newbee

[angel]

I have just completed my open water and now qualified to dive, however I am still panicking. I panicked during the open water dives and only just managed to complete it. I have problems with bouyancy and floaty legs. My instructor suggested doing the advanced open water course but I can not bring myself to go to 18metres. Has anyone any suggestions on somewhere nice to go that I would not have to go too deep and has plenty of instructors/dive masters?

 

[Hallmac]

Grand Cayman. or better yet just rent some pool time in you local area.

You need to train your mind that you have an answer for every possible problem if not two or three. Don't make the mistake believing that you need to be in the water with an instructor or Dm to practice your skills. Do them at home while watching tv. While taking a shower. Anytime you are alone just don't try them while you are driving!!!!

Think of everything that scares you under water and list what skills you were taught that will solve the problem then break it down as to why it works. Roll play while you are under water. Start in the shallow end and play, play, play. When you trust yourself then go into the open water. There are some really fun under water games that will help you become more comfortable.

Relax, relax, relax, if the rest of us can do this what make you think it won't work for you? Other than being a very special person are you really that different than the rest of us?

Hallmac

 

[dbulmer]

Angel,

Best thing you can do now is join a club. Explain your fears to the people in the club and start to work on what causes you to panic. Start to get comfy in the water and treat your certification as a licence to learn.

My own fear is mask removal - I joined a club a couple of weeks back and the fear has almost gone now it's a little anxiety .

By the sound of it you trained in the Uk - get yourself abroad as soon as you can as you'll find warm water considerably easier. I trained in warm water and want to do UK diving which is partly why I joined a club - the other being to get more comfy diving and to learn more about dive kit and what to buy and not to buy.

A couple of things to remember - always be prepared to not dive when you don't feel comfortable - (diving is what you do to relax remember ) Don't trust dive masters 100% - what I mean is that divemasters are human beings too and can make mistakes - it's good to listen and learn but as a certified diver now you are also expected to use your own judgement too and you won't always know how attentive a dm is until you are in the water. Some DMs watch over divers attentively while others don't - so just be aware of that.

Forget the Advanced OW - get some shallow dives in and get comfy and practice safely if you can - you can always do the course later when you feel more confident and happy.

 

[paulintexas]

spend a lot of time in the pool practicing. I just go back into diving recently, and spent about 3 tanks worth of time in my pool at all of 5 feet, practicing the things learned earlier in OW training.

my biggest concern has always been mask issues, and what to do when you lose the mask, retrieval, clearing, etc., etc. I practiced over and over again with the complete removal, finding it on the bottom (had my kids hide it ), replacing, clearing, and getting a feel for breathing underwater with eyes closed and no mask on at all.

i'm now 10 times more comfortable in the water, and on my last dive yesterday at a local scuba pond, my mask was kicked by another diver, flooding completely. thanks to my refresher time in the pool, it was a complete non-issue, as it should be, and I calmly replace the mask, cleared properly, and was back in bizzness in 30 seconds!!

practice makes perfect, so to speak!

 

[learn-scuba]

Go to the dive shop and ask for a list of their dive masters then contact each and see if one or more of them would be willing to spend some time in the pool with you to work on skills. Then see if you can't talk one of them into buddying up with you for some shallow diving. You might have to pay for their dive if it isn't a dive they would normally do, but more often than not new dive masters will be willing to help you out for the experience it gains them. The worst they can do is say no, right?

As for the panicking thing... frankly, if you panicked in open water you shouldn't have been certified. Or did you hide it from your instructor? Also, do you mean panicking, or just stressed out? (not that being stressed out is much better). If you're stressed, that's fairly normal though it shouldn't be an out of control kind of stress. Spend time in shallow water and work on relaxing. Spend lots of time in the pool, too.

You might also ask the dive shop if you could sit in through the pool sessions in another open water class. Again, the worst they can do is say no.

 

[Aqua Angel]

joining a club was a good suggestion. You have to meet some people that dive. Get to know them and trust them, do some easy dives with them, it takes doing it. Once you have done a few dives, you will feel better.

My mom got certified at 73 years old. She had lousy weather, and rough seas for her first skills session. It was canceled. They ended up doing her first one in a spring. That is a good way to go if you have any in your area.

Her first real dive was with me and my buddy, on the keys. The first one, again, had some weather and bad planning on the boat mates part. She panicked, my buddy escorted her back to the boat.

The second spot we went, she went in with me. She took a long time going down the rope, (clearing her ears) but I just stayed a bit ahead of her and waited. She finally made it and we had a good dive.

She admitted, she knew she had to go in the second time, or she would never dive. She did very good. You can do it too. Find someone skilled and patient. And dive regular.

Also on the floaty legs, I have seen divers wear ankle weights.

here is a pic of my mom, (I got artsy with it, using Adobe)

 

[angel]

As for the panicking thing... frankly, if you panicked in open water you shouldn't have been certified. Or did you hide it from your instructor? Also, do you mean panicking, or just stressed out? (not that being stressed out is much better). If you're stressed, that's fairly normal though it shouldn't be an out of control kind of stress.

learn-scuba
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I completed all the skills but just don't feel comfortable doing them. If I start breathing very quickly I find it very difficult to slow down and usually end up floating upside down with my feet in the air. I tried ankle weights but it didn't seem to help.

 

[learn-scuba]

angel once bubbled...
I completed all the skills but just don't feel comfortable doing them. If I start breathing very quickly I find it very difficult to slow down and usually end up floating upside down with my feet in the air. I tried ankle weights but it didn't seem to help.

Okay... there's a pretty big difference between being stressed out and hyperventilating and panic. And, happily, it can be resolved.

First... your feet floating up is largely due to the fact that you're hyperventilating and holding too much air in your lungs. Before you can get properly weighted and neutral in the water, you have to get relaxed. Obviously that's not easy to do if you're stressed. So that's the part we have to deal with.

The feeling that you're not getting enough air and thus breathing real fast is not uncommon. The first thing you have to understand is that there is WAY more air in the tank and being delivered through the regulator than you could possibly need. The air pressure in the tank is going to be around 3000psi and the air coming out of your regulator is being fed to you at a slightly higher than normal pressure. It contains just as much oxygen or more than the air that surrounds you… certainly no less! So you need to start by understanding that you ARE getting plenty of air from the regulator... it just doesn't feel like it to you.

Now, what is it that makes you feel like you need to take a breath? Is it a lack of oxygen (not enough air?) or is it something else? The answer is: It's something else. Specifically, the impulse to inhale comes not from too little oxygen in your lungs but rather from too much carbon-dioxide (CO2). When you have that feeling like you aren't getting enough air to breath, it's not that you have too little air, it's that you have too much CO2 waste still in your lungs. So, learn to recognize that "out of breath" feeling to be a signal that you have too much CO2 left in your lungs and that it’s not a lack of oxygen to breath.

Okay… How to fix the problem of shortness of breath... simple... take full deep breaths and exhale fully until you can exhale no more and repeat until the feeling passes. This is called "flushing" and what it does is to fill your lungs with air low in CO2 and then empty your lungs of everything so that you can get the CO2 level in your lungs down to a normal level. Any time you start to feel like you're short of breath learn to STOP, THINK and BREATH. Stop what you're doing, realize that the problem is too much CO2 and not a lack of air and then breath deep and exhale fully to flush the excess CO2 out. Before you know it your breathing will return to normal and you'll be just fine.

Try to get some pool time with a dive master and practice flushing your lungs in the pool. Remember to breath slowly, inhale fully and then exhale until you can exhale no more. Think about your breathing and practice it. You'll have that problem solved in no time. And, once you have the breathing thing "fixed" you'll probably find that you don't float as much either and that will help you relax even more.

Best of luck to you!

Edited for my usual raft of glaring typos

 

[angel]

Cheers for that, no one has suggested that my floaty feet and breathing quickly could be connected. I do want to go back and give it another go but just don't feel very safe. I think I will go with the idea of the swimming pool first.

 

[learn-scuba]

Angel -- my pleasure. I just hope it helps you out.