DrDom 0 #26 September 22, 2013 Ah stress response and its inconsistent activity (my neuroscience friend is right you have nothing wrong from a neurological standpoint, you're just a normal variant!). EVERYONE has some degree of adrenal response, but the reality is that the effect is multifactorial. I think you said you were on a tandem, maybe in your mind it was somehow likened to a "safe" event like a rollercoaster or something else you experienced. Your brain may have made that connection and since there was nothing for you to "do" to save your own life from hurtling at the blue/green marble below you were calm. Maybe you are one of these people who is a bit more zen and relaxed than others. Who knows, but it didn't seem to have a profound response for you. I had a door anxiety issue BEFORE my first AFF. At tandem I was like "OMGWTFAHHHHHHHHHH!" but once out the door I was... truly a bit bored in freefall and at one point I remember thinking "I wish there was something I had to do other than not panic". So for weeks I worked myself up and when I got up at 13k with my AFF instructors... I just got calm and process driven. I expected all this fear, maybe some crying and screaming (OK, I imagined a LOT of crying and screaming), and had a great AFF jump. I still get nervous, but now its about performing properly, not the door. Werid. Alternatively, some folks watching the video of my CatA started getting vertigo. But maybe the rush isn't even necessary. I don't WANT a rush. I like the precision of the fall, and love love love canopy flight. The view is just amazing and I cant wait for the new England foliage to change. If you go out in CatA for your AFF jump, and you don't have any "rush" but enjoy it... what's the problem? To me, that's ideal circumstance because instead of chasing the dragon you just learn to love the experience. If you do need your adrenals to flood you with noradrenaline... I guess you could get your license and learn freeflying, skysurfing (does anyone even do that anymore?), swooping, or BASE if you like. Honestly, if you really are into the sport and can be completely mellow... maybe you could teach someday. Having a calm instructor was one of the best assets to my training so far. My only other alternative is maybe you were wired backwards. If you play chess do you get really intense, sweaty, nervous, and leave with a high that lasts a week and a smile to match?You are not the contents of your wallet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #27 September 22, 2013 Quote My only other alternative is maybe you were wired backwards. If you play chess do you get really intense, sweaty, nervous, and leave with a high that lasts a week and a smile to match? Only if my female opponent isn't wearin' pants... ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrDom 0 #28 September 23, 2013 airtwardo Quote My only other alternative is maybe you were wired backwards. If you play chess do you get really intense, sweaty, nervous, and leave with a high that lasts a week and a smile to match? Only if my female opponent isn't wearin' pants... Well played indeed :)You are not the contents of your wallet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nataly 38 #29 September 24, 2013 If I had a penny for every person I heard who said "yeah, I was totally calm and it was no big deal, I wasn't scared/nervous/worried at all"... Bullshit. Many people don't get the "adrenalin" rush they were expecting... This is normal... The fact is that people have this (false) perception that skydiving is an EXTREME and SENSATION-FILLED event. It's not. Your fear and anxiety about jumping FAR exceed the actual act of jumping. Jumping in itself is a fairly docile sport, especially in the beginning (especially as a tandem passenger). All you really experience is the sensation that it is very windy, followed by a slow, smoothe, gentle canopy ride back to the ground. Even the landing, in most cases, is not very fast/dangerous. It's pretty small potatoes, when you think about it... That said, the risks are undeniable, and the fear/anxiety is very real (even if you appeared quite calm), and the experience (as underwhelming as you may believe it to have been) is quite the sensory overload. Proof: a beginner's general lack of awareness and memory about several aspects of the jump. This would not happen if you were genuinely unafraid and unphased and totally 100% calm. My theory? You were not as "blown away" as you expected and the skydive was not as "extreme" as you had anticipated. You were underwhelmed. Not hard to believe. You remained relatively calm, despite some apprehension - happens to a lot of people. You were NOT, however, totally unphased/unaffected by the jump. Impossible. You are either bullshitting (to appear "cool"), or in denial (because you think you are so "cool"). Theory #2: you were scared shitless and are now overcompensating with excessive bravado. You may even have peed yourself a little on the jump, and this is your way of feeling like less of a pussy about it. To you and everyone else who claims they didn't feel anything or experience stress or even a bit of apprehension I say: good for you. Total bollocks, in my view, but as someone I know used to say: "it's your life, you can remember it however you want.""There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dthames 0 #30 September 24, 2013 NatalyIf I had a penny for every person I heard who said "yeah, I was totally calm and it was no big deal, I wasn't scared/nervous/worried at all"... Bullshit. Many people don't get the "adrenalin" rush they were expecting... This is normal... The fact is that people have this (false) perception that skydiving is an EXTREME and SENSATION-FILLED event. It's not. Your fear and anxiety about jumping FAR exceed the actual act of jumping. Jumping in itself is a fairly docile sport, especially in the beginning (especially as a tandem passenger). All you really experience is the sensation that it is very windy, followed by a slow, smoothe, gentle canopy ride back to the ground. Even the landing, in most cases, is not very fast/dangerous. It's pretty small potatoes, when you think about it... I think the feelings and fears related to skydiving are affected by many facets of the person, by the immediate state of mind, and who knows how many other factors. I recently spoke to a woman that had a very nice, calm tandem jump, followed by a canopy ride that made her motion sick. Now just looking at the photos of her jump make her all nervous and excited. Many I have talked to (or read posts) have different feelings on their later jumps than they did on their first, often much more unsettled. Looking back on moments of excitement in my life I see cases totally unrelated to fear. For example, go deer hunting, shoot a deer, not excited at all. But before you can get down from the stand another deer comes up and the idea of bagging two, back to back makes your heart pound like a sledgehammer. Or make an extreme long range varmint shot and then have the chance to follow it with another great success, has got me so keyed up I could not hold the gun still. Watch a deer for 2 minutes, not a problem. Watch one for 6 minutes and the excitement level shoots up like crazy. In skydiving I have noticed performance pressure more likely to get me nervous than the actual jump would ever do. I think age might have something to do about it as well. If you have been exposed to excitement or things that might be exciting over and over for years, you might get a bit numb to it.Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!” Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nataly 38 #31 September 25, 2013 While I agree that different people react in different ways, a lot of people claim they were totally unphased on their first jump, which I don't believe. I *do* believe that it may not live up to one's expectations, however, and that they were surprisingly calm. But no reaction at all??? Nope. Don't buy it."There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManagingPrime 0 #32 September 25, 2013 NatalyBut no reaction at all??? Nope. Don't buy it. I watched my brother have no reaction at all. He's not the false bravado type. He's strange, so I was not shocked and I'm still not. While it's not common it does happen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nataly 38 #33 September 26, 2013 ManagingPrime***But no reaction at all??? Nope. Don't buy it. I watched my brother have no reaction at all. He's not the false bravado type. He's strange, so I was not shocked and I'm still not. While it's not common it does happen. Is it possible? Yes. But I hear it again and again and again. From people who actually *were* scared/nervous/anxious, but won't admit it. So forgive me if I am reluctant to believe EVERYONE who claims they are the exception..."There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
