Mailing List Archive Mailing List Archive
Important Notice: Many Tech Instructors May Suffer From Unrealistically High Self-Images WASHINGTON, DC--According to an American Psychological Association report released Tuesday, a large percentage of U.S. Technical Diving Instructors may suffer from unrealistically high self-images, placing them at risk of a host of emotional and interpersonal problems. The study--which examined the attitudes and self-perceptions of over 600 Trimix and Technical Nitrox Instructors in areas accross the U.S., including Detroit, Key West, San Diego, Miami, Boston, New York, and New Jersey--found that nearly 95 percent of those surveyed suffered from a distorted sense of their own prowess, particularly with regard to wealth, sexual potency and influence over other divers. "While personal confidence is a vital aspect of building a healthy self-image, an exaggerated sense of self can lead to trouble," APA study head Dr. Judith Danziger said. "The overconfidence these divers display can have a wide range of negative consequences, from receiving humiliating flame mail from a superior diver to getting bent on a no-decompression dive." Often, Danziger said, rappers' inflated, unrealistic self-images get carried over into their interpersonal relationships, adversely affecting their ability to establish healthy, mutually fulfilling long-term relationships with members of the opposite sex. "One new trimix instructor I spoke with told me that he 'be trading women like Eddie Murphy trading places' and that he 'got bitches cleaning my house, washin' my gear, fillin' my tanks," Danziger said. "For a relationship to thrive, there needs to be a sense of shared responsibility and mutual respect. When one partner is cleaning the other's house and dive gear, the partner who is doing the cleaning is likely to experience feelings of resentment over the imbalance. Inevitably, this will drive a wedge between the pair." "Another diver I spoke with told me that he has a bitch who will suck his **** until he ***, **** ** ** *** ***, and ***** that **** back up," Danziger said. "While a strong sense of sexual adventurousness and a willingness to experiment is a great way to keep a relationship fresh over the long haul, it only works if that spirit of adventure is reciprocated, and the man is willing to try new things to please the woman. With many of these divers, however, this is not the case." In addition to causing relationship problems, the study found that inflated self-images tend to cause divers to overestimate their personal finances. Many of the instructor's participating were found to be living lifestyles well beyond their means, taking monthly carribbean vacations, wearing custom-made DUI dry-suits, and sporting a Nitek-3 on each arm. Several instructors reported ordering closed circuit rebreathers. "Even millionaires need to do some amount of basic budgeting," accountant Morton Kessler said. "The sort of extravagant spending in which these divers indulge--indiscriminately buying rebreathers, scooters, and fleets of double tanks without any eye on the bottom line--is a recipe for financial disaster." According to UCLA Hospital psychiatrist Dr. Ernest Bloch, the distorted sense of reality exhibited by many tech divers may indicate a predisposition toward a wide range of serious mental disorders, including schizophrenia. "Many of these divers create fictional, internal universes that, for them, become a sort of alternate reality," Bloch said. "For example, a young trimix instructor named Bill told me how IANTD has tapped his phones, and how Dive Rite employees have switched his deco gases while he was diving. A Boston area instructor by the name of "Gills" told me that he was recently chased by CIA agents in shark suits but managed to escape when Hans Haas, his dive partner, speared one of the agents and took his scooter. These sorts of paranoid, delusional fantasies are classic warning signs of schizophrenia, and an afflicted diver's condition can deteriorate to the point where he is completely insane in the membrane." Danziger urged divers suffering from unrealistically high self-images to get help now, before their problems grow worse. "Early detection is crucial, as treatment only becomes more difficult as time goes on," Danziger said. "Remember: These divers' underwater skills won't stay sharp forever, and when they do fall off--and these divers become injured, and the students go elsewhere--there is almost always a corresponding depression. We need to recognize that, deep down, these divers' boasts are actually a desperate shout-out for help." -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
Navigate by Author:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Subject Search Index]
[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]
[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]