Why am I excited to share my first article on diving psychology in DAN Europe (Divers Alert Network Europe) Alert Diver magazine?!I’ve been thinking/talking/writing about Diving Psychology for over a decade now .. but it was around 2015 I really started looking for what was already out there. Turns out, not very much at all! But one of the few places I found useful articles … Continue reading First article in Alert Diver
I wrote PADI Psychological Diver in 2015, and created the elearning in 2016. It’s always been that students take the elearning, and then (to receive the PADI certification) must attend in person for the classroom session or optional dives. The course can be completed “dry”. For years divers have contacted me from all over the world, asking if we can do the classroom session online. … Continue reading Doing the PADI Psychological Diver course during lock-down
Freaking out when scuba diving is understandable As a new scuba diver, it is not unusual to get a bit freaked out at some point. It can happen during training, or maybe not till 10, 20, 50 … dives in. It’s hardly surprising though, because we are going into an extreme environment. We can’t breathe. Everything looks kind of weird and strange things can happen. … Continue reading Why am I freaking out when scuba diving, for no reason?
You know that you want to go scuba diving, and put a lot of time and effort into getting ready for the dive. You were excited about getting back under the water and looking forward to what you might see. But, when you see the thumbs down signal and go to press your deflate button, you suddenly find it really hard to let yourself slip … Continue reading Why do I feel panicky when descending underwater?
Because your mind and body sense a threat We are underwater. We would not survive long without our scuba equipment. Experiencing emotions like anxiety and fear is perfectly normal. These emotions are our signals to detect problems. But anxiety can sometimes get out of control, and its useful to reflect on the question “why do I panic underwater?” We have an instinct for survival. We … Continue reading Why do I panic underwater?
Most of the time, a scuba diver who panics will be probably be lucky enough to escape without injury. But that is not always the case, because panic is a state that makes people do strange things. The instinctive actions of someone in a panic underwater can make them a danger to themselves or other people. So what happens if you panic while scuba diving? … Continue reading What happens if you panic while scuba diving?
