If you have ever experienced a panic attack while scuba diving, you know how terrifying it can be. Panic attacks can prove fatal. You may find yourself holding your breath, hyperventilating, or wasting your air supply. Your visibility will decrease and you'll make stupid decisions. Even worse, you might drown in the ocean, where compressed air can cause your blood to change.
Scuba diving panic attack treatment
Understanding panic attacks while scuba diving is important. Panic can lead to injury because a diver is unable to think clearly and consciously control their actions. They have a singular focus on the surface and are dangerously unpredictable. Panic, a physiological response to severe stresses, can impair a person's ability to control their actions or pay attention to the surroundings. This can cause dangerous behavior and can even lead to death.
Once a panic attack begins, there are several things that can be done to avoid further damage. Divers should remain alert to their surroundings, and communicate with other divers.
Panic attacks in scuba diving
Keep an eye out for your buddy when you go scuba diving with them. This will help to determine if they are in a relaxed mood. You may notice a sign that your buddy is having panic attacks. Ask your diver to stop panicking if he or she appears to be in a panic attack.
An anxious diver should be calmed down, reassured, and encouraged to relax. Avoid him or her running off to the side of your dive. This may further agitate the situation, and could endanger you. It's also important to avoid triggering the attack by latching on to him or her. You could make the diver lose control over their air supply, and cause them to become immobile. If you're unable to calm your diver, please keep your distance and make every effort to get him/her out of the water quickly.
A panic attack while scuba diving can have many causes. If a diver is sensitive to caffeine or alcohol, panic attacks can occur. You should also avoid caffeine or alcohol before diving.
Divers can distract themselves from worrying about panic attacks by making observations
Observations can be a powerful distraction from the panic attack. The physical reaction of panic involves rapid breathing and increased carbon dioxide in the body. Your brain responds quickly to an increase of carbon dioxide by emitting stress hormones. This signaling your heart, lungs and heart to work harder. But this can also deplete your oxygen supply. Therefore, if you feel that a panic attack is coming on, you must do something to reduce the effects of the attack.
If panic attacks are imminent, focus on familiar physical sensations, such as water on the skin and the dive watch. Assist at a slower pace and swim shallower if you can. This can help you push through the panic and continue the dive.