nitrogen narcosis

A condition of confusion or euphoria resulting from increased levels of dissolved nitrogen in the blood, as that occurring in deep-sea divers breathing air under high pressure.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ni′trogen narco`sis

a stupor or euphoria induced in deep-sea divers when nitrogen from air enters the blood at higher than atmospheric pressure. Also called rapture of the deep.

[1935–40]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

nitrogen narcosis - confused or stuporous state caused by high levels of dissolved nitrogen in the blood; "deep-sea divers can suffer nitrogen narcosis from breathing air under high pressure"

narcosis - unconsciousness induced by narcotics or anesthesia

Mentioned in

narcosis

References in periodicals archive

Experienced and well-prepared divers should only undertake this signature dive, as there are more chances of nitrogen narcosis to get hold of the divers at depths more than 30metres.

Places to stay in Egypt

Divers at such depth can experience a condition called "nitrogen narcosis", which is caused by breathing nitrogen at a high partial pressure, resulting in effects similar to being drunk, and can lead to losing consciousness or even death, however, severity of the narcosis varies from diver to diver.

The Blue Hole... a mesmerizing death trap for amateur divers

Before you pick up your pens to demand my immediate resignation for bringing the IOCP into severe disrepute however, can I clarify that I was sitting in the midlands hyperbaric treatment chamber in Rugby's Hospital of St Cross, undergoing a simulated 50 metre deep dive, with a few other suitable victims, to sample the effects of nitrogen narcosis on us as SCUBA divers--the noise was pressurisation and the intoxication was, alas, just narcosis from excess nitrogen levels.

Editorial

For a scuba diver, a Deep Dive could be better understanding the capabilities and limitations of human performance or the depth at which nitrogen narcosis begins to set in.

Take a deep dive with DAU: the kind we offer is safe and sure to keep you dry

Muscat, May 21 (ONA) The Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) celebrated at Said Bin Sultan Naval Base today the graduation of oxygen therapy "Nitrogen Narcosis" practitioners under the patronage of Brigadier Salim bin Nasser al-Salmi, Head of Medical Services of the Armed Forces.

RNO Oxygen Therapy Practitioners Graduate

The crushing depths drive the gas deep into the diver's tissues, where increased partial pressures of nitrogen play tricks on the mind through a narcotic effect known as the "rapture of the deep." For divers who avoid the siren song of this nitrogen narcosis, the dissolved gases patiently wait to wreak havoc on the careless person who ascends without paying the proper tribute of decompression time.

Engineer dive support to U.S. army watercraft