[Bardo]

There are two problems that stop most from admitting that they're affected by narcosis - ego and recognition. The first one is simple enough - a lot of divers simply see an admission that they were narced as a sign of weakness so it tends to bring out the ego in many.

The second problem - recognition - is a lot more difficult to get over as many simply fail to recognise the signs - mainly, of course, because they're narced! It's a vicious circle - fact is, divers are often too narced to spot that they're narced! To them the world is good but anyone diving with them on mix can clearly see a change in their behaviour.

The problem is that narcosis can manifest itself in many different ways so spotting the signs isn't that easy - as IANTD instructor Phil Short put it on a course I attended, narcosis is best described as a 'mood amplifier' ie. it'll amplify how you feel, whether that's good or bad. If you're slightly apprehensive pre-dive, you'll be suffering from utter paranoia by the time you hit 40m!

Narcosis also tends to slow everything down too so that something you'd normally manage to do in a matter of seconds can take several minutes! It's quite an eye-opener to see yourself on video after a dive - with the benefit of a clear head and a warm cup of tea, I challenge anyone diving below 30m without mix to not recognise some change in their behaviour!