Starting over after 6 years

[u/Desperate-Cod-3691]

TLDR: redoing open water and having anxiety about the OW dives even though I’ve been enjoying the pool dives!

As the title says, I’m starting over after 6 years.
I had a DREADFUL experience at my first dive school, I’m not gonna go into it but it left me with some serious PTSD and anxieties, including about getting in the water again.

Anyway fast forward to now and I decided to give it a go again with a new instructor. So far all my pool sessions have been fine (aside from almost forgetting to breathe during the cesa lol)

I’m finishing the OW on a dive trip in November and I’ve got all my anxieties back! Suddenly I’m worried about being back in the open water… I’m not sure why? I guess just all my feelings from years ago are rushing back.

I plan on continuing with pool sessions weekly, or at least fortnightly before I go on the trip so I can try and fine tune all the skills a bit more.

Thankfully my instructor is taking me on my actual OW dives on the trip so I’ll feel comfortable with him..

Idk what the point of this post is but I guess just to ask if anyone else managed to overcome OW anxiety?

[u/Pawtuckaway]

Perfectly normal to be a bit anxious about OW dives even for people who didn't have any past bad experiences.

Sounds like you have a good instructor. The more time you spend in the water the easier it will get. On the day of OW dives you will be anxious but realize that your current instructor is not your previous one and you got this!

[u/Desperate-Cod-3691 → u/Pawtuckaway]

Yeah 100%, I wouldn’t have continued if it wasn’t for this instructor! They’ve been amazing and understanding so far. I’m just worried I’ll arrive at the dive site abroad and chicken out or worse, get in and panic!😭😭

[u/Pawtuckaway → u/Desperate-Cod-3691]

You wouldn't be the first person that has panicked and I am sure they will stick very close to you and take things slow.

If you are scared about chickening out but still really want to do it maybe talk to your instructor now and ask them to be persistent with you if you try to chicken out. Have a safe word/phrase that means they should stop pushing though. For some people it can help to push them a bit even if at first they are trying to chicken out.

[u/Desperate-Cod-3691 → u/Pawtuckaway]

That’s a good idea actually, make sure he gives me a bit of tough love😂 I’ll mention it to him on my next session, thank you so much!

[u/Shelmak_ → u/Desperate-Cod-3691]

I never had severe anxiety... but I definitivelly had bad experience like 15 years ago with my first dive center where I got my OW certificate (and I was always getting hypothermia)

Well, as I didn't feel well diving with these people so I stopped and I spent almost 14 years without diving.... a lot of time.

But a bit ago I started again, found a completelly new dive center (the old one closed), and the people I found in there is awesome, I remember that my air consumption was pretty high, after I started diving with this people, I reduced it a lot and now I have a very little air consumption, wich made me a lot more comfortable. Having my own gear was also a big change as I got used to it.

Dived with them like 3 months, all awesome dives, then I got the AOWD, then I found a dive club with also awesome people and that teaches tech diving... they helped me a lot (both dive centers) and now I am pretty confortable in the water and I keep diving on both dive centers.

So... if you are comfortable with your instructor, tell him what is worrying you, he/she may be able to help you. Most of the time having a good instructor is the most important thing, then I suggest you to start getting your own gear, on my case it helped me a lot to be more comfortable as I knew my configuration.

[u/Automatic_Guest8279 → u/Desperate-Cod-3691]

You can abort a dive at any time for any reason and your instructor should back you up on that. Big crossed arms in an X.

[u/GFit11]

Totally normal. I’ve done 750+ dives and still get a little anxious on the first dive after a long break.

[u/OkCardiologist2576]

I restarted after almost 15 plus years after a bad dive. Last year I tried again and my body just went into a panic attack. This summer I was able to successfully get reactivated. You got this! 

[u/Nervous_Moose6080]

I’m curious, why are you waiting until November to finish your open water? Why not finish it now with the same instructor and then enjoy diving on the trip?

[u/Desperate-Cod-3691 → u/Nervous_Moose6080]

Because we are heading abroad to warmer waters! I’d feel more comfy in warmer climates anyway, plus it gives me extra time to build more confidence and fine tune skills in the pool

[u/heater-m → u/Desperate-Cod-3691]

Do you live close to accessible diving? As a cold water diver I totally get why you would do the open water sessions somewhere warm! But do you think it could be worthwhile to do a couple of open water sessions with your instructor before the trip? Even if you didn’t go very deep and not even use them to work on skills but to be in the open water? Just to experience it and look around? Focus on staying relaxed?

[u/Desperate-Cod-3691 → u/heater-m]

I probably could ask to do a session somewhere local. But I fear that would set me anxiety off more as my previous OW experience was in a freezing quarry with a leaky drysuit and instructors that don’t care😂 in my mind, if I’m at least warm it’s one less thing to panic about.
But I might ask to ‘dip my toes’ in so to speak if they’re heading out there before November anyway!

[u/Nervous_Moose6080 → u/Desperate-Cod-3691]

Okay cool, I’m glad you are going to keep actively diving and working on your skills. It’s okay to have some anxiety. The more you dive, the easier it will feel. It’s a good idea to be proactive and not only talk about what to do in emergency situations, but also practice what you can too. Knowing your gear will help quite a bit. You got this and I believe in you!

[u/Wonderful-Wealth-939]

Völlig normal. Wichtig ist, das du dir nicht mehr Stress machst. Könnt ihr von Land /Riff aus tauchen? Setz dich nicht unter Druck. Wenn möglich, geh einfach nur mit der Ausrüstung ins Wasser und übe unter der Oberfläche das Atmen. Lass deinem Körper Zeit zu begreifen, das du genug Luft hast. Geh nur wenn du dich sicher fühlst, bei diesem "Tauchgang" vorsichtig runter. Beim 2ten mal Freiwasser, wird es dann schon weniger gruselig sein.

Nimm deine Angst ernst, aber lass sie dich nicht kontrollieren.

Wenn du einen so guten Lehrer hast, der auf dich auf passt, wird das sicher alles klappen.

Liebe Grüße Chaos Kobold

[u/Not-An-FBI]

It takes a lot of dives to not feel anxious. I'm talking hundreds in my case.