Wife fear of mask clearing

[TMHeimer]

My wife had this issue aswell. She was afraid of the mask drill. But she wanted to overcome it and practiced whenever possible.
This year on our vacation, when she had only 15-20 OW dives, I was shocked when she completely took off her mask at a wall around 80ft just to defog it.
Just a couple of dives and she was completely comfortable with it.
My story won't help you a lot, yet maybe it will encourage you and your wife.

Just curious about how you defog a mask better by taking it off rather than to just letting a little water in it? I always suggest baby shampoo as a defog--works every time.

 

[Texasguy]

I always suggest baby shampoo as a defog--works every time.

Then it makes down the nose, the throat, then you can taste it in your mouth. You can never wash it off completely before the dive.

 

[TMHeimer]

Then it makes down the nose, the throat, then you can taste it in your mouth. You can never wash it off completely before the dive.

Not sure what you mean. Of course you wipe all excess off the inside of the mask after applying. I never notice even the smell while diving. You don't want to wash it completely off before the dive of course. You don't use any water at all when applying. Just toilet paper to smear it around and make the mask clear. You can use the smeared toilet paper also to clean the outside of the mask glass.

 

[Compressor]

I used to have a student who was really afraid of clearing their mask. Others have given good solutions to this problem. I will add m own: Have here wear her mask in the shower then have her face the shower head. Snorkel in mouth should in help. Then add water into the mask and have her just lift mask up to clear at the same time exhaling thru her nose.

 

[LiveaboardCom]

My wife has decided she would like to get certified. She had her first pool skills the other night. When she came home she told me there was no way she could clear her mask/take it off etc. It "freaked" her out.

I told her, this is the most basic skill and for sure you have to have it. Suggested if having a mask off under water disturbs her, submerge with it off and then put it on when you are on the bottom of the pool. She will see all is okay. She is at round two tonight so we'll see if that helps her.

Has anyone else dealt with this, and have any advice I could give her? I told her it is fine if she doesn't get certified, so there is not big pressure. It would actually save me a lot lugging heavy equipment to places if she doesn't!

JJ

Hi there,

Yes, I have dealt with that problem when learning to dive and eventually overcame it. Here is what worked for me:

• Visualisation: Visualising is a technique used by athletes all over the world to overcome issues and teach the brain how to respond calmly to something it perceives as a threat. I spent some time each day doing a visualization to help lower my anxiety around mask removal and it worked well. The process goes like this:

Sit somewhere quiet and relax, close eyes, breathe slowly, and go through the scenario that causes anxiety step by step in your mind. Go through the visualization slowly and stop when you start to feel the anxiety rising. Then go back to where in the visualization you felt relaxed, (ie. before reaching up to touch the mask perhaps). Stop there, feel yourself relax again, and end on a positive.

As you practice, build the visualization up each time until you still feel calm when picturing yourself removing the mask and putting it back on again. It takes practice but is very effective. Sometimes you can combine it with an activity such as walking if it feels too frightening to visualize a scenario whilst still, which can be the case for extreme fears.

• Hypnotherapy: This is an effective tool for getting over anxiety in specific situations and it also retrains the brain to remain relaxed when it perceives there is a threat. It works very well.

• Time and practice: I worked with an instructor who gave me extra time and one to one tuition to help me overcome my fear fully. Maybe that's an option worth looking into.

Once qualified, I focussed on choosing calm dives with clear waters at first so any fear of my mask coming off, being kicked by a fin in the face, or having to clear it didn't come back. The key is to ease into it gently and have positive experiences.

Best of luck to you both! If diving really doesn't work for her, you can always suggest a snorkeling liveaboard instead to cheer her up!