Chapter 2- Continual Improvement
Continual Improvement
23
RECOGNIZING AND HANDLING
STRESS IN DIVING
As you expand your diving horizons, you are more
likely to encounter dives or environments that can cause
excess stress in you or your buddy. Advance planning for
your dive can do much to prevent or control stress so that
it doesn’t become excessive and harmful. Deciding to be
aware and observant as you dive can help you avoid getting
into a stressful, uncomfortable situation. Canceling
a dive that you believe may be too demanding should
always be an option.
Life is stressful. As we say in the NAUI Scuba Rescue
Diver textbook, “A ship underway is under stress. A ship
run aground is in distress.” Excessive stress occurs anytime
there is an imbalance between the demands placed
on you and your ability to respond. It is not necessarily
always bad. It should evoke an effort on your part to
maintain or restore your sense of control and equilibrium.
If handled positively, a person will respond to a
stressful situation by concentrating on the cause, looking
for a solution, and acting to remove the cause of the
stress or solve the problem. A positive outcome can give a
feeling of pleasure, exhilaration, and achievement.
On the other hand, ignoring stress or denying its
presence can have just the opposite effect. The stressor
can lead to anxiety–fear or apprehension experienced in
the face of a real or imagined danger. The anxiety can be
followed by distraction as more and more concentration
is placed on the anxiety rather than finding a solution.
The anxious person is impaired in their ability to function,
and very little extra is required to push them over
into a state of distress and panic–a total loss of control.
As a diver you should know how to recognize signs
of excessive stress in yourself and in your buddy and
be prepared to act to avoid, reduce, or alleviate it. Most
of us recognize stress in ourselves. In diving, you must
learn not only to recognize stress, but also to admit to
it. Denying feelings of stress is an invitation to a steadily
worsening situation.
Recognizing excessive stress in your buddy requires
observation. Just as you may be reluctant to admit to your
own stress, others may try to deny and hide it. To develop
your ability to avoid the negatives of excessive stress, you
FIGURE 2-10. Thorough planning and rehearsal can
significantly reduce stress.
must practice being observant of your buddy’s behavior
as well as your own.
When getting ready for the dive, be aware of such
behaviors as stalling, nervousness, repeated errors,
apparent inability to assemble equipment, withdrawal,
or excess talking and humor. As you enter the water,
reluctance to descend, ear-squeeze problems, or difficulty
controlling descent may be signs of excessive stress.
During the dive, one of the surest signs of excessive stress
is a change in breathing pattern from smooth, even
breathing to rapid, over-breathing. Watch for inability to
control buoyancy, jerky movements, or fixation on equipment,
especially gauges. A person experiencing excessive
stress begins to exclude normal awareness as they turn
inward on their own anxiety.
If you feel stress or see signs of it in your buddy,
act immediately to allay the problem. Think in terms of
solutions, formulate a plan of action, and act upon it to