I’m wondering if anyone else has felt these symptoms after major crashes, and kinda wanted to start a support topic. To clarify, I’m already going to counseling, and I’m not looking for pity, rather advice I guess, and seeing if anyone else could be helped.
After the crash described above, I was ready to hop on a board and go again. However, about 7 months later, I find myself having almost debilitating anxiety about the crash. I was startled awake a couple nights ago, flashing back and watching the car speed up behind me, missing me by inches and me jumping off the board at nearly 35mph trying to avoid it. Once I hit the ground in the dream, I woke up and had to catch my breath. I now find myself constantly asking, almost obsessing about my own mortality after that crash. What if I hadn’t jumped off? What if she didn’t swerve? What if she swerved the other way and hit me when I jumped? What if she didn’t stop, and I had to get home on my own? I understand fully that, because they didn’t happen, it’s wierd to obsess about. But here we are I haven’t been on a board in awhile due to battery problems, but that’s not related to this.
I haven’t felt this about my first crash, in which I would argue I was more injured. But, that wasn’t a life threatening situation, so I suppose not as traumatic.
I guess my question is, after a crash, life threatening or not, has anyone had to deal with this? What did they do to curb the anxiety and get back on the board?
I would say, start slow and build up confidence. Maybe also avoid driving on roads with cars if possible.
About those dreams, dunno, mine faded, but come back sometimes.
I had some anxiety after my crash and I wasn’t nearly going as fast as you were but it was my first fall and first broken bone. After I was healed up I had some anxiety about getting on my board again. I was wearing a helmet and still got a concussion. You just have to take it slow and you will gain your confidence back. You can’t think about the what if’s cause it will eat you up.
The answer is yes probably for everyone to a certain degree that has had a big crash. Everyone deals with it different. For me it was buying all the safety gear I wasn’t wearing before and allowing confidence to build around that. The more you face your fear, the less significant it will feel. This whole community is with you, and, those who’ve crashed likely felt or are feeling to a certain degree, your anxiety.
For Me, it was with an auto crash that caused this type of anxiety, mania and the what ifs. Time will be the biggest factor in getting back on again, but then you also run the risk of never getting on again. Fear of your own mortality is hard to overcome. I think the unsafe feeling you get when you ride is a big part of the thrill. Pending danger and the thrill of the ride can turn on you when something life threatening happens, in a car or on a board…
Working through it will be hard and I can’t say you will ever feel the same again, none of us ever do. We find something different when we face these things and conquer them, the thrill takes on much more meaning I think
i had a pretty bad crash going top speed, 25-30 mph. I fell pretty bad and f’ed up my nice northface jacket. I was pretty scared to get back on the board and im known for being a daredevil. I went slow at first, didn’t go on a busy road for a good couple of weeks.
Get riding asap. Take it slow and I mean speed wise. Get used to riding again.
It’s what I did as soon as I was able to. Hell I even made my board faster after I crashed and tried its top speed which used to be 22 and was now 26 (went from 10s to 12s on meepo hubs).
Oh I was scared when I tried and it was from the chance of falling again especially since my shoulder was no where near being healed yet. I was still using a sling when walking. Pretty dumb of me honestly. But for me even though I fell badly I wanted get riding asap. I just love it so much as I was also just getting into diy.
Best would be to take a route that you know by heart and for the first lap check the route while riding to make sure you don’t run into any surprises. The next lap you will be way more confident and you’ll feel that too since you are now carving care free.
I’ve never had a big crash, I’ve had falls, pulled muscles and messed my hand up but it was all superficial really. I can totally see how a big fall would put you off.
Speed seems to be the deciding factor in most of the accidents here, I generally just don’t ride faster than I can run off. Perhaps it’s age but I’m a calm rider and just enjoy the buzz of floating around. Try get back out nice and calm and just enjoy the ride.
Also, I think you’re a big man coming here with this in front of your peers. Most guys would bottle this shit up and go nowhere. 80% of the battle is won when you talk about psychological issues. Keep at it
Maybe take it in steps, start on a closed circuit, maybe a park walking route, somewhere where cars cant go. Then move up to the Parking lots, and after that, if you feel comfortable maybe try a low risk road
As everyone else says, time is important, but dont be discouraged if you are stuck at the ‘parking lot level’ for any extended amount of time, everyone heals differently and theres nothing wrong with that
The human mind is weird, we have built in mechanisms which allow us to cope after tramatic events. They are instincual and developed from 10a of thousands of years if evolution. The down side is modern events don’t always correspond with primordial instincts. As I see it you either have a new fear you need to learn to deal with and ivercome or you have a form of PTSD.
If the former time is the only thing that helps. Start slow and decide before you do a thing that your going to take no chances. A few days later do it again. When that get boating amount it up a little bit. When that gets boaring amount it up a little more.
If it’s the later, the as much as u hate to say this… Put the board in a closet and find a professional. It’s ok to need assistance. We can’t be everything every time. Not even to ourselves.
Yeah I can agree. I’ve had enough crashes and lost enough friends that I barely even ride anymore. When I do, I stay below 15mph on a single build I have. I crashed when I was trying to get to 40mph once, I’ve never been above 25 since.
I might be the odd one out here, so it worries me in a different way, but hear me out.
I was hit by a car once, almost hit by another by a close margin, fell at 15 mph, and another at around the same speed. The first broke my Ownboard and threw me a few feet, and the second scraped up my AT board, but only gave me a few scrapes.
For all of these incidents, I felt next to nothing.
I feel like I should have felt fear, or shock, or something. But I felt next to nothing. Just nothing. Maybe some annoyance and pain, but that’s it.
I’m afraid there’s something wrong with me in the sense that I actually didn’t feel afraid at all of getting back on the board. I automatically started riding more carefully, but I don’t think it was because I was afraid of falling. Just wary of the pain.
If anyone has an answer for me, I’d like to hear it. I considered the possibility that the shock of the falls and getting hit might have just shut off something in my brain for my own safety because of adrenaline and cortisol, but for similar things to happen and not evoke an emotional response multiple times is weird to me.
@TheFluffiest
Big ups for admitting you have this problem. After my crash, i had issues myself… id look in the mirror and see how fucked up my face was and how its permanently scarred. It could have been so much worse… a few things that helped me
1- take it slow!!! Ride around the block at slow speeds. Just to the store and back. These little rides will help you get comfortable
2- add safety precautions that make you feel safer. More leds to be more visible and more pads to help with the fall… it also pads up your anxiety a bit
3- talk a out it to anyone who will listen. Just tellingg the story and reliving it helps your realize its Just an experience that shouldnt control you
4(optional but worked for me personally)- smoke tons of cannabis lol. Maybe thats more of a personal solution but seriously… you’ll be back on that board eventually.
I’m the same way. I’ve had a few close calls, more on four-wheelers than boards though. I felt it weird that I wasn’t scared, and felt no different than before a wreak that I wasn’t able to walk for 7 months after. I don’t have a solid answer for you, it just hits some of us differently.
I was told when I crashed my dirt bike into a tree that i need to get back on it asap. I took couple months off and when i got back on I was having issues about riding fast. When i crashed my board I tried to fix it asap to get back on it before all the worries kicked in. Wasnt going fast in the beginning but by the end of the night I was riding throttle pressed all the way.
I know this probably doesn’t help but holy shit this is scary. I’m legit scared to get on my board after reading the issues you are having man. Hope you’ll be back on the roads soon.
I’m not too concerned about getting back on the board, the only thing holding me back honestly is money to repair my batteries. I actually rode daily for several months after at similar speeds. The only thing stopping me is problems with batteries, although this has caused a new problem for sure.
It’s more just general anxiety now. The next day felt like “fight or flight” the whole day, and I couldn’t focus on work because I was constantly on high alert. @mmaner my therapist mentioned mild PTSD and wants to try “brainspotting” to try and help. Evidently the timeline and symptoms line up with it.
@Trdolan03 there’s a couple specific things that I won’t get into publicly that makes me kinda predisposed to anxiety and processing things as trauma, even if it isn’t. Just don’t ride on busy roads and you probably won’t have to deal with it
Everyone else, thank you for support! If I’ve learned anything from stuff like this, it’s good to talk about it and get community support. I wanted to help other people get help too!
@Allofyoush everyone processes and expresses trauma differently. There’s a possibility your brain compartmentalizes it, and could open that box later. If you (or anyone for that matter) start feeling abnormally angry, anxious, or depressed I highly recommend counseling. There’s no shame in it at all.
Thank you everyone, every time I post for help I remember why I like this community so much.
yes, anxiety, fear is something you have to control, they will not be gone but the more your ride, the more you control how you react. I found a way … before filming one my improvisation video… I remember myself “never give up, ever”.
Sounds like replacement cost is an issue, that can’t really be fixed. This is a sport that costs money. A disproportionate amount, sadly.
To be frank, I havent gotten back up to the speeds I used to get to after my last crash. But that’s not such a bad thing. Going all out at all times isn’t necessarily a good thing.
As long as you can still enjoy riding, I think that’s really all that matters.
I haven’t been on a board in awhile due to battery problems, but that’s not related to this.
