ANXIETY AND PANIC IN RECREATIONAL SCUBA-DIVERS

Scuba diving is a high-risk sport: it is estimated that 3 to 9 deaths per 100 000 divers occur annually in the US alone, in addition to incr easing numbers of cases of decompression illness each year. However, t here has been a tendency within the diving community to de-emphasise t he risks associated with scuba diving. While there are numerous factor s responsible for the injuries and fatalities occurring in this sport, there is general consensus that many of these cases are caused by pan ic. There is also evidence that individuals who are characterised by e levated levels of trait anxiety are more likely to have greater state anxiety responses when exposed to a stressor, and hence, this sub-grou p of the diving population is at an increased level of risk. Efforts t o demonstrate that selected interventions such as hypnosis, imagery, m editation and relaxation can reduce stress responses in anxious divers has not yielded consistent findings, and there is a need for systemat ic research dealing with the efficacy of selected intervention strateg ies.