If you plan to go scuba diving in the tropics this summer, don鈥檛 wear a wet
suit. Bill Morgan of the University of Wisconsin at Madison has found that
divers who wear wet suits in water at 24 掳C are more anxious鈥攁nd
therefore prone to a potentially calamitous panic attack鈥攖han those in
ordinary bathing suits. He believes that the anxiety is caused by
overheating.
In some instances, wet suits are advisable鈥攆or protection against
abrasive rocks or stinging jellyfish, for example. But many warm-water divers
are putting themselves at risk for no good reason. 鈥淪ome people may wear wet
suits simply for cosmetic reasons,鈥� says Morgan.