When diving was first invented, only the professionals were doing it. These were Navy men who were physically built for it and had the mental strength to be able to handle whatever they may encounter underwater; even in extremely stressful situations. Then there were the amateurs who discovered that scuba diving was indeed possible. These individuals made their own homemade dive equipment and invaded the underwater world with a sense of fearlessness that might be considered crazy by many divers today. However, they too were mentally prepared for their excursions in the deep blue.
Today, things are quite different. Dive gear is now comfortable, affordable, and relatively easy to use. Anyone who is physically fit, meets the necessary certification requirements, and has the monies to purchase or rent the diving equipment can dive. However, mental fitness is more difficult to determine as it is based on an individual's capacity to handle stress and underwater emergencies. The average person who wants to dive while on vacation because they are simply looking for something fun are often not prepared to handle unexpected situations underwater despite being trained on how to handle various stressful scenarios as part of their certification training.
There are three stress reactions that a diver may experience when he or she has an unexpected encounter or event and each of these can cause serious problems if not handled appropriately. The first of these is panic which is the most common reaction. A diver may panic when he feels threatened by a situation regardless of whether the situation is real or perceived. A diver’s response to this threat will determine whether or not a dire emergency will result from a minor situation. Typically, when a person panics he or she cannot think clearly or logically and often loses control. When this happens, the body’s fight or flight reaction kicks in and this is when divers often make mistakes. For instance, something as simple as a mask slipping off or breaking can cause a panic reaction in the inexperienced diver. The diver may fight helplessly with the mask in a panic, possibly breathing heavily and wasting gas; or that panic may make the diver perform a rapid ascent without making the necessary decompression or safety stops. These activities may result in a possible barotrauma and or decompression sickness.
If the panic continues to a point that the individual physically pushes himself or herself to the limit of what he or she can do physically, then fatigue may set in, which is the second of the three major stress reactions. This fatigue can leave a diver in the water without the energy to swim or otherwise do what he or she needs to do in order to survive. This may cause a diver to sink and eventually drown.
Finally, in extreme cases the stress of the situation can lead to a significant release of adrenaline in the body, which will cause the diver's heart rate to increase and his or her breathing to quicken and become irregular. This is turn can cause suffocation, which will eventually cause the heart to stop. As you can see, panic can range in severity from causing a simple loss of control to a physiological response that can be fatal. It is also no coincidence that 80% of all underwater deaths involve panic.
Knowledge and experience can help a diver avoid these types of situations, but new divers just coming onto the scene are lacking in both of these areas and they often forget what they learned in their training classes when they encounter a stressful situation. It is also important to note that experienced divers may also panic underwater if the situation is right for it. Sometimes all it takes is a diver to become disoriented for panic to set it and this is when mistakes are made.
In order to be able to overcome the psychological response to what may seem like a stressful situation, there are a few things a diver can do. These include practicing your diving skills until they are completely automatic, planning your dive carefully and then diving your plan, anticipating possible things that could go wrong during a dive and deciding in advance how you will handle them, discussing any concerns with the divemaster, and most importantly NEVER dive beyond your level of training and capabilities. If you do these things, you will minimize the possibility of panicking underwater and of having a diving injury or fatality as a result of that panic. If you encounter a stressful or threatening situation, it is important to STOP, BREATHE, and THINK before you react. Here's wishing you safe and happy diving.