Not sure where to post (heebie jeebies)

[adamjenner 0]

At our DZ we do the IAD program where we progress to freefall...During my first freefall (3 second delay) I de-arched and the PC went around my right leg. I kicked it off and had a safe ride down but this incident has giving me the "heebie jeebies" to the point where I really don't FEEL like jumping when I know that I would really love to continue in this sport. I'm just a little freaked out over what happened. My question is if there's anything I could do to sorta overcome these fears? I know it's probably get up and jump again. I was also curious if anyone has ever been to scared to jump but continued and what you did to get over your fear.
Thanks

[billvon 3,085]

>My question is if there's anything I could do to sorta overcome these fears?

You could do a tandem, or go back to a "static line" (no delay) jump to get used to the process again. Or just take a few rides in the plane and watch other people jump; that will get you used to seeing good (and maybe some not so good) exits.

[Merrick 0]

You should send a message to Pammi, she had a similar incident while we were going through our student progression (even has a nice scar on her arm to show for it). She's overcome so much BS to continue to jump as much as she can... from emotional struggles, skill struggles, to $$$ isues. She should definately be able to give you some insight!
Blues!

Merrick

[jerry81 10]

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I was also curious if anyone has ever been to scared to jump but continued and what you did to get over your fear.

I was there once. I was doing s/l and on the ride up I'd just start thinking about how I'm obviously too scared to continue. Jumps 2 through 7 (1st freefall) were the hardest, but I always ended up jumping from the plane instead of riding it down. To get over your fear, I'd suggest warming up with some cool videos that will remind you why you want to learn to skydive and on the ride up you should try talking, or better yet, joking with other jumpers. I think laughter is the best cure for the symptoms you're describing.

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[dreamsville 0]

I gutted it out and went out the door when I was scared. For a while we had a drill seargent dealing with the newbies, so it was hard at first. Later, we had some other people who were more supportive and that made me look forward to the jumps more.

To add it all up, I'd take the suggestions about the videos and the humor and be sure you add supportive people to it. Do solos or keep it small at first. As long as you're aware of others around you (and you're probably a solo in this situation) don't forget to notice the beauty around you. That's another aspect that will make you want to come back. Thinking of music on the way up or under canopy may help as well.
|

I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane.

Harry, FB #4143

[adamjenner 0]

After my first freefall I have done 2 more IAD's
it's just i think that the thing that's bugging me is I might end up doing this again or that I won't be stable enough. As many times as i picture myself having good stable freefalls and smooth openings, there's still that thought in the back of my head saying "you'll do this again"
Maybe you could narrow it down to "fear of freefalling" I don't know. But I think I'll take all of your advice and get up and jump again.
Thanks

[Albatross 0]

I have never been through IAD so I can't comment on the exact situation. However, I thik that we have all had at least one of these experiences. I had a bridle wrap around my arm on jump 8. I had the hackey get stuck under my container after a funnel somewhere in the 200s. I saw a friend break a leg on my 100th. All of these make us ask if we will jump again. Even now at 700+ I sometimes look out the door and ask what am I doing. Remember that what we love to do is dangerous and you had an incident that brought that very close to you. It reminds you/us that these are real events that can happen and not just stories. You are right to be nervous. But remember that it happened, you recognized it, and delt with it. It will take you awhile for it not to be fresh i your mind but only more jumps will do that. Good luck. DOn't let your fear determine your life. If you stop jumping do it because you want to stop not because you are affraid to continue.

Chris

[ixlr82 7]

My wife flipped through her risers twice on the 3 second delay. It really got to her. She was unable to jump for a while. Eventually she did another tandem just to get out of the plane, then she went somewhere else and did AFF until Level 5, then came back and finished her student progression. If you love this sport ( and I bet you do), you'll find your own way through this.

__________________________________________

[Lolie 0]

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this incident has giving me the "heebie jeebies" to the point where I really don't FEEL like jumping when I know that I would really love to continue in this sport.

I went through something similar to this, and I don't think it's too unusual... I've got just over 30 jumps, and only in the last few have I felt calm in the plane on the way up... before then I would think about skydiving all week, get a ride to the dz, and then just sit around once I got there, because I was too nervous to actually manifest.

The only thing that got me in the air is pushy, manifest-happy friends that would go manifest me without telling me, thereby forcing me to get off the couch and gear up... and it's worked! I think I'm almost to the point where I'll manifest myself!

Now go jump!!! Push through whatever nervousness you have, and know that it will get better, and you will start to understand why you're doing this to yourself. It's the ONLY way you'll overcome your fear.

-Miranda
you shall above all things be glad and young / For if you're young,whatever life you wear
it will become you;and if you are glad / whatever's living will yourself become.

[skr 1]

>My question is if there's anything I could do to
>sorta overcome these fears?

That's a vast question.

Competence and experience help with one component
of fear, so if you can practice the exit arch pull until you
could do it standing on your head in a cold shower while
playing bagpipes, then you can step off the plane and
your physical body will do it even if your mind is up there
freaking out.

The wind doesn't care how you feel, it only cares what
you're doing with your physical body.

After you've done that a few times you realize that you
can, and your chute's going to open, and you'll be OK,
and it suddenly becomes easy.


Later on, a few hundred or a few thousand jumps later,
you'll go through patches of fear.

It might be from a close call, or it might just be the full on
realization that you're about to jump temporarily rising
to the surface, or maybe you're about to do something
new and scary.


The question of when to push on through the fear and
when to listen and back off is a deep one, right at the
edge where the present is meeting the future.

Skr

[newshooter12 0]

nice words... philosophical even.

[riggingstuff 0]

On my 1st FF I to dearched while reaching for the ripcord and watch the PC come up between my legs. Scared the holy crap out of me. I knew right away what I did or should I say what I didn't do. It flipped me over real hard. After my canopy opened and I realized I was ok, I thought to myself, I guess they weren't kidding about that arch thing. Unfortunatly I was broke and couldn't go back up right away and had to wait another week which really got to me but it also gave me time to practice that arch thing which I did religously. I was very scared the next week but I was also very determined. and you know what? I never dearched at pull time again. That is the most important time to have a good body position and not to rush, but its also the most stessful. As for the fear...oh yea somewhere around 15 jumps I almost turned around before I got to the driveway of the DZ. Remember though, alot of what I was feeling was an overdose of adrenalin. As an instuctor Iv'e had students crying after the jump was done and they had gone home. So you see we have all been there. 1st you did the important thing .... YOU pulled. Now all you nead to do is arch. Simple. and relax. My advice is you do whats right for you. I, myself, would get back on the horse and try again but I'm stuborn and I don't like my emotions controling me

CB
Don't look for why it might work....look for why it might not.

[riddler 0]

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I was also curious if anyone has ever been to scared to jump but continued and what you did to get over your fear.

I'm a little anxious on every jump, and sometimes I have a bad one that makes me pause for a moment, but I immediately think about what went wrong and how to correct it. Then I am anxious to jump again and practice my techniques for better safety. You will probably have a few jumps that scare you - I think it's part of the sport. When you have asked others, thought it out, and practiced a procedure for handling that situation, it will not scare you.

"Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear ... " - Frank Herbert

[ixlr82 7]

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The question of when to push on through the fear and
when to listen and back off is a deep one, right at the
edge where the present is meeting the future.

I love this statement! (may have to borrow it)

__________________________________________

[Joyner 0]

I went through S/L as a student. I went through the SL jumps just fine, but when I started to get to the "Short delay" manual jumps I got scared. I deployed just as soon as I was out the door and I knew what was going on. I was scared!! I got stuck around 4000 feet never getting the delay right. The scary feeling never went away, but I didn't give up. After doing about 5 or 6 failed jumps at 4000 with too short delay, I FINALLY got a Jumpmaster who could analyse my problem. He had a look in my logg book and said. "Boy you are faster than a Sherriff in the old west". "Tell you what, why don't you come with us up to 7000 ft?". He took me up there and I kept thinking all the way up "7000 ft I can freefall forever!!! Just cool it with deploying for a while". I got out, made a good exit, leveled out for the first time in freefall. And all of a sudden, it just hit me "I'm freefalling, this is GREAT!!!". Made a nice stable freefall down to 3000ft, deployed. After that there was just no stopping me. I had my A within 3 weeks of that jump.

My point beeing. TALK to your instructors, let them know you have a problem.

After my experience and after becoming a Jumpmaster I often enough take my 4000ft students up to 5 or 6k, if I see they have a problem with pulling to fast, or deploying in a "de-arched" position still in the relative wind.
I feel that taking it just a bit higher allows my students to relax some more and allow themself some time to stabilze if they do a bad exit. Of course I still make them do the 3 sec delay jump, I just go higher as sort of a relaxer, and confidence builder.

[Tasadin 0]

Im new to all this, but I have experience of one incident at Sebastian recently and I can tell you how the guy in question got over it if that helps. If not then no harm So after all that long winded stuff, maybe a jump of some description with an instructor there is a good thing!!

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."

[Designer 0]

Hey,the heebie jeebies are not a real bad thing to have.They help in developing a healthy respect for what sure could kill us.It can,t be said enough,talk it out with yourself,friends,other jumpers and decide for yourself.Personally,my recent heepie jeebie about jumping with and old eyeglass prescription seems just plain smart and the right safe thing to do.Decided that I should not jump until my vision was 100%.

[BBKid 0]

I know exactly what you mean. I am TERRIFIED of heights, and only did a jump to get over it (didnt work, really), as well as always thinking it would be something cool to do. Now that I'm committed to doing it forever, my fear is just something I've learned to deal with.

Like everyone else says, remind yourself why you want to do this, how great the canopy ride down is, how you end up gibbering like an idiot every time you land. Watch videos, get aroused by the sexy little rigs everyone seems to have (maybe that's just me), above all TALK TO PEOPLE. You will find that most of the people at your DZ have been through something similar, but when you're a newbie at a DZ they all look like skygods to you, so you kind of imagine that they were born in freefall. They've all been beginners, and have all had the trauma of a first freefall, whether they went through s/l or AFF.

Try to jump regularly, going once a fortnight and leaving after two hours if the weather is bad is no good. As much as anything you will program yourself to think you can't do it. Imagine the situation, you left due to heebie jeebies/bad weather/full manifest/whatever. When your friends ask how it went you have to say "I didn't jump", implanting negative thoughts about the connection between you and jumping. Don't laugh, it's well-known psychology, which works on everything from jumping to getting a good deal on a new car.

I'm hoping to do my first freefall within the next couple of weeks, and I know I'd be happier going from 12,000 ft on a 20 second delay, with a throwaway BOC pilot chute, because I'll have more time to get a good arch, but I'll just have to get on with the ripcord.

I know many people who have had the same feelings as you, and I have sought their advice in advance of my own fears, so if you want any more info. feel free to PM me. If you relax you'll get there.

Nick
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"I've pierced my foot on a spike!!!"

[FallinWoman 1]

Yeah....we've all probably had our moments....

I freaked out on my first 15 second delay. I was supposed to be using my altimeter instead of counting. Well....every time I tried to read my altimeter, I did a left-hand turn, freaked out, turned back right, and tried again. I had NO IDEA what altitude I was at. Sure I was going to die, I pulled my ripcord.

My JM's version of the jump was that I was doing nicely controlled 90 degree turns and pulled at exactly 15 seconds.

Solution for me......jump again....

I also used to have to watch at least one load land before I would manifest. I probably had close to 100 jumps before I got over that.

So my advice....get to the DZ....tell your instructors what you are feeling....keep picturing everything going well....your feelings are normal!

~Anne

I'm a Doll!!!!

[BBKid 0]

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My JM's version of the jump was that I was doing nicely controlled 90 degree turns and pulled at exactly 15 seconds.

Hahahahaaaa! Moral of the story: never confess to anything, until you've been accused!

Nick
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"I've pierced my foot on a spike!!!"