Learning to scuba dive is an incredible journey, opening up a whole new world beneath the waves. However, for some, the initial stages of learning to dive can be challenging. It’s not uncommon to hear stories of divers who pushed through discomfort or anxiety during their training, believing that sheer willpower was the key to success. You might hear phrases like, “I just toughed it out and got through the dive.” While resilience is valuable, “toughing it out” is actually a detrimental approach when you Learn To Dive. It can hinder your progress, create negative associations, and even be dangerous.
Why “Toughing It Out” Fails When You Learn to Dive
Thinking you can simply grit your teeth and bear it when learning to dive is a flawed strategy. Here are four critical reasons why this mindset can backfire:
Danger: Scuba Diving and the Risk of Panic
Panic is a scuba diver’s worst enemy. While many underwater issues are manageable with the right training, panic strips away your ability to think clearly and react effectively. This often leads to uncontrolled ascents and, in severe cases, the need for emergency medical attention.
Learn more about preventing panic in scuba diving. Understanding the triggers and responses associated with panic is crucial for safe diving.
Entering the water with the expectation of “toughing out” anxiety significantly increases the risk of panic. Panic arises when a diver feels trapped and sees no escape. Effective diver training emphasizes problem-solving and skill development to address potential stressors. For example, if mask clearing causes anxiety, the solution isn’t to endure the discomfort, but to master the skill in a controlled environment until it becomes second nature. Similarly, fear of depth should be addressed through mastering buoyancy control.
Pool sessions are designed as safe spaces to build competence and confidence in essential scuba skills. If a diver struggles with a skill in the pool, open water is not the place to force it. Instead, training should be adjusted to increase safety and reduce risk. This might involve returning to the pool, practicing in confined or shallow water, rescheduling for better conditions, extending the course duration, or increasing instructor supervision. The goal is to progress at a pace that allows the diver to feel secure and capable, not overwhelmed and anxious. By building skills progressively, divers learn they can manage challenges effectively, reducing the likelihood of panic.
Negative Learning: Fear and the Brain’s Response to Stress
“Toughing out” a skill or situation, whether it’s mask removal or being underwater, inherently frames it as negative. Forcing yourself through a perceived unpleasant experience reinforces this negative association in your brain. Consider a scuba skill you dread. Just thinking about it triggers anxiety. As the moment to perform it approaches, your stress escalates. During the skill, you endure the discomfort, relying on coping mechanisms focused on escaping the unpleasant feelings – distraction, avoidance, or simply numbing yourself. Finally, when it’s over, relief washes over you.
What has your brain learned from this? Firstly, the experience was negative, and relief only came with its cessation. This reinforces the expectation that future attempts will be equally unpleasant. Secondly, by focusing on “toughing it out,” you likely didn’t fully engage with the skill itself. You missed the opportunity to learn that the anxiety is manageable and diminishes with familiarity and mastery.
“Toughing it out” effectively teaches your brain to fear and avoid the situation in the future. Many divers develop a lasting aversion to practicing essential skills like mask clearing after a negative “tough it out” experience during initial training.
Ineffective Skill Development: Survival Mode vs. Learning Mode
High stress levels fundamentally alter brain function. In stressful situations, the brain prioritizes immediate survival over long-term learning and development. The emotional, reactive parts of the brain take over, focused solely on getting through the perceived threat. Communication between this emotional center and the rational, thinking part of the brain is diminished. Brain imaging studies confirm reduced activity in the pathways connecting the limbic system (emotional center) and the prefrontal cortex (rational thought) during stress.
Focus shifts from learning to dive to merely surviving the struggle.
Furthermore, in survival mode, the brain doesn’t efficiently process and store information for learning. Instead, it prioritizes immediate escape. Memories formed under stress are often fragmented and dominated by unpleasant sensations, not detailed understanding or skill acquisition. Repeatedly “toughing out” stressful diving scenarios can lead to sensitization. This means your anxiety response intensifies each time you face the same trigger, creating a cycle of fear and avoidance – the opposite of habituation, where repeated exposure leads to decreased reactivity.
This explains why some certified divers, despite completing their open water course, harbor intense fear or aversion towards specific skills or situations encountered during training. They avoid practicing, avoid thinking about it, and this avoidance can persist for years, even into advanced diving levels. It’s not uncommon for instructor candidates to still struggle with fundamental skills like mask clearing, despite excelling in other areas of diving.
Effective learning requires a relatively relaxed yet alert state. There’s an optimal level of stress for learning – enough to signal importance to the brain, but not so much that the fight-or-flight response is activated, hindering cognitive function and skill acquisition.
Fueling Anxiety: The Counterproductive Fight Against Fear
When we experience stress, our natural instinct is to eliminate the source. If the stressor is external, like a loose fin strap or a leaky mask, addressing the physical problem resolves the stress. However, when the source of stress is internal – anxiety itself – the approach of “toughing it out” becomes counterproductive. Trying to suppress or fight the emotion often backfires, intensifying the stress response. The struggle against intangible feelings adds another layer of stress, fueling a vicious cycle of tension, heightened emotions, and potentially, panic.
Moreover, dedicating mental resources to fighting anxiety leaves fewer resources available for actually focusing on learning the skill. Your attention becomes divided, hindering skill acquisition and problem-solving abilities.
A Better Approach to Learn to Dive: Focus on Skill and Comfort
So, does this mean you should give up when faced with challenges learning to dive? Absolutely not. Courage and determination are valuable assets in diver training. However, there’s a crucial distinction between pushing through mild discomfort and forcing yourself through overwhelming anxiety. Many divers and instructors mistakenly believe that repetitive drilling – simply repeating a skill over and over – is the solution to overcoming fear. While repetition can sometimes lead to habituation, where familiarity reduces reactivity, it can also worsen anxiety if not approached correctly. Repeatedly subjecting yourself to a distressing situation, especially in a high-pressure “tough it out” environment, can lead to sensitization, making you more reactive and anxious over time.
A diver sensitized to mask clearing, for example, will likely avoid practice, and their anxiety will spike at the mere thought of performing the skill. This avoidance prevents improvement, reinforcing the negative association. Previous attempts at “toughing it out” have taught them that practice is unpleasant and ineffective, creating a cycle of fear and avoidance.
Two scuba divers practicing skills in a clear blue swimming pool, emphasizing a safe and controlled learning environment.
Fortunately, this negative cycle is easily avoidable and correctable. The key lies in practicing differently.
What to Do Instead of “Toughing It Out” When You Learn to Dive
The alternative to “toughing it out” is to create a supportive and effective learning environment. Skill repetition and practice remain essential, but the how is critical. Focus on:
- Increase Safety and Reduce Pressure: Practice in a safe, controlled environment like a swimming pool where the pressure to “tough it out” is removed. Encourage fun and playfulness in learning.
- Break Down Skills: Divide complex skills into manageable steps (baby steps). Master each component separately, building confidence gradually.
- Slow Down and Address Fear: Work through fear constructively during skill development. Allow ample time for practice and comfort building.
- Focus on Skill Mastery, Not Just Tolerance: Aim for genuine competence and confidence, not just enduring discomfort.
- Seek Support and Guidance: Work with experienced instructors who understand diving psychology and can provide personalized support and adapt teaching methods to individual needs.
This approach may require more patience and a different kind of determination – a commitment to understanding and addressing anxiety rather than simply suppressing it. However, the result is far superior: divers who haven’t just fought their way through training but have genuinely addressed their anxieties, emerging as confident and competent divers, ready to explore the underwater world with enjoyment and skill.
This article is based on principles from the psychology of scuba diving. For more in-depth information, explore the ScubaPsyche book, available online and from major book retailers.
