Laura Walton takes psychology
underwater
D
uring one scuba dive as part of my
advanced course, I was required
to use a compass to navigate a
square route underwater (at about
10 metres deep). The task was
to swim a specified length by
counting fin kicks, then turn 90
degrees and swim the same length
again, and turn 90 degrees... until returning to the
starting point. I found it a difficult concept to grasp;
it was the only dive I was not looking forward to.
The instructor gave me the signal and I set off.
I was using rented equipment and the fins had started
to rub on my big toe. I couldn’t focus… the pain
became all I could think about, I became overwhelmed
28 by the thought that my toenail was being ripped off. I
indicated to my instructor that something was
wrong with my foot. I’m not sure what I expected,
but I know I was looking for some sort of get-out.
He assumed I had cramp, and responded supportively
by stretching out my foot and rubbing the back of my
calf. I indicated that the problem was much worse and
pointed to my toes. He was puzzled, but attempted to
assist by taking off my fin. This meant that I could feel
the toe with my hands, and I realised that there was
actually very little wrong.
My instructor’s attitude to fixing the problem
made it very clear to me that he expected we address
the issue right there, underwater. Unless I wanted
to specifically request an end to the dive, there was
no escaping this task by heading for the surface.
We put the fin back on, and I set off. I had learned

a fundamental lesson in scuba diving: we face the
problem under the surface.
The physical and physiological
To understand the psychology of scuba diving, we also
need to understand the physical and physiological
aspects. Water is heavy. The weight of the water
above a diver increases as they descend, so the deeper
we go, the more pressure. The weight of the water
compresses the gas we breathe. So, when we breathe
gas under pressure, it moves around our bodies at a
higher density than usual. If we bolt for the surface
or come up too quickly, this can have a catastrophic
effect on our biological systems. If we have been under
for a while, nitrogen has gathered in all our tissues
the psychologist october 2019 under
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and organs and we are pressurised. Coming up too
quickly is a bit like shaking a can of coke then opening
it! The bubbles grow, and they cause problems. The
worst case scenario is bubbles of nitrogen expanding
in the nervous system, in the brain and spinal cord,
leading to stroke or permanent paralysis. Also, if a
diver holds their breath when ascending, this can
cause air to become trapped in the lungs; it expands
and can rupture the tissues of the lungs. One potential
consequence of this is air migrating to the brain and
causing an embolism.
This all means that fleeing to the surface when a
problem crops up is simply not an option: you need
to learn to deal with it then and there. Perhaps this
may mean a decision to end the dive, in a controlled
manner; not a sudden exit, but a rational decision
 supported by effective emotional regulation. As a Psychological theory can be applied in training
general rule, the more advanced the diving the slower programmes to produce effective learning. Ultimately
the rate of return to the surface. For a recreational it can make diving safer. Psychologists have already
scuba diver, taking fun dives to 18-30 metres, it is informed the diving community about cognition,
possible to return to the surface within minutes. When perception and memory underwater (and we have also
Ahmed Gabr set the record for the deepest scuba dive learned about those processes from divers, for example
– 332.35 metres in Dahab, Egypt – it took him 12 Alan Baddeley’s work on the importance of context
minutes to dive to that depth, and 14 hours to come on learning). Yet, ‘dive psychology’, as a discipline, is
back up! There are also commercial divers tasked with very much in its infancy. A recent literature review by
completing work such as maintenance to underwater Dorota Niewiedzal and colleagues across four Polish
pipelines or oil rigs. These ‘saturation divers’ stay down educational institutions, concluded that there is a lack
so long that their bodies become saturated with inert of knowledge about the effect of personality and social
gases like nitrogen. They descend in teams in a type of functioning, mental health and psychoeducation in
diving bell, and stay down for days. These operations relation to human divers.
are carefully planned and managed by surface support. But interest in this area is growing, and there are
several examples of behavioural science being taken
underwater: in sports psychology, clinical psychology
Going under and human factors. Examples are beginning to emerge
Whether on recreational, technical or commercial across the scuba diving spectrum and from a range of
dives, all divers encounter problems. Within such behavioural science disciplines.
an extreme environment, human processes can be
amplified. A minor stressor can trigger
full-blown panic if the diver Human factors
cannot see a way to address Technical diving is a specialist area
the issue. Responses are often “a huge part of how these of scuba diving in which people go
dependent on communication, and problems are faced is deeper and longer on their dives.
miscommunication is common behavioural and social: It requires additional equipment
if you are talking to each other and gas supply. The pressure of
in hand signals. So, a huge part the human factors” breathing at depth means that
of how these problems are faced using ordinary air is not advisable.
is behavioural and social: the Air contains oxygen, nitrogen and
human factors. For example, the person’s ability to carbon dioxide. Oxygen becomes toxic to humans at
self-regulate under stress, to calm themselves and around 50-60 metres deep. This can cause seizures of
retain rational thinking ability. If the limbic system the nervous system, convulsions, unconsciousness and
of the brain takes over and disconnects from the subsequent drowning.
pre-frontal cortex, the person is in trouble, because In addition to this sobering effect, the density of
the human brain in an underwater crisis will make the gases breathed has an effect on the diver’s nervous
drastic attempts to reach the surface. A human in system, in a phenomenon known as ‘gas narcosis’.
panic loses awareness that the equipment in their The diver becomes temporally intoxicated, an
mouth is supplying them with air and the mask on experience similar to consuming alcohol. They may
their face allows them to see. A panicked diver will become confused, disorientated, anxious, paranoid or
frequently pull out the regulator and rip off their mask, even euphoric. This may lead to dangerous actions.
in an instinctive response to access For these reasons, those who dive beyond 40 metres
more air. Alternatively they may or so will use different mixtures of gas to breathe:
Key sources enter ‘passive panic’, the divers’ combinations of gases that are better suited to life at
term for a state of dissociation in depth.
Laura Walton www.scubapsyche.com which the person is shut-down and The complexity of technical diving means that
Gareth Lock
www.thehumandiver.com
disconnected. Surrounded by water, there are often multiple systems operating to execute a
neither of these states are helpful. dive, for example, the gases need to be mixed properly
Niewiedział, D., Kolańska, M., Therefore, basic psychological and labelled accurately, computer software is used
Dąbrowiecki, Z. et al. (2018). skills for emotion regulation and to plan the dive and teams of humans work together
Psychological Aspects of Diving in management of thoughts are to follow that plan. Higher complexity of systems
Selected Theoretical and Research essential in scuba diving. introduces more opportunities for problems to occur,
Perspectives. Polish Hyperbaric Research
62(1), 43–54.
Psychologists need to go and in most cases these problems arise from human
Walton, L. (2018). The panic triangle: under the surface because the error. No diver wants to deal with the consequences of
onset of panic in scuba divers. Undersea application of research, theory mistakes underwater. Yet, as humans, we are subject to
and hyperbaric medicine, 45(5), 505-509. and practice to scuba diving can cognitive biases that prevent us from taking effective
Jevon, M., South-West Technical Diving, make a difference. It can improve action. The behaviour of an individual is shaped by
https://swt.ie communication, awareness the context of the system, so how do we create systems
30 and optimise performance. that increase safety and effectiveness?
 the psychologist october 2019 under

All industries that employ heart rate and, importantly, rate of

humans in systems face this breathing, and therefore deplete the
issue, and the aviation industry in supply more quickly. This is also
particular has demonstrated success the case on deep technical dives,
in the application of human factors. but the presence of a barrier of rock
Gareth Lock is a retired Royal Air between the diver and the surface
Force senior officer Navigator of has a subtly different effect than
25 years, who was both a senior when the barrier is a depth of water
supervisor and a tactical flight which must be ascended through
instructor. Noticing the relevance Laura Walton is a Clinical slowly.
of human factors to diving, he Psychologist and a qualified One common stressor is the
undertook doctoral research scuba instructor loss of visibility due to silt being
examining the role of human laura@scubapsyche.com stirred up in the water. If the diver
factors in scuba diving accidents. becomes distressed by this, the
He now offers Human Factors Skills changes in breathing may cause
in Diving: high performance development programmes them to make movements that agitate the silt even
to improve the knowledge, skills and safety of all divers further. Increasing physiological arousal could lead to
[see also p.61]. poor awareness and faulty decision making, leading
In diving, like in aviation, mistakes are often to errors and exacerbation of the problem. It’s one
attributed to ‘human error’. But this is not a useful thing to be unable to see through silt, but the situation
causal explanation; rather it is an outcome of a series becomes a lot worse if the diver’s awareness becomes
of events which were influenced by known human foggy too. Furthermore, the task requirements of
factors such as cognitive bias and social influences on navigation and the laying of lines and markers mean
behaviour. Lock’s ‘Human Diver’ training puts teams that there are cognitive challenges faced by the diver.
of divers into a situation that will bring out these Cave divers tend to operate in teams, and therefore
human factors, by placing them under stress. For safety those tasks are completed by people working together.
reasons, it is not sensible to needlessly increase stress There is potential for miscommunication to lead to
in any extreme environment, certainly not underwater. errors which may have disastrous consequences.
So, the training, inspired by flight simulators, is a Technical diving, whether on shipwrecks or in
mission to be completed by team within a simulated caves is a high performance activity. Matt Jevon is a
computer programme. The programme simulates the technical diving instructor and Sport Psychologist.
occurrence of stressors that lead to task loading and One of the few psychologists to work directly
loss of situational awareness, and puts pressure on underwater, he trains people in technical diving
cognitive processes and communication. After the techniques, and also in applying psychological theory
mission, structured and reflective debriefs elicit insights to optimise performance. During formal diving courses
into factors such as individual trigger points, core he includes psychological skills for diving, for example,
beliefs, personality traits and habitual responses. For techniques for retaining situational awareness using
individual divers this gives perspective on why divers pre-learned processes, effective regulation of emotion
make mistakes and how they themselves can adopt and applications of procedures for communication to
procedures to reduce risk of incidents. On a wider minimise errors. Jevon is quick to stress that the role
level, Lock is working to change culture, procedures of a sports psychologist is in training and preparation
and attitudes within the industry. before the activity, i.e. ‘you don’t interrupt the game’.
Skills are taught in advance of the dive and the most
intervention during performance would be a cue to
Sports psychology and performance connect to those skills.
Changing systems and improving diver awareness To illustrate how psychology is applied under the
of human factors may be useful, but we can also surface, Jevon gave me an example of a training dive
consider how psychology can support improvements in with three divers in the team going into a cave system.
individual human performance. Jevon was at the front, leading the group into cave,
In cave diving, scuba divers are both underwater following him, another experienced diver, and at the
and underground – a direct escape is impossible. back the diver in training. The plan was that Jevon,
Therefore cave divers require superior skills in self- as the instructor, would lead the dive on the outward
regulation. The divers’ air supply is carefully calculated journey, then the order of the team would reverse and
to be sufficient to perform the dive, with a reasonable the diver in training would lead the return to the exit.
reserve to use in an emergency. The diver must ensure However, on the journey into the cave the diver in
they leave the cave and return to the surface while they training stopped still. There were no obvious stressors,
still have air to breathe. This fact can act as a potent and it was not apparent what had caused the diver to
psychological stressor, yet the diver needs to find a stop. Jevon used his torch to signal a question: ‘are you
way to deal with that. If they allow themselves to react okay?’. The diver made little response, vaguely moved
to stress, the physiological reactions serve to increase their torch but gave no clear signal. The diver was
 conscious, but apparently disconnected. Jevon gave
two further signals to remind the diver to attend to
situational awareness, and emotional regulation.
These were simple, hand signal cues linked to
procedures that the diver had been taught before
the dive. The diver regained composure, engaged in
communication and continued the dive as planned.
This may not appear a particularly dramatic
example, but consider that it may have been the ability
of the diver to perform specific psychological skills
and the reminder given that led to this safe conclusion.
When a diver disconnects, loses awareness and is
unable to communicate with the rest of the team, there
is potential for sudden deterioration of the dive. In
this case, it was vital that the diver remained in control
of their actions in order for the group to return to
the exit. Had the diver become stressed by perceived
problems, then their behaviour may become a risk for
everyone in the cave.
Clinical Psychology
Diving is not all about extremes: for most scuba divers
it is an enjoyable and relaxing activity. Recreational
diving is the term used for people scuba diving for fun.
The need to focus on certain skills and the tendency
to become enthralled by the underwater world means
that divers tend to leave their worries on the surface.
Yet even in recreational scuba there are many
issues that psychology can be useful for. People often
hold specific fears about depth, sea creatures or open
spaces. Anxieties can develop around particular
skills. These issues develop in much the same way
32 The author on a dive. Is it better down where it is wetter?
as any surface phobia or anxiety, and can potentially
be resolved with the application of evidence-based
techniques, such as graded exposure and response
prevention. As a scuba diving instructor, my awareness
of psychological processes has been useful, particularly
in training new divers. I recall one beginner diver
course where a student was overwhelmed by the
experience of breathing underwater for the first time.
We were in a swimming pool, about a metre deep. He
had grown up in and around water, could swim and
dive holding his breath, but the sensation of breathing
underwater was creating such a strong reaction that
he could not remain underwater. We stepped out
from the rest of the group and I investigated the issue.
He was not frightened, and could understand that
breathing was possible, but could not seem to stop
himself from coming up. His brain simply could not
process breathing underwater. I broke the skill down
into simpler steps, starting with breathing with only
his face in the water, while standing up. I had him
work through each step until comfortable enough to
work to the next. At one point he was descending,
swimming for a few seconds, coming up saying it was
okay, then going back down again. I could see that he
was inadvertently creating a behaviour sequence that
could easily trap him: by learning that in order to feel
safe he needed to keep returning to the surface. So I
simply instructed him to swim under water, breathing
normally, notice when he felt okay, but then to
continue to swim around for several minutes and come
up only when feeling calmer than he had been initially.
This worked well, and his brain began to habituate to
the new sensations. He rejoined the group and began
learning more skills. This could so
easily have ended up with a person
frustrated and unable to understand
why they could not keep up with
the group. In fact, this social aspect
can be especially problematic in
diver training, with fear of failure,
social judgement and rejection
being easily raised.
Another important issue in
diving is panic. Even for recreational
divers, seemingly small issues can
appear insurmountable when they
occur underwater. For example,
water can leak into a diving mask,
it is easily cleared if the diver is
competent in that skill, but if the
diver is unable to clear the water
they may become distressed. With
water around their nose they
may inhale a little and experience
unpleasant sensations. This stress
increase emotional and physical
reactions and, as they become
more stressed, the less capable
they become of fixing the problem.
Their ineffective actions confirm the

threatening nature of the situation and the diver enters
a positive feedback loop of escalating panic. In an
analysis of snorkelling and scuba diving deaths in New
Zealand between 1980 and 2000, led by Michael Davis,
panic was a factor in 68 per cent of accidents in scuba
diving where the diver’s state was noted.
Yet there is little discussion of preventing
panic. In clinical psychology, there are theories to
understand stress, anxiety and panic, and approaches
to educate people and help them to regain control
of their actions in coping with panic. Frequently,
when divers panic, the explanations are short: either
(1) blame the equipment or (2) blame the diver. In
fact, scuba equipment rarely fails, but the shame and
embarrassment of losing control of behaviour and a
memory of an event impaired by stress makes this
an obvious explanation. When divers panic, other
divers may say it was the person – ‘they shouldn’t have
panicked’ – perhaps referring to personal qualities
or lack of skills. The formulation process can help
to develop a more complete explanation that is more
likely to indicate potential solutions. Theoretical
models of stress and panic may also be useful in
helping divers to understand this behavioural and
physiological phenomenon. I recently published on the
‘panic triangle’, describing panic as sparked only when
three elements are present: a deficit in diver readiness,
a difficulty in emotional regulation and a stressor. This
the psychologist october 2019 under
model may be useful in encouraging divers to stay
within the limits of their competence and develop the
necessary skills for the dives they are undertaking in
order to reduce the risk of panic.
Bringing it back to the surface
Interestingly, whether issues have basis in survival
or social fears, it all seems to be intensified in scuba
diving. It appears as if the extreme environment brings
aspects of the psyche into focus, and certainly there
is clear and direct feedback. For example, underwater
it is possible to see stress! If a diver breathes fast
they produce more bubbles than a relaxed diver. If
their breathing is erratic, their ability to control their
position in the water is compromised, so they may
bounce up and down and flail their limbs. In so many
ways, psychological processes have a direct impact on
the diver. This creates possibilities, sometimes bringing
to life psychological issues that were hidden under a
metaphorical surface become all too visible under the
surface of the water. They become tangible. They can
be worked with.
Divers will often remark on how learning to
dive has changed their lives. Whether by improving
confidence through challenge, or facing issues that
were previously avoided, what we learn under the
water can be brought back to the surface.