Each month we feature a selection of your letters
We ’ re still looking for a new prize for a Star Letter , so please bear with us for a while longer . It ’ s a difficult time for the diving industry , so sponsorships are a tricky proposition at the moment .
Ascension would
STEVE , A CIVILIAN FROM COLORADO , HAS JUST LEFT THIS morning after eight days diving here in Long Island , Bahamas . He has a background of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ( PTSD ), stemming from his son ’ s suicide , and specifically his discovery of the body some three years ago . He asked me about two months ago if I would be willing to help , as he felt he had reached such a low point that any help was worth a try .
He demonstrated clearly to me in discussions before flying here and after arrival that he was a shell of a man , and understandably extremely quiet and very sad . It was a real struggle to drag any conversation out of him , so there was clearly a very steep , high hill for both of us to climb together . His symptoms were described as a constant heavy feeling pressing down on him ; no chance of ever getting back to sleep after waking following only an hour or two ’ s rest and being irrationally scared of any unusual noise , such as a phone ringing .
Our diving began as always with a shallow ( 10m maximum ) shakedown dive to ensure good buoyancy before we progressed to the 202m-deep Blue Bole , where the majority of our dives would take place . This initial dive gave him the opportunity to regain some scuba diving confidence after a long layoff . However , he was suitably qualified to embark on deep dives , so no teaching was necessary , other than gradual build-up of depth . The afternoon of that first day was taken up with a dive to 20m , which
introduce him to the Blue Hole and to begin his attempt at symptom resolution .
Diving continued for a further seven days , gradually increasing depth and culminating in dives to about 40 metres for the last four days . After the first deep dive to 30m ( on day three ) he said his ‘ heavy ’ feeling went away , but when he returned to his cottage it returned during the evening and there was no improvement to his sleep pattern . However , on the next day ’ s diving and the following daily excursions he said his heavy feeling went away and did not return . On day four he made a second deep dive to 36m … and that night , when he woke , he was able to get back to sleep immediately . Real progress ! On the second to last day of diving he said , and I quote : “ A few months ago , even though I wasn ’ t going to do anything , I felt no need to live or be alive anymore . After the dives here , I no longer feel that way and very much look forward to my life now ”. Hearing these words was humbling indeed .
For me , this case shows that something happens to PTSD symptoms after an individual is taken safely to depth while scuba diving . The track record now demonstrates that 5 people out of 5 ( including Steve ) have said just that . None of them have ( thus far ) had any return of their PTSD symptoms ! KEVIN JAMES , Progress Through Scuba Diving
Editor ’ s note : Readers may remember Kevin from his winning entry in our writing competition SCUBA Shorts , which also considered the healing effect of diving on people suffering from PTSD ( in that case , military personnel ). Below is a link to his Just Giving page .
www . justgiving . com / crowdfunding / progressthroughscubadiving
Torpedoed on the Thistlegorm
I ENJOYED KIRSTY ANDREWS ’ ARTICLE on underwater finds ; but what stories exist of those who lose articles in the strangest circumstances ?
Like many of my fellow divers , I was excited when our club decided to hire a liveaboard for the Red Sea Northern Wrecks and Reefs trip for a week .
I had dived the Red Sea many times and knew of the magnificent reef life , but had never dived any of the wrecks ; so this trip was going to be memorable , as at least five wrecks would be dived .
Among them was the Thistlegorm , which I anticipated to be one of the best .
So , on the morning of the first dive , I made sure that I had everything ready , including my camera and my torch . Into the water I went , on the surface making sure that I had all my bits . Yes , the camera was very well attached with a bungee to my jacket and a wrist strap . And , my torch with a wrist strap
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