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Chapter 36 — 2
Flora Fisk Quiz for Recreational Divers:
Question: Is recreational diving supposed to be fun? Answer: Yes
Question: Are you having fun? If "yes" — continue diving.
If "no" — STOP DIVING.
Some divers experience a general anxiety reaction under special circumstances. It is an aquatic
manifestation of a general medical (psychological) disorder produced by sensory deprivation -
called the
Blue Orb Syndrome
by high altitude aviators. It usually happens to a lone diver in
deep water, where there are no visual references. The diver develops an anxious feeling of being
alone in the vastness of the ocean. This can lead to mounting anxiety and panic. The panicked
diver may rush to the surface, omitting decompression or develop pulmonary barotrauma from
failure to exhale adequately on ascent. The symptoms usually subside if the diver can establish
visual contact with concrete objects such as the sea bed, a dive boat or even another diver, or by
concentrating on diving instruments, such as a watch or depth gauge.
This syndrome can be avoided by diving with a buddy who provides reassuring company and a
visual reference. Avoidance of deep water where there are no visual references, is also helpful.
Panic
This frenzied and irrational behaviour is the end result of a number of diving difficulties. It is
more likely to occur in anxiety prone divers and frequently results in a diving accident or fatality.
It is an important topic for divers to understand and is covered in detail in Chapter 7 and Case
History 7.1
Psychological Disturbances due to
Medical Causes
Brain function can be disturbed by physiological factors (such as
nitrogen narcosis
,
hypothermia
) and by other diving related illnesses.
Cerebral decompression sickness
and
air embolism
can cause alteration of brain function
during both the acute event and recovery. A diver may act irrationally because of these diseases,
and not just his basic personality. Suspect this if he is acting “out of character”.
Near drowning
,
hypoxia
and the
gas toxicity diseases
(
oxygen
,
carbon dioxide
,
carbon
monoxide
, etc.) may also cause temporary or permanent brain damage.
Symptoms include confusion, irritability and irrational behaviour. This should always be borne in
mind if a victim of a diving accident is unreasonably reluctant to undergo treatment. People who
know the diver well will normally be the best judges of whether the behaviour is out of character.