Good point dear d123,
Some people instinctively "retreat" to false optimism.
OTOH some people instinctively over-react. ... fear the worst ...
My ex-wife used to get furious at me if I scared her (e.g. driving on ice). Her fear hormones, adrenaline, dopamines, etc. rose much faster than her logical mind could invent solutions. Ergo scary emotions dominated her mind during potential accidents.
I had not planed to scare her, nor was I happy about sliding sideways down an icy road, but I maintained my cool and avoided a collision. It helped that I grew up in a climate with plenty of snow and ice and had briefly lost control dozens of times on slippery roads. But I had also learned how to quickly regain control on icy roads, so I expected to conclude, upright, in the middle of the road, with no dents, dismemberment or deaths.
Yes, something scary happened, but she was the one who chose to be terrified.
I - on the other hand - was too busy avoiding a collision to get scared. It was only afterwards that I acknowledged that I was scared.
We hope that is the difference between the general public and skydivers. We hope that skydivers are too busy solving problems (fight or flight) to relax into "freezing" in the face of danger.