FIT TO DIVE

In this course you learn a lot about the connection between your body and your mind and how things might add up to experiencing panic. But not only this theoretical knowledge is taught in an excellent way, you also get useful practical tips and exercises on what to do in order to better avoid panic. This course should be compulsory for every scuba diver!

Lots to relate to here and a great overall look at the way panic manifests itself and how to manage it. This is relevant to all divers irrespective of experience and has some very important lessons and tools. All divers should take this course!

Excellent

This course is good for divers who have experienced panic and those who have not. It brings to light the process at work in a panicking diver and actions that can be taken to remove or control the panic. As the course points out being “Fit” to dive is not just a physical state. Become more aware of your buddies and your own reactionary behavior by taking this class.

This course gives a more in depth view on how panic builds up and how you can prevent it. This course and the Psychology for Scuba Divers course are recommended to anyone teaching diving.

We can all call a dive whether it be conditions are not right, equipment problems or just feeling unwell, but assessing why someone calls a dive or just does not want to continue is never easy to assess as the signs are not visible. This course explains especially for instructors the psychological aspects and reasons behind why some are more nervous about particular aspects of diving and the response that should be approached to those individuals. My approach to a person now will be entirely different following this course.

I found this course extremely useful and gave me much food for thought on how I can better manage my diving thru breathing and recognising what sometimes causes me to panic. Would recommend this to others.

As scuba divers we venture into a whole different world. It can be full of wonder, but it can also lead to stressful situations. This course, "Prevent Panic in Scuba Diving", is a practical and eye opening study that gets to the cause and effect of how to recognize and prevent panic while diving. I highly recommend this course for any diver skill level!

This was a highly informative course looking in depth at what happens when we panic, the significance of this occuring when diving, and how to recognize the warning signs in ourselves and in others. By understanding the triad of factors leading to a panic we can take steps to prevent this occuring in the first place. There is then useful advice on how to deal with these factors. Discussion of psychological aspects of diving and recognizing problems early/taking action are completely lacking in the open water and advanced open water courses and im not sure how many instructors have much awareness of this aspect of diving. Im sure taking a course like this one would be very helpful to both instructors and then, with their improved understanding and hopefully passing on of relevant advice, to their students. Any diver with a more anxious disposition ( such as myself) would benefit from taking this course.

It has been estimated that panic contributes to 40-60% of scuba diving deaths. Therefore, those with a history of anxiety and panic attacks need to be cautious about participating in scuba diving. There are many that are promoting recreational scuba diving as a therapy for mental health disorders. Whilst there is no doubt in my mind that scuba diving can be relaxing and potentially therapeutic, there are clearly increased risks and both the diver and their buddy or instructor needs to be aware and have mitigating strategies in place. Dr Laura Walton has created an excellent course – Preventing Panic in Scuba Diving, which I have just completed. Laura provides an excellent analysis of panic, what causes it, and suggests strategies of how to manage it. The course is a mixture of presentations, case studies and discussions. There is excellent advice on getting ‘fit to dive.’ I thoroughly recommend this course to all divers with a tendency to panic, instructors who may have students experiencing panic underwater and basically everyone who wishes to enjoy the underwater world in the safest manner possible. A great course that has taught me a lot.