I got scared out of nowhere... Seeking advice.

AdkEric said:
That sounds like a painful experience.
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It was! And of course it happened at the beginning of the job, so I had to keep climbing the rest of the day. That was an all-around terrible job anyway, miserable Tree was on a steel hill and full of near ripe walnuts. Covered the ground with the things, it was like walking on a carpet of baseballs. I’m still amazed none of us broke our ankles that day.
 
I think that your imagination played a bad joke with you. It happens to me sometimes as well that I overthink about some stuff and my mind will lead me into a state/emotion which is not actually real. There is a very small chance to be from other reasons, but you can read these mental trauma stats, and see by yourself if it's related to you or not. If you are still not sure what happened, then you will have to visit a specialist and see his verdict about this case, this would be the last place for you to go.
 
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I used to do a lot of caving. My second cave had a pancake room. 15 ft wide but ceiling height too low to take in a full breath of air. I got halfway across the room (20 ft or so) and started to panic. It was a mental struggle to convince myself that this room had been there for centuries or more without collapsing. I closed my eyes and just relaxed for a few minutes. I calmed down and got across the room no problem. Never had another issue in 10 years of caving, with plenty of tight spaces. I even had to get dug out from the outside once, and was totally comfortable while that happened. It only took about an hour to get dug out.

Another veteran caver (40 years of caving experience, and an electrical lineman as I recall) was 1/4 mile or so inside a cave and just had a panic attack out of nowhere. Not a tough spot or tough cave, but he had been inside caves more than outside for several days, and it just hit him. The other guys in the cave with him got him calmed down enough for him to exit OK. He said that was the only time he ever felt panicky in a cave, and never had another issue after that. He attributed it to being exhausted and just a little too much time underground without a break.

I feel my issue was from lack of experience. My friend's issue was from exhaustion from caving too many long days in a row. Both could apply to issues of unease in trees.
 
dmonn said:
I used to do a lot of caving. My second cave had a pancake room. 15 ft wide but ceiling height too low to take in a full breath of air. I got halfway across the room (20 ft or so) and started to panic. It was a mental struggle to convince myself that this room had been there for centuries or more without collapsing. I closed my eyes and just relaxed for a few minutes. I calmed down and got across the room no problem. Never had another issue in 10 years of caving, with plenty of tight spaces. I even had to get dug out from the outside once, and was totally comfortable while that happened. It only took about an hour to get dug out.

Another veteran caver (40 years of caving experience, and an electrical lineman as I recall) was 1/4 mile or so inside a cave and just had a panic attack out of nowhere. Not a tough spot or tough cave, but he had been inside caves more than outside for several days, and it just hit him. The other guys in the cave with him got him calmed down enough for him to exit OK. He said that was the only time he ever felt panicky in a cave, and never had another issue after that. He attributed it to being exhausted and just a little too much time underground without a break.

I feel my issue was from lack of experience. My friend's issue was from exhaustion from caving too many long days in a row. Both could apply to issues of unease in trees.
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I was getting a panic attack just reading that, lol.

I think breath control and thought control are the two keys and go hand-in-hand. Can't let your imagination take you to dark places or you will start hyperventilating, and keeping you breathing under control will keep your mind focused.
 
I did a tile job once where I had to crawl under a small cabin that had been converted into a rental unit. The only access to the crawlspace was under the front porch and the bathroom was in the back, about 20' away. The floor was framed off 8" x 12" hewn beams that were 8"-10" off the hardpack foundation. I had to slide under them on my back with my head turned sideways or else I couldn't fit. It was also dark other than a flashlight and was January in MI. The pipes had burst and needed to be soldered and the floor needed shoring up prior to tiling, both of which I did on my back with a beam across my stomach that also prevented a full breath. As @Tuebor said breath control, mindfulness and not rushing are your friend. @dmonn that caving story is next level. The solution is both the simplest and potentially most difficult, just don't worry about it!
 
Hell, I get this way on my job once in awhile. Flying over the North Pacific in the middle of the night, tired and jet lagged. Clouds blocking the stars and nothing below you but black, empty ocean. No other aircraft around, no one on the radio to talk to. Might as well be in outer space. Then you catch the flash of distant lightning. Radar shows a cluster of storms a couple of hundred miles ahead. Doesn't look like there's any clear path through them and you'll be in them in 15 minutes. Too heavy to climb higher and at the current altitude, not much of a margin between overspeeding the airframe or stalling the aircraft. The wind is blowing 120 knots and you know what's coming: first the ice crystals that form St Elmo's fire on your windshield and a growling sound on the radio; then the turbulence that jostles you around; one hand holding the bottom of your seat and one on the ceiling to brace yourself from bouncing off it; too rough to see the instruments but you can tell the airspeed is bouncing back and forth; the engines go to idle then surge back to full power trying to maintain speed; the metallic banging of galley carts in their cabinets; the plates and glasses and silverware sound like they're breaking; the rumble of the whole airframe being shaken. You wonder how 16,000 pound engines can stay attached to the wing, or how the wing doesn't break off; you imagine the alternating feelings of weightlessness or extreme g-forces as the airplane tears apart. You figure it will probably take 4 or 5 or 6 minutes to fall to your death. You imagine the news reaching your relatives, the navy vessels searching for the wreckage, etc.

The mind can be a horrible thing if you let it have its way.
 
My old climbing mentor, John Grier, became a pilot. He was a climbing machine. 6'5", 210 lbs, and could do 9 one-handed pull-ups. He used to be a treebuzz contributor in the early days when we were sharing pics of the climbing knots.

here he is in his new career... says he misses climbing
 

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Daniel said:
My old climbing mentor, John Grier, became a pilot. He was a climbing machine. 6'5", 210 lbs, and could do 9 one-handed pull-ups. He used to be a treebuzz contributor in the early days when we were sharing pics of the climbing knots.

here he is in his new career... says he misses climbing
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Why's Snoop throwing up B's!? Smh
 
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