Hello everyone! I'm taking my OW class, completed the pool training sessions and written test. Our class is going to the FL Keys to do 4 dives in the coming weeks. I really trust and like my instructors, who have been so amazingly patient and understanding as I've struggled with anxiety during the pool training. For the first hour of each training session I felt like I could not get enough breath and had to get my head out of the water.Intellectually, I know I'm safe, I'm a good swimmer and I did all the skills with no real problems. But at the beginning, it's an overwhelming feeling of "I don't want to be here, I have to get out." It took me a long time to even get up my courage to descend, then I kept surfacing when there was no reason to. Once I got my rhythm and started swimming around the bottom, doing the skills with my instructor and buddy, I was ok and felt great. But at all 4 pool classes, it took me almost AN HOUR to get to that point. On the Keys trip, there isn't going to time to do that anyway. I'm scared of what will happen on the real dives if this is how I react in a totally safe pool with 2 lifeguards, no current, perfect visibility, etc. Any advice? I'm taking the class with my 13 yo daughter so I really don't want to ruin her dive experience (she loves the class and has had no problems). Thank you!
Paralyzing anxiety at first ... then love it
- Thread starter LN_FL
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I would suggest more pool time.
The more time you spend breathing off an aqualung underwater, the more relaxed to are likely to be.
When you start diving you are constantly doing exercises, and being assessed.
A series of dives where you are 'enjoying yourself' doing it for fun, may help. Then on your agenda, you can add in exercise, practicing buoyancy control is never a wasted exercise.
Breathing exercises, If you are uncomfortable, breath slowly. Breath in for a count of four, out for a count of four.
The other thing that may help is visualisation. Run through the dive in your mind, or at least the first part, entry, descent, start of the dive.
Normally I do this on a big dive. Once kitted up, still sitting on the bench, I close my eyes and run through the complete dive. It allows you to rehearse the dive, even operating bits of equipment (e.g. deflating the BCD starting the descent, adding air - descending, checking a gauge etc.). You can even do this at home, but I find I get the best value before a dive, it helps me start the dive relaxed, even a stressful or complex dive.
Ultimately, if you are uncomfortable surface.
Its much better to be on the boat wishing you were in the water, than in the water wishing you were on the boat.
The other thing is to limit things that will add stress.
So other than practice and preparation. Potentially, having a discussion with your daughter and instructors. Along the lines of your daughter can continue the dive without you. Then (hopefully) you will reduce the concern about spoiling the for dive your daughter, and be able to concentrate on your dive.
The more time you spend breathing off an aqualung underwater, the more relaxed to are likely to be.
When you start diving you are constantly doing exercises, and being assessed.
A series of dives where you are 'enjoying yourself' doing it for fun, may help. Then on your agenda, you can add in exercise, practicing buoyancy control is never a wasted exercise.
Breathing exercises, If you are uncomfortable, breath slowly. Breath in for a count of four, out for a count of four.
The other thing that may help is visualisation. Run through the dive in your mind, or at least the first part, entry, descent, start of the dive.
Normally I do this on a big dive. Once kitted up, still sitting on the bench, I close my eyes and run through the complete dive. It allows you to rehearse the dive, even operating bits of equipment (e.g. deflating the BCD starting the descent, adding air - descending, checking a gauge etc.). You can even do this at home, but I find I get the best value before a dive, it helps me start the dive relaxed, even a stressful or complex dive.
Ultimately, if you are uncomfortable surface.
Its much better to be on the boat wishing you were in the water, than in the water wishing you were on the boat.
The other thing is to limit things that will add stress.
So other than practice and preparation. Potentially, having a discussion with your daughter and instructors. Along the lines of your daughter can continue the dive without you. Then (hopefully) you will reduce the concern about spoiling the for dive your daughter, and be able to concentrate on your dive.
CycleCat
Contributor
Maybe pay the extra cost to have a private instructor for your open water dives so you can take all the extra time you need.
first, i applaud you for trying to work through your anxiety. many students in your situation just give up and quit the class.
i sympathize with how you feel. when i first tried scuba in the pool, i had to force myself to breathe. even in the shallow end. i also had an experience about 10 years ago that haunted me for a long time and still creeps up on me unexpectedly to this day.
to some people, being underwater comes naturally. to others it is a real struggle. those that have never had this type of anxiety often have trouble understanding how powerful an effect it can have on us.
i will echo what has been said above. if you feel for whatever reason you are not ready for the open water.....don't do it !! there is absolutely no reason to rush the process. yes, there may be some time and financial set backs if you delay the dives, but believe me, the last thing you want is to ruin all the work you have put in by having things go badly at depth. put in some more pool time. forget about all the skills and just go and have fun. stop thinking about everything and just swim around and enjoy it.
the mind is a tricky thing to control sometimes. my main advise would be to pay close attention to the signs. you probably already know that "feeling" when your anxiety is getting higher. be "aware" of this. if you need to, make the conscious decision to calmly and slowly signal to your instructor that you are having a problem and need to surface. do this even if in the shallow end of the pool. then calmly and slowly ascend under control. the last thing you want to be doing is "bolting" to the surface. this will end up becoming your normal response. we cannot have that in scuba diving. as difficult as it may be, you need to work to break that instinctual reaction that tells you to get to the surface. as you know, if done from depth, this can be extremely dangerous and possibly life threatening.
the other advise i can share is to try and "get out of your head". by this i mean for you to stop over thinking everything. typically a panic reaction does not happen immediately. it starts off slowly and keeps growing if it goes unchecked. eventually it can lead to a diver physically loosing control over their body. the mind takes over and you react based on your natural instincts. so when you feel the very first signs. recognize what is happening, control your breathing, and make a conscious effort to distract your mind. this can often only take 10 seconds to start to reverse the process and bring your anxiety under control.
for me, sometimes i just had to make physical contact with my buddy. this can have an immediate positive effect. try using some basic hand signals. are you ok ? yes, i am ok. ask them to tell you their tank pressure. then you look at yours and share that info with them. you may find by this time that your initial level of anxiety has already lessened or disappeared all together.
if you have a camera with you, focus on checking your settings. scroll through them and think about what exposure you might want to use. is the flash set where you want it. etc. again, after a very short time you may not even realize everything is now ok. the key is to do this when you feel the first signs of a problem creeping up on you.
congrats on getting this far. keep it up. and good luck to you. HAVE FUN !!
i sympathize with how you feel. when i first tried scuba in the pool, i had to force myself to breathe. even in the shallow end. i also had an experience about 10 years ago that haunted me for a long time and still creeps up on me unexpectedly to this day.
to some people, being underwater comes naturally. to others it is a real struggle. those that have never had this type of anxiety often have trouble understanding how powerful an effect it can have on us.
i will echo what has been said above. if you feel for whatever reason you are not ready for the open water.....don't do it !! there is absolutely no reason to rush the process. yes, there may be some time and financial set backs if you delay the dives, but believe me, the last thing you want is to ruin all the work you have put in by having things go badly at depth. put in some more pool time. forget about all the skills and just go and have fun. stop thinking about everything and just swim around and enjoy it.
the mind is a tricky thing to control sometimes. my main advise would be to pay close attention to the signs. you probably already know that "feeling" when your anxiety is getting higher. be "aware" of this. if you need to, make the conscious decision to calmly and slowly signal to your instructor that you are having a problem and need to surface. do this even if in the shallow end of the pool. then calmly and slowly ascend under control. the last thing you want to be doing is "bolting" to the surface. this will end up becoming your normal response. we cannot have that in scuba diving. as difficult as it may be, you need to work to break that instinctual reaction that tells you to get to the surface. as you know, if done from depth, this can be extremely dangerous and possibly life threatening.
the other advise i can share is to try and "get out of your head". by this i mean for you to stop over thinking everything. typically a panic reaction does not happen immediately. it starts off slowly and keeps growing if it goes unchecked. eventually it can lead to a diver physically loosing control over their body. the mind takes over and you react based on your natural instincts. so when you feel the very first signs. recognize what is happening, control your breathing, and make a conscious effort to distract your mind. this can often only take 10 seconds to start to reverse the process and bring your anxiety under control.
for me, sometimes i just had to make physical contact with my buddy. this can have an immediate positive effect. try using some basic hand signals. are you ok ? yes, i am ok. ask them to tell you their tank pressure. then you look at yours and share that info with them. you may find by this time that your initial level of anxiety has already lessened or disappeared all together.
if you have a camera with you, focus on checking your settings. scroll through them and think about what exposure you might want to use. is the flash set where you want it. etc. again, after a very short time you may not even realize everything is now ok. the key is to do this when you feel the first signs of a problem creeping up on you.
congrats on getting this far. keep it up. and good luck to you. HAVE FUN !!
No camera at this stage!
But do look for bandaids, hairbands and hair balls while you're underwater in the pool. Gross, of course, but gives you something else to think about.
Breathing is your key. Breathe fully in, breath fully out, more out than in. Practice at home with snorkel in your mouth while you do daily chores.
But do look for bandaids, hairbands and hair balls while you're underwater in the pool. Gross, of course, but gives you something else to think about.
Breathing is your key. Breathe fully in, breath fully out, more out than in. Practice at home with snorkel in your mouth while you do daily chores.
100% agree. i never allow students to bring a camera. my suggestion was meant for pool as an exercise or down the road once certified and diving in ow. i should have been more clear.
Adding to what I said at the top of the thread.
- More pool time
- Spend time enjoying being under water rather than doing exercise, assessments and tasks.
Another thought.
I am assuming the four dives in the 'Keys' are intended to be the open water lessons and assessment section of your course.
Take the pressure off. Concentrate on just enjoying the experience, just diving.
Talk to the instructors about about deferring the rest of the lessons, or at least the first lesson, and having a guided dive(s). Just enjoy the experience and relax.
Complete the rest of the qualification when you are ready.
As others have said, DON't proceed to the open water dives until you have improved your confidence and are comfortable in the pool.
The C-19 caused havoc in my club. Those we trained during the winter months were due to start the open water element over the Easter weekend. With the lock down, this was not possible.
When diving resumed, training was not allowed, and only qualified divers where allowed at our local sites.
When we were finally allowed to start teaching again, over 4 or 5 months had elapsed. all our students were given the opportunity to defer the remainder of the training until we where allowed back in the pool, and they could refresh their skills, or they could proceed to open water.
Those students that wanted to move to open water were told before the first dive that there was no obligation, or pressure to complete the dive. We (the instructors) would/could dive, if they choose not to dive, no pressure.
They where also told, no training, until they had relaxed, and they could finish (abort) at any point, the dives where 'fun' dives, watching fish, and seeing the sites of interest.
Once they felt ready, we picked up the training again.
Your instructors want you to enjoy the course, and the experience, they will attempt to move at a pace that you are comfortable with. That might have a cost implication, I am lucky, we are a members club, so training is part of being a member, so for us, if it takes 4 dives or 40, it makes little difference to us. We are there diving anyway.
- More pool time
- Spend time enjoying being under water rather than doing exercise, assessments and tasks.
Another thought.
I am assuming the four dives in the 'Keys' are intended to be the open water lessons and assessment section of your course.
Take the pressure off. Concentrate on just enjoying the experience, just diving.
Talk to the instructors about about deferring the rest of the lessons, or at least the first lesson, and having a guided dive(s). Just enjoy the experience and relax.
Complete the rest of the qualification when you are ready.
As others have said, DON't proceed to the open water dives until you have improved your confidence and are comfortable in the pool.
The C-19 caused havoc in my club. Those we trained during the winter months were due to start the open water element over the Easter weekend. With the lock down, this was not possible.
When diving resumed, training was not allowed, and only qualified divers where allowed at our local sites.
When we were finally allowed to start teaching again, over 4 or 5 months had elapsed. all our students were given the opportunity to defer the remainder of the training until we where allowed back in the pool, and they could refresh their skills, or they could proceed to open water.
Those students that wanted to move to open water were told before the first dive that there was no obligation, or pressure to complete the dive. We (the instructors) would/could dive, if they choose not to dive, no pressure.
They where also told, no training, until they had relaxed, and they could finish (abort) at any point, the dives where 'fun' dives, watching fish, and seeing the sites of interest.
Once they felt ready, we picked up the training again.
Your instructors want you to enjoy the course, and the experience, they will attempt to move at a pace that you are comfortable with. That might have a cost implication, I am lucky, we are a members club, so training is part of being a member, so for us, if it takes 4 dives or 40, it makes little difference to us. We are there diving anyway.
Sifossifoco
Contributor
Once in the water, breathe deeply, there is nothing more reassuring than the feeling that you can have as much air as you want, whenever you want. Learn how to take off your mask and put it back clearing it. Practice in the pool till you get tired of it. The feeling of being able to 'control' water will make you relaxed. Don't worry about anything else at this stage. Just realize that you have all the air you want and that water is not going to overtake. Take it slow, moving forward to other skills without being comfortable in water is not going to make the experience enjoyable. You are having fun and a laugh if you make a mistake, not training for the navy seals.
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I agree with all advice given by these experienced divers so far. Especially about more pool time and possible one on one instruction. Your anxiety is a bit odd since you swim well. Perhaps you haven't snorkeled down to the bottom or done much underwater at all. I have done deep dives (to 130') and felt perfectly fine each time, yet without scuba (or snorkel) gear on I still get a bit of the heebee jeebees when approaching water that's over my head. Who knows why-- we all have our oddities.
One bit of advice I will offer is that when both of you get certified to try to find an experienced diver (ideally at least rescue certified) to buddy with. I always flinch a little when two new divers buddy up, neither with much experience or basic rescue skills (as taught in the Rescue course). Particularly when one buddy is a child. But, that's just me, and many will disagree.
Good luck and keep us posted on both of your progress.
One bit of advice I will offer is that when both of you get certified to try to find an experienced diver (ideally at least rescue certified) to buddy with. I always flinch a little when two new divers buddy up, neither with much experience or basic rescue skills (as taught in the Rescue course). Particularly when one buddy is a child. But, that's just me, and many will disagree.
Good luck and keep us posted on both of your progress.
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