ANXIETY, SENSORIMOTOR AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE DURING A HYDROGEN-OXYGEN DIVE AND LONG-TERM CONFINEMENT IN A PRESSURE CHAMBER

Occupational deep diving is an extreme situation that is characterized by both social and physical stressor agents such as long-term confine ment and high-pressure exposure. High pressure is known to be a basic aetiological factor underlying central nervous system changes that inc lude psychosensorimotor disorders. The authors report anxiety, sensori motor, and cognitive responses in commercial divers participating in a hydrogen-oxygen experimental dive to 300 metres depth with long-term confinement in a pressure chamber. Anxiety data confirm that living an d working in a high pressure of inert gases is not inherently stressfu l and further support the view that the main factor involved in the de velopment of diving anxiety is the social environment rather than the physical environment. Alternatively, the cognitive and behavioural dat a suggest that the future of hydrogen as a diving gas could be limited , at least for depths greater than 200 metres, to an additional role t o the basic helium-oxygen mixture. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.