This recent remark by Garth prompted me to contemplate the question of whether it is a good idea to discuss cave diving accidents with friends/family. Until only a year ago I used to share some of my thoughts on recent accidents with my diver wive (not active in cave diving). Instead of supporting my quest for safety improvement and learning, she always freaked out and tried to dissuade me from the sport. It's a purely emotional response that no amount of reasoning can overcome. So, I stopped telling her about the accidents altogether and now keep any discussion to myself and select cave diving friends to spare her and myself the drama.
Come to think about it, people who don't engage in cave diving are probably invariably going to react with "cave diving = suicide" type of emotion when learning about a fatality (with nothing good coming out of it). Heck, as an open water diver I myself was convinced for many years that diving in any overhead was instant suicide. This before I got eased into the sport by a generous mentor with the obligatory shift in perspective. The "overhead=suicide" mentality was being widely drilled by PADI and other agencies to all OW students during my early days as a diver. I suspect that this may have changed in recent years with cenote tour diving getting glamor treatment in the diving media and the "with proper training" bit coming into existence.
At any rate, I am curious to find out where others fall on the subject of sharing information/thoughts on cave accidents with friends and family.



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