Very new and starting to feel anxious

[Jayfarmlaw]

Relax, a good instructor will have you diving like Jacques Cousteau in a weekend!! After about 20 dives, something magical happens and you just "get it" and everything falls into place.

Welcome to the addiction, all that money isn't going to spend itself!! (A healthy crack habit would probably be cheaper, but the people aren't as friendly....)

Jay

 

[Ejcaswell]

Interesting that the dive itself didn't trigger your nerves the way reading the materials did. Do you remember what you were reading about when you started feeling anxious?

Yeah its really odd that i felt more nervous while doing the study work! I think it was reading all the things you need to prepare for in case of emergency situation - probably made the risk more realistic in my head so freaked a little!

Its something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, and don’t want to back out, but just feeling overly anxious! My first 5 dives are in a pool so a pretty safe place to trial things out and see how i go.
Thanks for everyone’s comments really appreciate it!

 

[TripleA]

I say go for it! I had those same feelings when I first started. I had trouble equalizing my breathing was terrible trim and buoyancy were not very good and I to wondered if this was for me. After a few dives everything started coming together. I went from diving a jacket bc with a single tank to backmount doubles, my ear problem was basically just not equalizing soon and often enough my trim and buoyancy have greatly improved. After a few dives I became comfortable and everything just started clicking. In my opinion the open water class teaches you the basics and how to keep yourself safe but for me diving often and being lucky enough to become friends with guys that have been diving longer than I have been alive are what made me comfortable under water. Now I just need to get a bunch more technical training completed and a big bag of money to support my habit lol. Good luck with your new adventure!

 

[Esprise Me]

Sounds like a healthy respect for the real (but fairly small) risks inherent in the sport. Are you generally the sort of person who feels more anxious with more info about risk, or less? I'm the latter. When I look up my symptoms on WebMD, I come away less worried that it might be cancer, because now I know some other possibilities. When I still felt a little nervous after getting my certification because I felt like the risks of DCI and narcosis and running out of air were all sort of vague and shapeless threats lurking menacingly just out of the limits of visibility like shadows in murky water, I started reading everything I could get my hands on about how divers die. And it helped! I learned a few tricks they didn't teach in my course, like taking three deep breaths off my reg while watching my gauge to make sure my air hadn't been turned off before splashing in, testing my buddy for narcosis with a simple math problem (I hold up X fingers and she has to respond with X+1), and recognizing a rash as a potential sign of DCI, and the administration of oxygen as not only a treatment but a useful diagnostic tool. I also learned that most divers die doing things I would never do-- extreme depths, areas known for terrible currents, cave or solo or other more dangerous specialty diving without proper training/equipment, etc. That helped too, because I realized what a cautious person I am compared to so many, and how that meant my risk would be much lower. If reading about incidents and accidents would make you more nervous, don't do that to yourself; just take my word for it that these risks are quite manageable. But if you think reading some worst-case scenarios might reassure you, I'm happy to share my reading list.

 

[Chavodel8en]

Since you specifically call out breathing underwater as the thing you're anxious about -

if you can, try to do this in small steps. Try breathing from your reg, standing in the pool with just your face underwater. Then try submerging your entire head underwater. Hopefully, once you are confident that the breathing part is easy, your anxiety will subside.

Note, Ive been diving for years, and sometimes I feel like my throat is blocked and I cant swallow or breath. I generally attribute it to dry mouth. Is this what's happening to you? If so, search these forums or google how to address dry mouth. I actually don't do anything special about dry mouth, as I always just realize that there is nothing actually stopping me from breathing.

Also, since we are used to breathing from our noses on land, we sometimes forget and try to breath that way underwater. Try to remember to be a mouth breather underwater.

 

[iamrushman]

howdy and welcome from southeast florida.....good luck and keep us informed....where are you taking your classes?....or did i miss that part?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Hello all,
I have just enrolled todo a PADI open water course after doing a dive experience a few weeks ago.
Ive started to go through the online learning, but now starting to wonder if this is for me.....and i am starting to feel very very anxious! Is that normal?
Ive done a fair bit of snorkelling, off beaches and boats with no issues, but when it comes to going under water i do get a bit anxious.
During the experience dive, i was ok, but my breathing did go funny on occasions and I had to try and control it (managed but not sure why it did that).

Was really keen to go ahead after the experience dive, but now starting to feel like backing out......now sure what to do!

Is this for me?

One of my most nervous students was this 6'5" 280 lb firefighter. If you hit him in the car, you'd call for a tow truck, not 911. He busted into burning buildings.

But go underwater? That's crazy! After the course he felt much better.

Everyone has their own pace. Just take it step by step and be sure your instructors understands, respects, and accomodates this.

 

[Ejcaswell]

howdy and welcome from southeast florida.....good luck and keep us informed....where are you taking your classes?....or did i miss that part?

I am New Zealand on the South Island so a wee bit chilli at the moment!

 

[hilljo88]

There is no need to rush it. You are doing this for fun. Take it at your own speed. Your apprehension is a healthy respect for what could go wrong. Your classes are training you for how to deal with those unlikely events. The more time in the pool and later the more dives you do, the more confident you become in your abilities. Also, this is just training. You are not doing it to jump in a pool. You want to see the fish and other critters at 30-60 feet and eventually deeper. Remember, you control the process.

 

[lamarpaulski]

Go slow. Share your anxiety with your instructor. I hope your first O/W dives are slow and in a proper environment. Experience is the cure.