Diving into Mental Health

The Therapeutic Effects of Diving

If I asked you to close your eyes and transport yourself to somewhere relaxing and peaceful, a lot of people would visualise the ocean, or waves breaking against a shore. For divers, this might be floating at neutral buoyancy watching a coral reef or enjoying a drift dive.

Scuba diving has long been recognised as a having a positive impact on mental health. In general, outside activities and being fit and active helps to increase energy levels, mental alertness and confidence.

Keeping Calm & Composed
Of course, peace and tranquillity are not always the reality of every dive, and we must be careful not to dismiss the potential stressors or triggers for anxiety that may occur.

Issues such as malfunctioning equipment, a leaky dry suit or worrying about a buddy can quickly increase anxiety levels. If you throw an emergency into that mix, then it can be difficult to predict how anyone may react.

These are the factors that we must consider when assessing fitness to dive, particularly if divers suffer from anxiety already, either due to a mental health disorder, or from experiencing/ witnessing a dive accident.
If you would like to read more about mental health, the full article which can be found here: Diving into mental health (scubadivermag.com)

If you are concerned about the impact of your mental health on your safety to dive, then you can book a telephone consultation with one of our doctors here at DDRC: www.DDRC.org/diving/fitness-to-dive