NEW! 10 Questions & Answers About the Risks of Panic in Scuba Diving
by Phil Davis
MADISON, Wis. (3/19/96) -- More than half of the scuba divers in a national survey reported that they had experienced panic or near-panic behavior on one or more occasions, according to Dr. William Morgan, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Sport Psychology Laboratory.
Diving authorities generally
agree that panic behavior is responsible for many of the diving accidents and fatalities
that occur among recreational scuba divers.
Dr. Morgan says he hopes his diver panic studies can help prevent diving fatalities by informing diving instructors and divers about the panic phenomenon in order to screen out divers who might be susceptible to potentially life-threatening panic attacks.
"Of those divers who have not reported panic episodes up to this point, it’s probable that a number of these individuals will experience a panic attack in the future," Morgan said.
Other findings from his Sea Grant-supported study included:
Incidence of panic was higher in women (64%) than men (50%), though more men (48%) than women (35%) perceived the events as life-threatening.
Panic attacks are not restricted to novice divers. Divers with many years of experience can experience attacks for no apparent reason.
It was possible to predict panic behavior in beginning scuba divers with 88% accuracy using a measure of trait anxiety.
Divers who score significantly higher on a measure of trait anxiety than divers in general are potentially at greater risk of experiencing a panic attack while diving.
Using psychological treatments to reduce anxiety responses in scuba divers exposed to various stressors has not been successful in the limited research conducted up to this time.
Anxiety responses during and following suba diving exercise were associated with the interaction between water temperature and protective apparel worn by divers. That is, wearing a suit in cold water and not wearing a suit in warm water DID NOT result in anxiety responses; wearing a suit in warm water, and not wearing a suit in cold water DID result in anxiety responses.
The risks and dangers of panic attacks during scuba diving are not well known among the recreational scuba diving community. Such terms as anxiety, stress and fatalities do not appear in the index of commonly used scuba training books, nor are topics such as panic even addressed in most training manuals, Morgan said.
Dr. Morgan is the author of three
books and more than 100 journal articles. He was founding president of the Division of
Exercise and Sport Psychology in the American Psychological Association and is a former
member of the Sport Psychology Advisory Committee for the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Morgan’s diver panic studies were conducted over the past 10 years in a project
funded by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute and published in the December
1995 issue of Sports Medicine.
Created in 1966, Sea Grant is a national network of 29 university-based programs of research, outreach and education dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of the United States' coastal, ocean and Great Lakes resources. The National Sea Grant Network is a partnership of participating coastal states, private industry and the National Sea Grant College Program , National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration , U.S. Department of Commerce . The University of Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program is administered by the Sea Grant Institute on the UW-Madison campus in Madison, Wisconsin.
Last updated
16 April 2002 by Wittman
© 1997 University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute
http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/diving/panic.htm
