Wiktionary
n. A condition of disorientation, intoxication and stupor caused by increased levels of dissolved nitrogen in the blood; occurs in divers breathing air under pressure; the "rapture of the deep".
WordNet
n. 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"
Wikipedia
Narcosis while diving (also known as nitrogen narcosis, inert gas narcosis, raptures of the deep, Martini effect), is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs while diving at depth. It is caused by the anesthetic effect of certain gases at high pressure. The Greek word ναρκωσις (narcosis) is derived from narke, "temporary decline or loss of senses and movement, numbness", a term used by Homer and Hippocrates. Narcosis produces a state similar to drunkenness (alcohol intoxication), or nitrous oxide inhalation. It can occur during shallow dives, but does not usually become noticeable at depths less than .
Except for helium and probably neon, all gases that can be breathed have a narcotic effect, although widely varying in degree. The effect is consistently greater for gases with a higher lipid solubility, and there is good evidence that the two properties are mechanistically related. As depth increases, the mental impairment may become hazardous. Divers can learn to cope with some of the effects of narcosis, but it is impossible to develop a tolerance. Narcosis affects all divers, although susceptibility varies widely from dive to dive, and between individuals.
Narcosis may be completely reversed in a few minutes by ascending to a shallower depth, with no long-term effects. Thus narcosis while diving in open water rarely develops into a serious problem as long as the divers are aware of its symptoms, and are able to ascend to manage it. Diving beyond is generally considered outside the scope of recreational diving. Below these depths, as narcosis and oxygen toxicity become critical risk factors, specialist training is required in the use of various helium-containing gas mixtures such as trimix or heliox. These mixtures prevent narcosis by replacing some of the breathing gas with non-narcotic helium.
Usage examples of "nitrogen narcosis".
We can have an hour on the bottom if we need it, with no danger of nitrogen narcosis and only about ten minutes' total decompression time on the way up.
Possible residual effects of nitrogen narcosis: I'd been unconscious for two hours and there would still be a lingering retention of CO2 in the tissues.
At depth, exertion was a thing to be avoided lest one treble the effects of nitrogen narcosis.
Insufficient oxygen, or maybe nitrogen narcosis, because it was almost pleasant.
Narc, Twisp knew, was the Merman term for nitrogen narcosis, intoxication they sometimes encountered in the depths when using pressurized air tanks.
In many cases nitrogen bubbles in the brain caused nitrogen narcosis, which made the victim feel angry or scfiizophrenic.
Up, up, up, among the colorful tropical fish with their arms and their legs, back into the light of day, blue sunlight, ah God yes, ears popping, a giddiness perhaps of nitrogen narcosis, rapture of the deep.
At this depth, he and Harvard had to breathe from special tanks of mixed gas to prevent nitrogen narcosis—.
When he first stood before her, face-to-face, he had experienced a sensation that was easy enough to describe: It was like the dreamy glaze of nitrogen narcosis, with all of that condition's odd certainty that the world was a safe and wonderful place.