Overcoming the fear of depth

Replies 1-8 of 8

MortenL added 2006-10-19

Hi Frances! Well the fear of deep waters is a normal thing amongst humans since, from natures side we were not "made" to live in the water, however, the only way to overcome the fear of deep waters is, like any other fear, to confront it, im not saying that you should just go out and dive to like 18 meters right away, but start at a shallow deepth and work your way down, when you feel nervous, simply stop, take a couple of really deep breaths and remenber that by your side is a certifides instructor who knows what he/she is doing, and then, when you relax once again, try going deeper, the thing is, once you find out that there is nothing dangerous or frightening about the deep (as long as you obey all of the things you have been instructed in during your training) you will be able to go a bit deeper, and a bit deeper, so, my advice to you, take it easy, theres no reason to rush things up, calm down and enjoy, hope this is any good for you, Best Regards, Morten, Denmark!

Organised diving, is safe diving!

NickR added 2006-10-30

I couldn't even swim properly when I started my open water course a few months ago! We did all our dives in open water, not a pool, and it was very freaky at first. The feeling of panic is quite real, and i would imagine it is quite common for new divers especially the first dive or two. But the best advice as MortenL said, is deep breaths, relax, and slow down. You don't need to rush, and a minute or two in the one spot, just trying to slow your breathing down, is probably the best way to get through it. When you panic, your first instinct is to breathe fast and shallow; do the opposite to overcome it. (As a psychologist, it was quite an experience to feel it myself for once, instead of treating it !!!)

And once you get the breathing down pat, then you suddenly realise you're actually scuba diving, and it is the best experience ever. Get back in as soon as possible, you'll love it. -nick

TonyB added 2006-11-07

Probably also a good message for those looking into an Open Water certification.

Always ask what the ratio of students to instructors/ assistanst is. The better shops I know of in Sydney stick to 4 students per instructor.

MarieB added 2006-12-13

All the advice so far are all great. Being a land lover, I also had a panic on the final test day out in the open - got back to shore in a frenzy and literally ripped the BC off. Have now been diving for three years and can not get enough of it. What helped me? proper fitting gear and swimming exercises every week. I still swim once a week and do 4km's. It has helped immensley with the fear factor of depth and my lungs are so much better that I can use one tank full of air for two dives, while others need to refill. Happy diving

EmmaH added 2007-04-06

Hi, I'm new to diving, and new to the forum..so hi everyone...

I feel your pain. I started my OW in September last year, and didn't finish until NYE. I have a major fear not only the deep water, but the ocean as a whole. I did my course to try and overcome that fear. The way I overcame it was with who I believe to be THE BEST dive instructor in Sydney and his assistants. He slowly introduced me to deeper sites, and I guess he tricked me into it in a way. I had no idea how deep I was because I was always doing shore dives, and because I was so nervous, I never looked at my computer, all I looked at was him (and the little fishies that would come up for a feed) so I had no way of knowing until my sneaky instructor showed me his and I was so proud of myself.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: Go at your own pace, keep doing shore dives, you gradually descend, not plummet into 30 odd metres of water off a boat and take your time. Although it's only been a few months for me, I've overtaken some of the Advanced guys in my club with the amount of dives I've done. I wont dive off a boat yet, I'm nowhere near comfortable enough and noone expects you to do anything you don't feel like doing for the sake of "keeping up"

EmilyH added 2007-05-16

Hyya frankeeV,

Don't worry, everyone's different. Some people take a bit longer than others to become comfortable with the water. I'm in the process of completing my OW, I breezed through the pool training and the shore dives without a problem, but when I got to the boat dives I ran into a bit of trouble. At the start of the first boat dive I was nervous, and my breathing sped up as we started to descend. I couldn't slow my breathing down, started panicking and started hyperventilating, which (as you know!) isn't a pleasant feeling. However, I pushed myself to keep descending and managed to get to the ocean floor at 18m, where I was able to calm myself down and slow my breathing down to a controlled rate. Your outlook is always a bit rosier once you're on the bottom of the ocean floor and there are fish to look at!

I didn't complete my second dive that day, and spoke to my instructor about my experience. He suggested that I try some shore dives before going back to doing my second boat dive. I completed my shore dives last weekend with no problems, and practised my buoyancy (which improved out of sight!) and descents, going through all the basics. I feel a lot more comfortable and confident, and looking forward to my boat dives this coming weekend.

One of the girls in my class has also had a customised program, she couldn't even bear to breathe underwater at first! But by the end of the class she was staying under water for thirty minutes at a time (albeit in the shallow end). She did an additional pool session, then tried shore dives but pulled out before the first descent because she wasn't comfortable. However, she was on the shore dives with me last weekend, completed them all and did really well, and is coming on the boat dives this weekend.

So, take as much time as you need. Keep talking to your instructor about what you're comfortable with and what you're not comfortable with. They will have come across this heaps of times. Practise in shallow water for as long as you like. And have fun.

TabithaH added 2007-05-20

Hi, I just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS to frankeeV, EmmaH and EmilyH for what you have all achieved thus far. I can't offer advice on the breathing/depth thing - that has never been an issue for me, but the reason I learned to dive was to overcome my paranoid fear of sharks and all the other things in the ocean that can eat me! I still have yet to actually dive with sharks (Mike Ball trip in two weeks time - eeek!)

For me, diving has been about replacing a total phobia with what is fast becoming a life-long passion, and I feel like a very different person because of that. I feel stronger, more capable, more knowledgeable and...FREARLESS!! ...Well, almost! There is still a long underwater journey ahead of me, and I am looking forward to every second of it :-)

live on the edge...otherwise you're taking up too much space!!

EmilyH added 2007-05-27

Hyya frankeeV,

Just thought I'd post an update. I've completed my requirements and am now an qualified Open Water diver :)

My boat dives were in very rough, cold conditions down in Portsea. There were people vomiting over the side of the boat before the dive (not me though!) and it took ages to find the right conditions. Great condidtions to learn in, I should be able to handle diving anywhere now! My ascents and descents were good. My breathing was still a bit fast, but under control (there's still some nerves there), and my bouyancy control wasn't as good as it was in shallow water but these are things I can work on.

Hope you're having fun with your PADI course.

Replies 1-8 of 8

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