What Happens When You Drown
What happens when you drown? If alone, do you think that you would have the strength to pull yourself up and breathe in oxygen? What truly happens when you are in the deep and are in short supply of oxygen?
Fear May be the First Reaction
Perhaps, the first feeling that you may have when you plunge in the water, and couldn’t get up immediately to breathe in air, is fear. Yes, that initial reaction on what happens when you drown is for you to have a temporary, but great, fear of yourself, your surroundings, and of what will eventually happen next. That cold, gripping fear may cause you to be greatly anxious – making it more difficult to get to the water’s surface.
Fear can cause you to flail your arms wildly and kick frantically.
That may pose as a great problem to you since the more fearful and anxious you would be, the more you may find it harder to get out of the water. That is why many expert divers and swimmers advise people to stay calm at all times.
Staying calm may help your body float to the surface, and allow your mind to think clearly on what to do next to get to a safer place.
Inhaling Carbon Dioxide and Water
As you flail your arms wildly, and kick every which way, just to get yourself out of harm’s way, you tend to take in more water into your body. Your intake of water would then supply your body with carbon dioxide and this may have disastrous results.
You see, when too much water fills your body, and goes through your lungs and heart, this may lessen your oxygen supply and do damage to your heart.
Too much water and carbon dioxide would, eventually, cause your heart to stop beating altogether. You may then pass out until someone would be able to get you out of the water.
Passing Out or Dying
There are some who have drowned and survived the danger.
Luckily, after they have been pulled out of the water, they were able to cough out all the water that was taken in the body. After doing so, they regained complete consciousness.
Those who weren’t able to have that same fate died in the process. This is because too much water had already poisoned the heart and filled the lungs. Water in the lungs may inhibit a person’s ability to breathe in a normal manner. When the heart gets poisoned with carbon dioxide, it stops beating, and leads to death.
It is really scary to think what happens when you drown. To have that experience – and survive its terrors – may make you develop a phobia to water. And it may take some time before you choose to dip in the waters again. Then again, you would have a better idea on following safety measures in order to prevent this from happening in the future.
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