrela, you have received some good advice. Talk to a physican that knows and understands diving. DON'T do a quickie course if you get cleared to dive. Be upfront with the instructor about your condition. If you're straightforward and honest, most instructors try to go out of our way to make it work. Good luck and let us know what happens, if you don't mind.

 

[Estrela]

So, I've talked to hubby and I think we've come to a compromise.

Rather than doing a quickie certification, we're going to try for a Discovery Dive. The same PADI questionnaire is on the brochure, so yes, I will be seeing a dive doctor.

I have no idea if my medications are contraindicated or how to find out. Is this something I'd find in the wonderful info statements that come with my meds?

He does really want to get certified, but I'm pretty sure he's changed his approach. Apparently he wanted us to get certified together. That's not going to happen now that I've thought about the best way to go about this.

Thank you all for your input.

I'll update after I talk to the dive shop.

 

[TSandM]

Estrela, I applaud your caution.

Diving is generally a very safe activity, and even when things go wrong, if one remains calm and thoughtful, they can generally be dealt with in such a fashion that no one gets hurt. One of the biggest killers is panic, and if you are prone to it, it's important to find out if any of the things related to being underwater provoke anxiety. It's not enough to make risk assessments for yourself -- an California instructor just took a chamber ride after trying to stop a bolting student.

For this reason, I DO think you should disclose to an instructor that you have this issue, so that HE can make a reasonable risk assessment for himself, as to whether he wishes to be your instructor. Anything else would be unfair.

 

[Michael Folise]

"They like to make sure I have an escape route, they obsess over what could go wrong,"

Estrela, please don't do this. Think of your husband's safey. Iif you become certified eventually you will be his buddy and his life will be in your hands. Anything that tends to induce panic is potentially deadly. If you died that would be one thing. If your husband died because you panicked how would you live with that? In my first year of diving I did have to depend on my buddy at 70fsw because of an equipment failure. Fortunately she didn't panic and a life threatening situation turned into an inconvenience.

There is a better, safer alternative: SNUBA. You and your husband will enjoy most of the benefits of SCUBA, you will be able to visit fantactic shallow reefs but you will always be only one breath away from the surface and your husband will not be dependent on you as his buddy. Take a Molokini SNUBA trip while you are in Hawaii. The training takes all of 15 minutes. You and your SCUBA diving husband will love it and you will both be safe.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Not smart. With 15 minutes of training you are underwater. Tethered to the surface, breathing compressed air, a barracuda startles you, you panic and shoot for the surface. Good recipe for getting hurt real bad. Take a real class, be honest with your instructor, get clearance from your doc, explain to the instructor exactly what happens and what signs to look for. If you were to do this I'd be happy to have you as a student as long as you realize that if anything were to come up that would make me feel that you or anyone you would be diving with would be at risk then the training would stop until we addressed that. NO good instructor will try to just push through your issues. You'll look at them, analyze them, determine if they can be worked through, and then do that. Any kind of quickie that will get you underwater where there is even the slightest risk of a barotrauma- pressure related injury- is not for someone with these types of issues.

 

[Sas]

I don't know where you get your info. Just who generally agrees that those with anxiety disorders do not participate in scuba?

It discusses this in the DAN article I linked to.

Some quotes:

"Recent studies suggest that episodes of panic or near-panic may explain many recreational diving accidents and the cause of some diving fatalities. Evidence also shows that individuals who have a high level of underlying anxiety are more likely to have greater responses when exposed to stresses, and, hence, this sub-group of the diving population will experience an increased level of risk."

" Trait anxiety is a psychological phenomenon regarded as a stable or enduring feature of personality; state anxiety is situational, or transitory. Individuals who score high on measures of trait anxiety are more likely to have an increased state of anxiety and panic during scuba activities, and they are at potentially greater risk than those scoring in the "normal" range.

Many dive physicians feel that such individuals probably should not dive. It has been found that interventions such as biofeedback, hypnosis, imagery and relaxation have not been effective in reducing anxiety responses associated with panic attacks. Psychological research has shown that hypnosis is effective in relaxing scuba divers, but it can also have the undesired effect of increasing heat loss in divers. Relaxation can lead to increased anxiety and panic attacks in some highly anxious individuals (this is known as relaxation-induced anxiety, or RIA). Individuals with a history of high anxiety and panic episodes should probably be identified if possible and counseled during scuba training classes about the potential risks. "

"Advice About Scuba Diving

In determining whether a person with anxiety, phobias and panic attacks should be certified as fit to dive, each case should be evaluated on its own merits, including types of drugs required (if any), response to medication and the amount of time free of anxiety and phobia.

Individuals who score high on measures of trait anxiety most probably should not dive, but, if they choose to dive, they should be carefully monitored and fully informed of the risks, with special consideration to one's decision-making ability and responsibility to other divers.

In all cases, prospective divers should fully disclose their conditions and medications to the dive instructor and certifying agency. They should bear in mind the safety of their potential dive buddies, dive instructors, divemasters and other individuals who are affected by diving incidents. "

That article also discusses how various medications will impact on diving.

 

[adurso]

It discusses this in the DAN article I linked to.

*SNIP*

That article also discusses how various medications will impact on diving.

The OP mentions PTSD; which is not a trait disorder. The anxiety associated with this tends to level out over time. The further removed from the triggering circumstances the lower the anxiety level. Coping mechanisms and recognition of anxiety triggers de-escalate the anxiety attacks.

 

[Sas]

The OP mentions PTSD; which is not a trait disorder. The anxiety associated with this tends to level out over time. The further removed from the triggering circumstances the lower the anxiety level. Coping mechanisms and recognition of anxiety triggers de-escalate the anxiety attacks.

I know. I believe the discussion was talking about anxiety issues in general not just trait disorders or PTSD and that is what the article discusses.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I don't see where she answered it at all. I see that she recognizes a problem that may need special attention from docs and the instructor but as a PTSD survivor who also went thru some of the other issues she described it is not all black and white. It takes work, commitment, and sometimes a change of environment but it can be dealt with. It never goes away completely but it can be managed very effectively in a number of ways. And they don't always require medication. Time does wonders for it. As do a supportive family, friends, and activities that encourage the reduction of stress, management of attitude, and awareness of triggers.