Fear.........WHY?

[Mrmojorisin 0]

I wondered if anyone out there could offer me some advice please. I have recently completed my AFF, console jumps and gained my A licence. It started on my AFF the walk to the plane, the ride to altitude, and getting to the door fill me with fear, to a point where I dont want to go at all. Once I am out its gone and I feel, well dont know how to describe it but Im sure you know. I really want to stay in this sport, if anyone could offer me advice to get over this fear or at least to live with it a little better, to get me back to a dropzone instead of just thinking about it, id be so grateful. Many thanks............

[moto89 0]

To be perfectly honest, I don't think what you are experiencing is uncommon. You're doing something that is previously unnatural to you, and my guess is it's just going to take some time to build confidence and get comfortable. I find that visualizing the dive flow over and over on the way up to altitude keeps my mind busy enough that I don't have a chance to get nervous.

Less talking, more flying.

[sraja 0]

It is normal. I felt the same way for my first 80 jumps. You'll get over it with experience and regain it with everything new you try in the sport e.g. Your first few freefly jumps, your first few wingsuit jumps etc.

[darkwing 4]

I think it is common. There is a war raging in your brain, with the primitive parts screaming not to jump, and the higher, intellectual processes saying I can make this safe, and it is fun. What will fix it is to jump, and have fun. More jumping, more often will make it better faster.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[nael 0]

When I started jumping a (now) friend who started jumping at the same time was so scared on a couple of jumps that she had tears running down her face in the plane.

She always got out and she overcame the fear. She now has hundreds of jumps. My advice would be to push through it - everyone feels fear. I did my first jump in 7 months a couple of weeks ago, and I was really scared. It's nothing to be ashamed of, the more you jump, the less fear you feel.

Good luck!

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store

[AggieDave 6]

I call it "Door Fear." You love the jump, you just get scared before you leave the door. Its 100% normal. Infact if you search you'll find more then a couple of threads about it. You reached the point in which you have learned just enough to know what could go wrong. In a few more jumps you'll relax and learn to trust your gear and you'll get past it. Atleast the people I know in the sport have gotten past it.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Couloirman 0]

fear is good. Its what keeps us safe in the face of great danger. When you stop feeling any fear whatsoever, you start to get complacent, and thats when the real danger comes into play. As long as you keep that fear in check well enough to do your job it will help to keep you safe in this sport. I'm obviously a total newbie to this sport, but have found that in my other high risk activities, fear has helped keep me safe. Just keep jumping and you'll feel better soon.

[christelsabine 1]

Quote

I wondered if anyone out there could offer me some advice please. I have recently completed my AFF, console jumps and gained my A licence. It started on my AFF the walk to the plane, the ride to altitude, and getting to the door fill me with fear, to a point where I dont want to go at all. Once I am out its gone and I feel, well dont know how to describe it but Im sure you know. I really want to stay in this sport, if anyone could offer me advice to get over this fear or at least to live with it a little better, to get me back to a dropzone instead of just thinking about it, id be so grateful. Many thanks............

Don't put yourself under any pressure, now the pressure of passing AFF and A is gone - just accept that fear - you're not alone with this feeling. You made a fine job, just go on and find your own way of dealing with that fear during ride to altitude, you'll find it. I sometimes still feel like a dead body on my way up, the moment the door opens is the best one - and I'm alive again!

Good luck, work on your skills and have fun

dudeist skydiver # 3105

[wardo 0]

i love the fear, it makes me do gear checks and practice pulls over and over. But yeah too much fear can be bad too. I got over the too much by jumping with other people almost every jump. Concentrating on not f'ing up other peoples jump made that bad fear go away. Dirt divin, going over the jump in your head on the way up, getting out the door, getting a grip, the count, the exit, altitude checks, the dive, breaking off, turn and track, wave off pull, collision avoidance. For me it went from thinking "what the hell am i doing?" to "this is what I will be doing." Setting goals also worked for me to. Like doing some fips on an exit, getting more horizontal seperation when tracking or my personal favorite, having a target and trying to land on it. Out of 10 tries i hit it once, when it was dark out. I want to be able to stomp that mother f'er every time and every time i miss i want to go right back up and try again.

[FlyingBlueJay 0]

I got over the fear by learning to love it. Sounds kinda weird, but I associate that apprehension with the skydive and now I've learned to love it. It does, as someone else said before, keep me in check. I would be more scared if I didn't have that fear... you're about to jump out of an airplane, it's normal to be a little scared.

Good luck overcoming it! You'll get there!

There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

[D22369 0]

just keep in mind the fun and freedom you have once you get out of the airplane, the door fear gremlins will soon subside.

jumping from a still functional aircraft isnt the most sane thing you can do - your fighting your survival instincts, they dont realise you have parachutes
It will pass.

Roy

They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

[kschilk 0]

Maybe, like me....you're uncomfortable with the dz aircraft and/or being a passenger.

A former structural mech, I've seen from the inside, what repeated cycling and g-force stress can do to an airframe. Granted, my experience was the result of more extreme conditions but it's all relative. Not all dzs are the same and yada yada but believe me, few if any really take the time to make minimal visual inspections...even a "walk-around". I'll never be comfortable with that, even though we have a fairly good record. I have the exact feelings you described, when I jump at dzs but from private aircraft, where I have witnessed their highly attentive inspection and maintenance practices....I lose all apprehensions and am totally at ease in the aircraft.

As a student, you're under instruction and maybe more willing to accept a secondary position. Now, being pretty much "in control" of your skydive....it's uncomfortable, not being in control of the aircraft too. I'm not a good passenger in anything, I prefer to do the driving....not that I don't trust anybody.

[andm31 0]

Hi! I wrote this in response to another post but I think it fits well here too

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I totally understand your fears and I guess most jumpers do. I got my A license a couple of months ago, took some 37 jumps to get it (static line course over here in Sweden) and I can only describe the whole deal as a complete rollercoaster ride between being scared for my life and feeling ok.

My background is in psychology and I work as a family counselor and as such (much more than the fresh skydiver I am) I find fear an interesting subject.

Unfortunately it seems that in this sport people just go: "Are you scared? Well we all were in the beginning, just stick with it and it'll pass" which is a pretty accurate statement but it doesn't really help you out that much when you're going up on a load and your knees are shaking or when the door opens up next to you at 10 000ft.

In my world being scared is a very legitimate feeling, after all you're jumping out of an airplane, right! Learning ways to keep your fear under control is a very important thing and I feel should be an important part of all training to be a skydiver. It wasn't in my training though.

Acknowledge the fact that you are scared, and really scared. As stated talk to your coach/jumpmaster (or whatever you call it over where you are jumping). Talk about what it is that scare you, if other people have any good ideas on coping with it. The key point is that we have to talk about it, we cannot just ignore it, numb it or think of it as just a phase in the skydive training as fear is a real and important reason why people stop skydiving.

I listened to an interview with Brian Germain and he talked about taking a break, slowing down, finding harmony and I believe that is important too.

Then there are a bunch of relaxation techniques out there that can be used to reduce stress/anxiety/heart rate (because we must not forget that the biofeedback in our body will trigger the body to release a bunch of what most people know as adrenaline when the heart rate goes about 100 or so). We need the boost when we skydive, keeping alert but the problem is if we feel it way before doing the jump. It's not suppose to be a long term thing.

Take a deep breath, count to 20 and back down to 1 and talk to the people around you that you think your fear is a real problem.
-----

Blue skies!

Anders Samuelsson
www.anderssamuelsson.se

[c1sc0 0]

I think that's perfectly normal. For me it was watching people exit that scared me. On my first AFF jumps I didn't dare to look out the door / down. So I kind of focussed on watching out the windows at the other side of the airplane, even as I was crawling out the exit door. My first diving exit was pure horror, so was my first hop & pop. The fear didn't go away 100% but I found breathing control exercises helped me deal with it. For AFF6 I wrote down 'first diving exit, scared' in my log & somehow I think admitting this in my logbook has helped me. Fear is normal I guess, acknowledging it helped me deal with it.

[bob.dino 0]

Do a search on the phrases "door fear" "exit fear" and similar. There's a bunch of threads containing lots of useful information on the subject.

Hint: It's normal. We didn't evolve to be comfortable jumping out of airplanes. It takes time for our minds to get used to the fact that we're this bloody stupid .

[AnKaLi 0]

Definitely common, I held that fear for a huge portion of my student progression. I still get it from time to time, but I just go through the reassurance steps 1. EPs, 2. check of 3 3. The confidence re-booster.
If you haven't already pick up Brian Germain's Transcending Fear. That book gave me a TON of advice on how to get through the worst parts of my fear.
Try to get your mind off the fear too, realize the thought and then work on letting it go. Distract yourself, I used to sing a song in the plane. Another thing I did was take a LONG door and played out in the air, and smiled while doing it, sort of a mental thing to relate happy thoughts with the door. Sounds silly, but most of my fear went away when my instructor made me look straight down out of the 182. When I realized it wasn't that bad, suddenly everything seemed to go a whole lot smoother for me!

[airathanas 0]

I have a Master's Degree in Sport Psychology and I wrote my thesis on fear of failure and anxiety. That doesn't make me an expert- just more informed than the average person.

Throughout my research, I found many various studies that found that somatic anxiety (that is physical symptoms of anxiety aka flight or fight) peaks RIGHT before a stressful event (such as being in the door) and then immediately drops off once the event takes place.

What you're feeling is natural and will dissipate but never fully go away. While you're in the plane, concentrate on visualizing the dive flow in your head and focus on your breathing. Trust your training and trust yourself!!

http://3ringnecklace.com/

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

I, like the others, don't think you're experiencing anything that unusual, just to a greater degree than most. I never had it as bad as you, but I was pretty nervous my first 10 or so on the way up...

Even when I had a few hundred jumps, if we had a long jumprun or go-around and I was stuck back at the tailgate (we had a CASA at the time) for a few minutes with nothing to do but look out, I would start getting nervous and thinking "WTF am I doing?!?!"

Eventually, even that part dissipated. It'll get better, sooner or later.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[Skydivesg 6]

In my experience fear is what causes most people not to jump or to quit once they started.
Fear, in large part, is what helps generate all the adrenlin, which is what those of us who stay in the sport crave.
Fear cannot be overcome by everyone but those who do over come it are changed forever and they become a different person.
Courage is not the absence of fear but rather moving forward in spite of the fear.

I hope you find a way to manage your fear and become a part a very small segment of the world's population.

And remember what DaVinci said.

Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be.

[LloydDobbler 2]

Quote

Do a search on the phrases "door fear" "exit fear" and similar. There's a bunch of threads containing lots of useful information on the subject.

Hint: It's normal. We didn't evolve to be comfortable jumping out of airplanes. It takes time for our minds to get used to the fact that we're this bloody stupid .

Well-said.

To the OP, I'll add - from my observations, it's completely normal. Some people have a much bigger hill to get over when it comes to fear - luckily, mine wasn't as bad as some, but I definitely had my moments where I was telling myself, "This is the last time you ever have to do this. Just get out the door, then once you're safely on the ground, you never have to do this again" on the ride to altitude.

My g/f had it much worse than I did, and what helped her the most was talking to some of the more experienced skydivers - people who had 1000s of jumps - many of whom told her they spent the first 40-50 jumps thinking of riding the plane down. So doing what you're doing (posting here, searching the forums for "door fear") is a good idea, as is talking to skydivers around your DZ whom you respect. You'll find you're definitely not alone...but it'll lessen over time, as you gain more trust in your gear and your procedures...(and most importantly, yourself as a skydiver).

Signatures are the new black.

[Andy9o8 0]

When I was a newb, I used to arrive at the DZ and then sneak off and barf. And that was even before the first manifest of the day. It's normal. You get over it.

[squarecanopy 0]

Hey Willy,
Your fear is very normal for all the reasons already well stated here. You have gotten great advice already, so I will just add my 2 cents worth from my own family's experience. I was petrified for the first 10 jumps and damn scared for the next 15 or so, it started to ease up around jump 30. My sons were both relatively lacking door fear from jump one (one has 5 jumps, the other 15). My wife did one tandem, and does not ever want to go again, for her the freedom and fun does not outweigh the fear. Keep taking it one jump at a time and the fear will subside into a healthy respect for the hostile environment that you have chosen to go play in...
Blue Skies, Safe Landings,
Bill

Just burning a hole in the sky.....

[tbrown 26]

A few years ago I returned to the sport after a 22 year break and I experienced dry mouth newbie fear all over again. The fact that I'd made over 500 jumps many years before was no help at all. And just like in the old days, I got used to it again. It never completely goes away and there are some days or some rides in the plane where it will just bug you more than usual.

Just whatever you do, don't fart in the plane. That's what really scares people the most.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[DZDANK 0]

HA HA - Farts, the smell of fear...

I just finished AFF and have done four solo jumps since, my anxiety seems to be under control at this point. What really hurts me is if i show up early and sit around too long. Get there, manifest, check your gear repeatedly and then get on the plane!

[sundance 1]

I believe what everyone has said is really spot on. Anyone who does this sport without fear is nuts. Brian Germain, IMO really does have some useful and helpful advise. He is an outstanding coach, teacher and writer on skydiving and reading his books and attending a course he is teaching is well worth the effort and money. I'm sure there are others out there who are excellent as well. I just identified with Germain quickly and get what he is teaching.

My own experience.... when I was going through AFF and for maybe 60 or 70 jumps thereafter I had wicked butterflies everytime I drove to the dropzone. I had to force myself to continue on. I really wanted to jump but I was also wondered at times WTF I was doing. I felt compelled to do it in spite of the fear. After I completed AFF, I have to admit that there were even a couple of times that I was halfway to the dropzone and turned around and went home, one time I was in the parking lot and turned around. LOL I never do that anymore and fear is well managed and much subsided since about 100 jumps, but I hope always to have a healthy fear and respect for the dangers we deal with in skydiving. Like others have said, I agree that this helps keep us alive and jumping.

The other thing about fear worth mentioning is that working through our fears can actually be an incredible life affirming and growing experience. I was involved in life coaching for a while and some of the people I worked with had all kinds of debilitating fears about some crazy things. If I could get them to do a tandem jump, it always served as a lesson and confidence builder for these people. It was not uncommon upon landing to hear them exclaim, "I jumped out of a plane, damn I can do anything, there is no good reason now to let fear cripple me.

One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.