0
BrianSGermain

Fear Abatement

Recommended Posts

I would like to invite interested skydivers to discuss the issue of fear in this thread, specifically how you deal with your fear. We all have it, and successful jumpers develop cognitive and somatic methods to work with their fear so that it will not control them.

This topic is of great interest to me, as I am researching this issue for a new book. Please help.

The world really needs this information right now, as many of us believe that fear is the fundimental limiting factor in life. In a chapter of human history that might be termed "The Age of Fear", the study of its transformation is extremely germane to the evolution of our collective human experience.

Thank you.
+
Instructional Videos:www.AdventureWisdom.com
Keynote Speaking:www.TranscendingFEAR.com
Canopies and Courses:www.BIGAIRSPORTZ.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
This is a good issue to discuss, thanks for bringing it up, Brian.

As far as skydiving fear goes, whenever I find myself ramped up and having negative thoughts about the skydive, I close my eyes, shut myself off from all the stimulus to remind me that I'm about to do something dangerous, and concentrate on a positive, safe image. For me, it's the feel of my dog's ears, and the way they flop up and down when she runs. Silly, yes, but it allows me to not think myself into the corner -- "I suck at this, this is so dangerous, I'm gonna tense up and die, etc." In my limited skydiving experience it has worked well. After a few minutes I have distracted myself enough to re-enter the real world and approach it with a calm mindset and see the situation as it truly exists ("I'm trained well, my gear is in good shape, I'm jumping with people I know and trust, and I believe I can deal with any problems").

As far as fear in the rest of my life, I'm still dealing with that one. Fear of the future, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the unknown, fear of Bush presidency :P all cause me stress that I do not deal with well. My main response is escape, be it into a good book, video game, or TV. Not healthy or productive, I know. One technique I've stumbled on recently is to channel my thinking in two ways. First, if I am having negative thoughts ("I'm not good enough") I make a concious effort to change it ("Yes you are stop that it gets you nowhere"). Secondly, the emotional response that I identify as "fear" can be accepted and reinterpreted as "excitement". Thus a negative and limiting emotion can be re-established as one that allows positive lines of thought ("This is gonna be interesting, let's see how it goes!")

Some of these ideas are expressed better in "Mental Training for Skydiving and Life" by John Derosalia. I imagine you've read it, and I encourage everyone, skydiver or not, to at least look at it. None of the ideas expressed in the book are easy to implement, but I think if done successfully they can be quite beneficial.

Sorry for the essay, but this has been much on my mind of late.
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Though I respect fear, I personally enjoy it. I love the taste of adrenaline in my mouth after the car in front of me slams on their brakes. Sometimes I can trigger the adrenaline, just by thinking about a time when I experienced fear.

A few weeks ago, while headed to the DZ, I got that queasy, uneasy pit of the stomach feeling about jumping that day. I'm not sure that I would call it fear, but it is certainly similar. I think that there were several things that made this weekend different. I'm just returning to the sport after a 5 year layoff and have around 10 current jumps. The winds were up a little and I was planning on jumping a demo canopy. Before I made it to the DZ I had decided not to jump that day and didn't. Went back this past weekend and didn't hesitate to make a couple of jumps. The only difference being the winds were much calmer.
As for how I deal with it. I tend to face it head on. I try to identify the reasons for it and then make logical decisions about the relevant risk of the contributing factors behind those reasons. I was much more comfortable with only one extra risk factor, the demo canopy, instead of multiple.

KG

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

I deal with it by breathing. Controlled breathing eases anxiety.




I have also found that to work. I also concentrate on what it is that I am supposed to do and not let my mind wander.

To me fear is what keeps me on my toes. If I no longer felt any fear at all then I would be wondering if I were becoming to complacent.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I control my fear by trusting that my equipment, properly maintained and used will assure my safety. If it were not for this I would be scared "out of my gourd" in some of the things I have done.

I realistically study the odds. I used to have 1 malfunction in 100 jumps on the old "cheapo" rounds. I felt 1% chance of a failure, plus a backup reserve were pretty good odds. Today the equipment is more reliable and fear is less of a factor.

At times when it is related to other things, such as a Demo jump, I try to limit my exposure to danger by doing all of the "right" things, such as being current and confident. If the weather isn't right, I KNOW that I don't have to jump.

All of the above relate to confidence. Confidence that you will be safe, abates fear.

When fear is related to something I cannot control, but must face or choose to face, I spread out the anxiety over a period of time rather than having it hit me all at once. Some might say this is covering all possible bases in advance by thinking it through and then taking the calculated risk. In these cases, I am afraid, but it is manageable. An example might be test jumping something that is new to everyone around you and no place to turn for help. It then becomes a decision to "go" or "no go".

During these "manageable" fear periods, I find that I mentally talk to myself and work through the difficulties methodically rather than allowing a panic reaction to be consuming. That "extra voice" has save my sorry butt more than once.

Ed



Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I would say that the best antidote for fear is familiarity. When people ask me how scary it is to skydive, or ask how you ever get used to jumping out of airplanes, I tell them that it is amazing what human beings can get used to.
Most skydiving training is aimed at abating fear by familiarizing the student with the equipment and procedures, and practicing them in a relatively controlled environment. More effective methods allow students to feel an optimum ratio of fear and familiarity. In other words, in order to accomplish scary things, like exiting an airplane at altitude, people need to feel that they have adequate training, adequate preparation, and adequate confidence in order to perform. They also need the ability to function while in a fearful state.
Speaking from personal experience, I am very fearful in new situations. For example, on my first jump, I was barely able to climb out of the aircraft. As a relatively experienced skydiver, I am now quite comfortable with exits from the aircraft I have jumped the most. I am still nervous in the face of new situations in skydiving, such as unfamiliar aircraft, new DZ, new canopies, new disciplines, and so on. Because I am familiar with the general skydiving environment, and because I am familiar with and confident in my skill sets, this nervousness is minimal, and I generally perform well despite, (or maybe even because of) being nervous.

My main coping strategy at this point in my skydiving career is knowledge seeking. Because I have enough experience to visualize myself performing a new skill in skydiving, I can simply be briefed by a knowledgeable person, mentally rehearse my actions and possible outcomes, and experience only slight nervousness. The further outside my experience something is, the more stressful it is to attempt it. Earlier in my skydiving career, I relied more on blind confidence in my equipment and instructors, and simply gutted it out on my first few jumps.

What I think is most interesting about this subject is examining ways to measure a person's ability to cope with the unfamiliar and find the optimum ratio of familiarity and fear which produces the largest gains in performance.
Patkat
gotta exercise my demons!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Like Patkat basically said, the more you jump, the more you get used to it. I don't think it ever becomes normal, at least not yet for me, but it's beginning to be an environment Im used to being in. I still tend to be extra careful about everything, but I trust my training and equipment. Other than that, I trust the universe for having good reasons for doing whatever it will decide to do to me. And I remind myself how lucky I am to be able to do such a thing :)If the stress/fear ever becomes overwhelming, I try to isolate myself and meditate.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Though I respect fear, I personally enjoy it. I love the taste of adrenaline in my mouth after the car in front of me slams on their brakes. Sometimes I can trigger the adrenaline, just by thinking about a time when I experienced fear.

KG



The bare energy, without interpretation is not fear, not yet. It is thought that makes it fear. The rush can be interpreted as joy, or terror. Careful not to confuse the addiction to joy as an addiction to fear. Fear does not feel good, and does not enhance our performance. It has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Leaning forward into the energy is how we transform the energy into joy. Once the boulder is rolling, you have to get behind it and push, or get squished by its shear power.
+
Instructional Videos:www.AdventureWisdom.com
Keynote Speaking:www.TranscendingFEAR.com
Canopies and Courses:www.BIGAIRSPORTZ.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
good question, i have thought about it for a while and i really dont think i control my fear so much as just plow through it. the payoff is worth the discomfort for me. yeah, i am scared on the way to altitude, scared when the door opens, but i KNOW i am gonna jump despite that fear, because it makes me happy. i love freefall, i love the feeling of nailing a landing. hell, i even love watching the faces of folks who have just done their first tandem.
on a side note, i am not nearly as scared as i used to be. my first 15 or so jumps i was literally soaked in sweat by the time we hit altitude. now its more of a tenseness and actually much easier to get through. but like i said, when i manifest for a load, there is no doubt in my mind that i am gonna jump, despite the fear.

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I handle my fear in dangerous situations by being prepared for it. I am always playing the "what if" game. What if my pilot chute comes out during exit? What if I'm injured during freefall? What if that canopy cuts me off while I am on final? What if that last cam pulls out when I fall? What if the rapp-master signals he is cutting rope and I'm still 100 feet up?

By thinking of a million different things that can go wrong, and carefully analyzing the problem, as well as various potential solutions, I am able to make pre-determined responses to emergencies. It is the knowledge that subconsciously, I KNOW what the right thing to do is, that helps me continue on in spite of fear. It isn't really controlling fear, nor even controlling the factors that fear stems from. Rather, it is making a perfectly rational fear seem irrational, so that I can disregard it and concentrate on the task at hand, and not my fear. I use fear and adrenaline to enhance my performance. There have been several times in my life that I KNEW I was going to die, and the clarity of my mental state caused by that realization is indescribable. The adrenaline, combined with my "what if" game, has saved my life. Fear is a vital component to survival.

Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I'm never scared... ok that's a lie...

I deal with it as many others have mention by ensuring that everytime I get out I have taken all the precautions and prepared as fully as I can.

I always plan the dive... (and don't play anything by ear,)

then before I get out I take a deep breath and remind myself to relax, that if I'm calm during the dive I'm more likely to make better decisions that if I panic.

Then I put on my Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy "Don't Panic" glasses and jump out. [:-P]

Scott

btw: I'm kidding about that last part...:D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
A recent (just before Halloween) issue of Newsweek had an article which discussed why people like scary movies. Basically, the thrust of the article was that people don't actually enjoy being scared, but rather enjoy the relief after the fright.
I think that this is the point Brian is making here. We do not enjoy the stressful nature of skydiving, we enjoy successfully overcoming the stress of a skydive, and saving our lives once again.

Quote

The bare energy, without interpretation is not fear, not yet. It is thought that makes it fear. The rush can be interpreted as joy, or terror. Careful not to confuse the addiction to joy as an addiction to fear. Fear does not feel good, and does not enhance our performance. It has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Leaning forward into the energy is how we transform the energy into joy. Once the boulder is rolling, you have to get behind it and push, or get squished by its shear power.
+


Leaning forward into the energy, in this case, is implementing effective strategies for using the stress created by a skydive to challenge yourself to better performance, to focus yourself on jumping better, and on responding correctly to sydiving stimuli. If we just hopped out and pulled, like, whenever, because we were bored with skydiving, most of us would be scary, unsafe, unstable skydivers. The stress which even very experienced skydivers feel is what keeps us challenging ourselves to do it safely, and to do it better.

Wow, this thread has given me a ton of great ideas for working with students, and for working with myself as well. I wonder if maybe we should not be teaching skydiving so much as fear abatement?
Patkat
gotta exercise my demons!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Very interesting thread. I have two stories I'd like to share that might contribute:
1) I went snowboarding earlier this year, and after falling numerous times on several runs, I became quite nervous on the lift up. The way I calmed myself was picturing the excitement right before getting out of the plane. Recalling the joy, not the fear, helped calm me down.

2) I used to jump at a small dz that did static line training out of a 182. Even with 200 jumps and little to no fear on a normal skydive, I still felt a little thrill of fear every time I heard an instructor telling a student to get out. You know, the "get your feet out and stop" "Get all the way out and hang" stuff. I found it interesting that I seemed to have been hard-wired to feel fear when I heard these words.

Addie

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
ery cool question. when i was a kid i had paralysing fear of about everything.....and hated it and myself for succomming to it. so my whole life i've pushed through one fear at a time. mainly by rationalyzing things, but breathing definately helps .

i was terified of the dark....so i would stand by the light switch and turn it off, then think about what i was afraid off. then turn the light back on to see that there where no monsters there. then turn the light back off....and on and off until i loved the dark and the mystery of it.

i was afraid of snakes so i bought a boa....then another one.

skydiving scared the hell out of me at first and still does at times. so i check my equipment inside and out my first jump of aach day..and check it and have at least one other person check it before each jump.


i come to realize fear isn't good or bad....but how i deal with it gives me pretty good outcomes for the most part.

my bigest fear in life is to become stagnant and not meet my potential in this world.
_________________________________________

people see me as a challenge to their balance

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I feel there are many different types of fear that one faces. There is the fear of taking a test, the fear of getting caught doing something, the fear of getting hurt or embarrassed, the fear of a plan not working, and ultimately the fear of the unknown like death.

Human beings tend to deal with these emotions in different way based on the perceived severity of the fear. For some embarrassment or failure is more severe than death, hence numerous suicides. For some death is the worst and for others getting hurt or crippled tops the list.

There are many ways that people deal with fear and multiple ways that a given individual deals with fear. Sometimes they actively avoid the situation, sometimes they face it head on to overcome its' grasp, some times it is ignored entirely.

There are fears in my life that I deal with in each of these ways. For instance, when I was 11 I was asked to sing a solo for a musical at my grade school. At first I was excited, but when it came time to do it I was more afraid than I have ever been. I concentrated and performed, but today I have to be pretty drunk to sing in public.

My first skydive I remember thinking on the ride to altitude that if I died I had no regrets. My life was whole and complete, and I was enjoying myself. I was pretty freaked out when the JM said GO! After about the 3rd GO I overcame the fear and let go. My first thought was "Oh shit you let go of the plane!" and fear was again staring me in the face. The next thing I knew I had an open chute over my head and I was fine. My first cutaway was a similar experience, however stalling in the face of fear can often be lethal.

I constantly live in the fear of failure and I displace it by excelling at the things I attempt and not attempting many things I think I'll fail. That creates an incredible sense of self-confidence and, at the same time, a fear someone will find out I'm not who I portray myself to be.

I constantly push my limits beyond what ordinary people think is normal. I've spent my life jumping off cliffs, racing motorcycles, battling with the law, getting my EE degree, skydiving, literally taking over companies, etc. In retrospect the primary drive in my life is probably fear itself. I'm constantly looking for ways to prove to myself I'm not afraid. That may be one of the reasons I have acquired a great interest in BASE jumping. I'm still in that inquiry but the desire to do it is incredibly strong.

Fear is an emotion I have spent a great deal of time analyzing and I'm clear that investigation is not complete.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hmm, I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately.

When I first started jumping, I was suffering from a degenerative eye condition, and was basically going blind by virtue of my eyes not focusing. Though it could be argued that I should have never gotten into the sport because of that, I needed to find something to convince myself that I wasn't a cripple. Skydiving gave me a reason to live in that dark time by teaching me I could overcome things I feared and achieve things I never dreamed were possible, so I do not regret the choice.

Regardless of regrets or no, it did affect my performance as a jumper, especially when it came to landings. Though I struggled with freefall, I eventually learned to calm down, and I've always had an intuitive understanding of most aspects of canopy flight, but I never could seem to figure out the flare. I always pounded in. While skydiving helped me overcome most of my old fears, it gave me a new one. Somewhere around 20-30 jumps into the sport, it got to the point where I totally lost faith in my ability to land. I'd start to flare and the fear would be telling me that I screwed up and that I had to brace for impact. No matter how many times I told myself that I would overcome the fear and finish the flare and the landing, I'd always find myself stopping the flare about halfway down and curling up into a position that allowed me to PLF the landing. This got so bad that my first standup wasn't until jump #63, and even after that, I never managed to stand up more than ~7% of my landings. This was of the main reasons that I never went to higher wingloadings and swore I'd never swoop.

Fastforward to the present.

Remember that part about my instinctive feelings for canopy flight. In a little over a hundred jumps, I had worked my way through the flight range on my Mantas, R4's, and Laser 9's. I knew exactly what each of them did in response to toggle, slow flight, riser input, and even weight shifts. In short, I was getting bored under canopy. I knew I didn't want a higher wing loading, but I did want a more manuverable canopy. So, I went out and got me a semi-elliptical. I don't know what to say other than the landings just clicked. I'm not sure why, but somehow the fear became manageable and I could finish out my landings.

Now I have a new fear. I used to look at swoopers and think "No way, those dudes are insane." Now I watch swoops and think "Ah I understand now, I've got to learn how to do that!" I've already worked out a tentative savings buget that will allow me to buy an ultra-high performance canopy by the time I've finished the 500 hop n pop's I'm planning on doing to build my CC skills. I went from the guy who said, "never", to a guy who's heart is telling him "I can do that in a couple of years". When I take a step back for the emotion and look at it intellectually, that scares me. I still don't understand why I was able to suddenly overcome my fear, and I wonder if it won't just reappear someday down the road. That's frightening because I know I've reduced my margin for error a great deal. I also worry about the possibility of trying to downsize sooner than 500 jumps. I mean afterall, I was able to convinvce myself I wanted to enter a discipline I swore I'd never do, so how hard would it be to convince myself that I only needed 100-200 (or less) skill jumps before downsizing?

Does this make sense to anyone? Has anyone had similar thoughts?

-Blind
"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I used to have fear getting out of the plane, but somewhere a long the line that fear abated, but I now have the fear of will I be in my slot on time, will I remember the skydive, etc. I think the fear of not performing well on skydives is even greater than that initial fear of getting out of the plane.


Life is either a daring adventure or nothing ~ Helen Keller

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Visualisation sorts it for me - especially after a layoff. Before you get in the plane or get your gear on, take 10 minutes to find a quiet spot, sit down and visualise the entire skydive, from boarding the plane to landing. Start with a good skydive, then once you're happy with that, visualise some that encompass problems and how you deal with them. Move your hands andd arms as though you were going through your EPs.

Get geared up, get on the plane and use the plane ride to go throught the 'good' skydive again. If that's the last thing you've thought of in the plane before you exit, you're more likely to perform that way.

That's my way of dealing with it anyway - I think it's a familiarity thing. If your brain feels like it's just made 3 jumps in the last 10 minutes, it's less likely to be nervous about this one! ;):D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Very interesting!!!

I can say that fear is always present on jumprun in my case. It's magnitude depends on many different aspects like how long since my last jump (usually my last jump of the day is the most fearless one), knowledge of the DZ, knowledge of fellow skydivers, knowledge of the equipment, etc.

It is never a great amount of fear. And I deal with it by deep breathing, by rehearsing pilot chute deployment and cutaway procedures and by remembering that I have the training and that I have an AAD just in case.

Somebody wrote that he/she had the fear of not performing well. It's not my case. I do my best but as I am essentially fun oriented it is not a source of fear to me.

Let us know your work on the subject!



HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hi

Currently out of all the things involved in skydiving the thing I fear is having to cutaway. It is not because I lack trying but up until now I have not needed to cutaway and pull reserve. It is also not a fear that I face each time I am jumping, it is more to the back of my mind.

I go through reserve drill every weekend. I have also made my reserve drill part of my gear check prior to boarding.

I kinda wish my 1st malfunction would come along so that I can deal with this unknown/Fear. I know once I have done it, I would be far more comfortable because then I would know that I can do it.

Cheers
_______________________________________
You are unique, just like everybody else ...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

I deal with it by breathing. Controlled breathing eases anxiety.



I agree. That and just taking my mind off of whatever is itching at me. In other instances, say room clearing (CQB) where you really can't afford to take your attention away from the task at hand, simply visualizing yourself already into the action (past the point of entry, or after exiting the aircraft in skydiving) really helps. Skydiving is far from the most dangerous thing I have had to do, but yes, I still (after more than 23 years in the sport) occasionally get slightly antsy in certain situations (reeling in a jammed RDS in a swoop meet; drogue-out total malfunction on my tandem; pull-time in a wingsuit when jumping a velo).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Usually just before jump run I close my eyes with deep breathing. I picture very calm things, usually the skydive from afar with huge hands below our group in freefall. Or anything else that is very soothing to me, usually works great... Also drilling EP's and trusting my gear is a big factor..

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Relaxing my body one area at a time was always a huge help for me. In the plane, quiet calm breathing and relaxing my ankles, then making sure my knees/legs are relaxed, then hips, then shoulders, etc. Focusing on those things, kept my body relaxed and my mind focused on things other than fear...by the time everyone gets up for gear checks, etc., fear has been almost replaced by nervous anticipation and that's always a fun feeling for me...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I really don't like to use the word fear as is what we should all try to defeat.

Anxiety might be a better choice. Fear itself manifests itself right after the presentation of a stimulus, CS or US, leading to fight = good in skydiving (sometimes) or flight = bad in skydiving.

Anyhow I've noticed that if I am jumping a new canopy, trying something different, and so on I'm more concerned about the jump or more precisely the outcome of it.

The way I deal with it is to take care of my equipment and stay focused on the climb up. If I let my mind wonder on its own at some point I start thinking about all the things that can go wrong. If I visualize over and over the jump, and the emergency procedures I am very calm and "fearless". Right before leaving the door, or the exit point, I look at my chest strap, the 3 rings, and touch my hackey.

The more I take care of my equipment, especially in BASE, the more I focus on the jump, usually the better I perform, and I enjoy the jump more.

I also don't panic. It has never happened to me: panicking to the point of becoming uncreative or doing the absolute wrong thing. I don’t know if this is a "hardwired" trait but even as a kid fear always led me to fight never flight, and I've been over the edge several times.

I guess it all comes down to what it works for you although the sight of some jumpers getting up at jump run and going for the door without even taking a glance at their rig really disturbs me…and then shit happens…
Memento Audere Semper

903

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0