Recent studies are beginning to suggest that episodes of panic or near-panic may explain many recreational diving accidents and possibly throw light on the cause of some diving fatalities. But the attacks don't make things better, instead, they can lead to irrational and dangerous behavior. If divers and instructors knew more about the phenomenon, Morgan adds, they could screen out people who might be susceptible to life-threatening panic attacks. In Morgan s study, over half of the scuba divers reported that they had experienced panic or near-panic episodes on one or more occasions. It is thought that in such cases the panic occurs because divers lose sight of familiar objects, become disoriented and experience a form of sensory deprivation.
Panic response is when a diver behaves irrationally.
There is usually an observable stimulus responsible for this behavior, such as the sudden appearance of a shark, loss of visibility, loss of air, entrapment in fishing line, or any unexpected occurrence perceived by the diver as a threat. The diver s attention narrows and he loses the ability to sort out his options. In this regard, it can be accurately predicted that individuals who score high on trait anxiety are more likely to have increased state anxiety and panic during scuba activities and are at potentially greater risk than those scoring in the normal range. These people probably should not dive because it has been found that interventions such as biofeedback, hypnosis, imagery and relaxation have not been effective in reducing the anxiety responses associated with the panic attacks. Psychological research has shown that hypnosis is effective in relaxing scuba divers, but it can also have the undesired effect of increasing heat loss in divers.