Panic Attacks in woods

[Womble]

Hi everyone.

In my review of the Woodlore Tracking course I mentioned help Ray Mears had given me regarding Panic attacks caused by being in woods at night. I've been PM'ed by a few people asking for more information about this, and felt it better to put it here in open forum where others might see it.

My next post has the details.

 

[Womble]

I have had in the past a problem with extreme nervousness in woods at night, that has on occasion spilled over into full blown panic attacks - not very useful for a scoutleader who like to get the kids out camping! This problem stemmed (stems?) from an over active imagination, I think. Sometimes they have been simply feelings of nervous fear (not really uncommon, when it comes down to it), but other times I've been reduced to a screaming wreck, curled up in a hyperventilating ball and lashing out at anything around me (thankfully never during a scouting activity).

The last (and worst) time it happened was November last year, when I was helping to run a (non-scouting) outdoor event in some paintball woods in Essex. Even though I was surrounded by good friends the feelings of panic and fear were so great as to reduce me to that state I mention above. I had to be lead out of the woods, and I managed to regain some measure of control (by imagining how I would feel if the scouts saw me in this state), but was still reacting badly for hours afterwards.

When I went on the Tracking course, and it became obvious that there was to be some night time activity I nervously approached Ray, explained my problem, and asked for any advice. Ray's response was simple - almost childishly so - don't treat the woods at night as an enemy, but as a friend. We discussed my reactions and what I had done in the past to try to overcome them, and what I could do in the future. That night on the course, we were playing a stalking game - Ray gave me the option of sitting out, but I felt that I had to keep confronting my reaction rather than running from it, so I took part, something that I think pleased Ray.

Instead of getting nervous, I found myself curious - listening out for sounds and looking for interesting shapes. I felt calm and in control, even when I deliberatly put myself into some of the thicker areas of woodland. Even though there were people out there who - within the bounds of the game - were out to "get me", I felt focused and in control. Ray checked up with me after the game was over, and I was fine.

I can't really explain what was and still is so different in myself. Possibly it was Rays confidence that I could beat it (I suspect that a several people here will know what I mean if I mention Rays almost effortless and infectious confidence), possibly it was me allowing myself to overcome my fears; I don't know. but sometthing HAS changed.

My new confidence had it's strongest test yet this last weekend. Myself and another Scoutleader in my district had decided to try 2 nights backwoods camping - no tents, no watches, just what we could build ourselves - in November, and in the middle of some local woodland that a local troop owned! As we set up poncho bivvies late on Friday night, it was the other guy who was feeling most nervous, I felt relaxed and peaceful. I spent the whole weekend feeling utterly at home in the woods, which has boosted my confidence further.

I suspect that there'll be times when the problem comes back to haunt me, probably when I least expect it and when it will be least welcome, but I honestly think that I now have the internal tools to deal with the feelings, and overcome them.

 

[Tony]

Womble - That's inspiring, it really is. Thanks for sharing it with us. I think that one of the hardest things is for people is to see the woods as a friendly place to be, that it is not, as Ray pointed out an 'enemy' of any kind. For you to have accepted just that would have been great, but you overcame much more than many of us have to deal with. Well done, and thanks again for sharing. :You_Rock_

 

[Hoodoo]

Yes, I'm very impressed with your post. The woods at night can be a scary place if you let it overwhelm you. In many areas where I backpack there can be reason for concern because of bears. On two occasions that I know of, I've had bears in my camp at night and while I probably didn't have a true panic attack, my "heart was in my mouth" as they say, just from the adrenaline rush. If a bear is in your camp at night, he's usually looking for something to eat. But other than that, for me the woods at night is a wonderful and ethereal place. The night is a time for listening and watching the stars. Good time to go fishing too. :-D

 

[Gary]

Womble sounds like you were more afraid of your fear than of the night.

I can remember being on exciercises in Germany and even active service in Bosnia and having my men spooked by the boogie man - young soldiers reporting glowing eyes in the dark ect ect. I call it the boogie man which at the end of the day is all it is they spooked themselves and the more they thought about it the more afriad they become.
I often found it reassuring to know that (while in army) if anybody was hunting me they were as disabled by the dark as I was in fact I had the advantage because being stationary I could hear or see them coming.

For the civilian the worries are different and its good to see you over came them. Ray advise was sound and once you over come that fear you see there are so many good things about the night.

One of the best experiences I ever had was on the plains of Alberta as I watched a pair of coyotes stalking me. They circled my camp, tawny ghosts, flickering in and out of the fire light. Fantastic.

 

[al]

i`ve already pm`d womble on this one , but first of all ABSOLUTE RESPECT to you for facing your fears,in it i told him something that happened to me once so i think i`ll share it, i was about to go into some woods one night when all of a sudden i got spooked by this overwhelming feeling that something/one was saying to me "dont go in the woods tonight" i cant describe it but it was like the woods were talking to me and looking out for me, kinda like a 6th sense , if you go in there tonight you`ll be in trouble, i`ve never had that feeling again but i felt like i was being looked after by whatever was channeling this feeling to me, i didnt go into them, i didnt have a panic attack i just took what i thought was the lands advice, has anyone else experienced this? also gary , i can remember when i was a young recruit in the marines doing a solo navex on dartmoor at night and wound myself up thinking about werewolf in london film while thinking i was all tough and cool cos i was going to be a royal marine , so i went to sit down on a rock for a water stop when the rock jumped up and ran away, it was a sheep and i can safely say that i broke the world speed and pant shi*ing record that night :-D , cheers , al

 

[Tony]

so i went to sit down on a rock for a water stop when the rock jumped up and ran away, it was a sheep and i can safely say that i broke the world speed and pant shi*ing record that night :-D , cheers , al

:yikes: :rolmao: :biggthump

 

[Hoodoo]

Now that was baaaaaaaaaaad.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

on a individual navigation hike in wales, just for fun i saw how close i could get to a shhep that was on my path,well i felt so silly, i stood right next to it! it only noticed when i clapped to make sure it didn't bolt towards me!

fear of woods at night... i think thats pretty common to everyone!

it's a basic human instinct, an instinct of:

i don't know whats out there so i'm going to stay alert till i feel safe!

i remember one camp i did, i was on my own, and had permission of the land owner.
i crept into the woods after dark, i had to use my torch as it was so overgrown, so my night vision was wasted.

as i got to an area i knew vaugely i heard all sorts scarey noises!

a sound of an insane dog with a sore throat barked for ages.

a sound of another dog crying with pain?

acompanying the noises were several phesants bursting into flight the way they do with no warning and the sound of somethings running through the woods. T: what the... more running through bushes, more barking... :yikes: ..what was that...

eventually after half an hour or so the noises stopped, i had my fire lit and i fell to sleep.


the next day was unaventful, till the evening, some of my friends thought it would be a great laugh to sneak up on me!

you've never heard anything so funny, they were all cursing, whilst trying to find a route through brambles and dense ferns, trying to make a route using a hockey stick, by the time they were near (about 10 minutes!) i was ready to leap out and ambush them with a flash camera!!

:rolmao:

later i talked to a friend about the noises:

insane dog with a sore throat = a deer sounding a warning call!

dog crying with pain= a fox call!

if you ever see a hedgehog listen carefuly they sound just like a scrubbing brush! ):

 

[Justin Time]

Scariest noise I hear at night, when up in the hills badger watching, is a sheep with a cough, really does sound like some big bloke, I think they get some sort of worm which makes them cough. Or of course there's the herons which fly to a little feeder pond on the hill to catch frogs, put one of them up in front of you, with their huge wing span and pre-historic croak, <shudder> pterodactyls?
The paradox for me is that the better I get at walking quietly the more surprises I get from animals which didn't realise I was there till the last minute. In fact I've noticed that they often flee only when I've stopped moving, perhaps they're hoping I'm going to to walk by but when I stop they think I must have seen them.

Justin

 

[bothyman]

The worst one for me was when I heard a baby hedgehog calling out for its mother, its a high pitched sceeching noise like no other, it made me jump anyway.
Not so bad now I know what it is.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

another wierd one, i was washing up at home once and heard what i thought was a cat, i looked out the window and nothing, but the noise kept on, eventually i went out to find the cause, it was a frog!

remember how much noise a leaf makes falling from a tree, before you worry about axe murderers!

if you are seriously worried about genuine dangerous creatures or people, you can make a "sound barrier", a technique we used was to make a wall of dead branches and twigs in a circle around the camp, anything trying to cross it would make so much noise they would be seen instantly! it only works if the camp is completely surrounded!

it is only a last resort, it takes alot of time and energy and potentially could dammage the local enviroment, personally i would just try to get used to the fact when we go to sleep the woods come alive with harmless and very cute animals(in the UK anyway)!

 

[sargey]

i got chased off a hill top by a bit of low cloud one night. just me and the dog strolling along on a starry starry night, i turned round and there was this huge wall of white coming straight for me. so i freaked and legged it back to the car :-? but in my defense i had just been watching a repeat showing of "the fog" on tele a couple of days before :roll:

cheers, and.

 

[bothyman]

personally i would just try to get used to the fact when we go to sleep the woods come alive with harmless and very cute animals(in the UK anyway)!

Sorry Rapp

But I don't call Ticks cute , thats why I am thinking of getting a hammock, but then again Ticks do climb trees.

 

[PEDRO]

I have had in the past a problem with extreme nervousness in woods at night, that has on occasion spilled over into full blown panic attacks - not very useful for a scoutleader who like to get the kids out camping! This problem stemmed (stems?) from an over active imagination, I think. Sometimes they have been simply feelings of nervous fear (not really uncommon, when it comes down to it), but other times I've been reduced to a screaming wreck, curled up in a hyperventilating ball and lashing out at anything around me (thankfully never during a scouting activity).

The last (and worst) time it happened was November last year, when I was helping to run a (non-scouting) outdoor event in some paintball woods in Essex. Even though I was surrounded by good friends the feelings of panic and fear were so great as to reduce me to that state I mention above. I had to be lead out of the woods, and I managed to regain some measure of control (by imagining how I would feel if the scouts saw me in this state), but was still reacting badly for hours afterwards.

When I went on the Tracking course, and it became obvious that there was to be some night time activity I nervously approached Ray, explained my problem, and asked for any advice. Ray's response was simple - almost childishly so - don't treat the woods at night as an enemy, but as a friend. We discussed my reactions and what I had done in the past to try to overcome them, and what I could do in the future. That night on the course, we were playing a stalking game - Ray gave me the option of sitting out, but I felt that I had to keep confronting my reaction rather than running from it, so I took part, something that I think pleased Ray.

Instead of getting nervous, I found myself curious - listening out for sounds and looking for interesting shapes. I felt calm and in control, even when I deliberatly put myself into some of the thicker areas of woodland. Even though there were people out there who - within the bounds of the game - were out to "get me", I felt focused and in control. Ray checked up with me after the game was over, and I was fine.

I can't really explain what was and still is so different in myself. Possibly it was Rays confidence that I could beat it (I suspect that a several people here will know what I mean if I mention Rays almost effortless and infectious confidence), possibly it was me allowing myself to overcome my fears; I don't know. but sometthing HAS changed.

My new confidence had it's strongest test yet this last weekend. Myself and another Scoutleader in my district had decided to try 2 nights backwoods camping - no tents, no watches, just what we could build ourselves - in November, and in the middle of some local woodland that a local troop owned! As we set up poncho bivvies late on Friday night, it was the other guy who was feeling most nervous, I felt relaxed and peaceful. I spent the whole weekend feeling utterly at home in the woods, which has boosted my confidence further.

I suspect that there'll be times when the problem comes back to haunt me, probably when I least expect it and when it will be least welcome, but I honestly think that I now have the internal tools to deal with the feelings, and overcome them.

Theres more to be afraid of in towns than in the woods, just think the noise the average towny would make trying to fid ya...dont be afraid theres nothing in the dark thats not there during the day.

 

[woodsitter]

RAPPLEBY2000 wrote:
personally i would just try to get used to the fact when we go to sleep the woods come alive with harmless and very cute animals(in the UK anyway)!


Sorry Rapp

But I don't call Ticks cute , thats why I am thinking of getting a hammock, but then again Ticks do climb trees.

Ticks aren't that scarry, but imagine you're camping peacefully somewhere in Darthmore, when suddly in teh middle of the night some freaked out, screeming and shi*ting marine is running your way :yikes:

That would scare me!

it was a sheep and i can safely say that i broke the world speed and pant shi*ing record that night

 

[george]

Has anyone ever come across a Duke of Edinburgh award group camping on their own in the hills for the first time?

I've always wondered what would happen if I smeared a little ketchup on my face and ran through their campsite at dusk shouting "they're coming they're coming!!"

Or would that be too cruel? :twisted:

George

 

[larry the spark]

Exactly that happened to me and my two buds on DOE silver. camping at Fofanny dam in the mournes and noticed these two survival guys roaming around in DPM. FOund out they were camping a little way away from us.....no biggie.

mate decides to head over around 9pm (dark) to talk to them/beg some beer. Away for some time then BANG, BANG!! '***? says my mate to me and we pull our crappy knives and a bit of wood from the fire, seriously filling our pants. Couldn't see more than a few metres ahead and we hear this rustling around us and all then all of a sudden this fekkin psycho comes running out of the darkness with a scream and an axe held above his head! 'HOLY F***' says I stumbling backwards and in fear of my life!

Then ha bloody ha, all a big joke. The bangs were trip snares with chrges on the ends that my mate had tripped over much to the survival guys hilarity. We thought we'd interupted an IRA/UVF training exercise and were paying the price!

Ended well though with the guys giving us plenty of booze (though stepping over last nights dinner as you leave the tent not really very nice) and letting us play with their toys.

Anyway, George, you are a very bad man! But do it anyway!

 

[Lithril]

If you want me to make life easy for you, the other half helps out at a local DoE group so I can find dates, locations etc

 

[Croc]

Sorry, but what exactly is there in the UK to be scared of ?

Try spending weeks in the African Rainforest with all the noises at night and knowing that there are things out there that you ought to be on the watch for……then you might have something to be worried about.
:shock: