Psychological Aspects of Diving in Selected Theoretical and Research Perspectives

Abstract

Abstract The aim of the article is to conduct a literature review in relation to the psychological aspects of diving. The acquired knowledge can currently be qualified as belonging to various branches of applied psychology, as well as underwater medicine, sports medicine, psychiatry and psychotherapy. The literature on this subject matter raises two main issues of the psychological perspective: the degree of psychological adaptation of an individual to the underwater environment, and the psychophysical condition of a man involved in a specific type of diving and the resulting skills/competences to perform underwater tasks. The article presents selected reports from around the world related to diving psychology resulting from the applied structure/classification of psychological theories, explaining various mechanisms of psychological functioning underwater. The paper presents studies from the perspective of psychodynamics, psychology of health/stress, psychology of individual differences and personality. The main conclusions indicate that in addition to the main problem of an optimal/lack of adaptation of humans to the underwater environment, there is insufficient psychological knowledge (including Polish reports) in the area of personality differences between various types of divers, their social functioning, mental health and psychoeducation with regard to underwater exposures.