Skydiving is an interesting hobby in that for a lot of us, it’s hard to imagine what makes people want to do it.
Some of us like a thrill, like a rollercoaster, but the idea of jumping out of a plane on a regular basis, as a hobby, is terrifying and insane.
Why do they do it, then?
Are they crazy?
No, skydivers are not crazy. It’s all about the thrill for them. Skydiving is actually an incredibly safe way to get this thrill, with deaths being exceedingly rare. Skydivers are just adrenaline junkies, but they get their thrills in a very safe way.
So, no, skydivers are not crazy—though they may certainly seem that way to many of us.
It’s just that they have different tastes than most people do, and like the thrill that skydiving provides.
They could also just enjoy the sensation of flying through the air.
Let’s look further into this.
What type of people are skydivers?
Well, all sorts of different people are skydivers, is the only real answer.
Many people like to skydive for different reasons and to different degrees.
With regards to the idea that skydivers are ‘crazy’, there are certainly a large group of adrenaline junkies who frequent skydiving scenes.
People who love the adrenaline rush provided by such activities, and enjoy nothing more than the sensation of a thrill, certainly enjoy skydiving.
But they are not all like this.
Skydiving is actually much more of a gentle activity than most might realize.
Certainly, jumping out of a plane is nerve-wracking, especially if you are afraid of heights.
But experience is really the key.
Once you’ve done it two or three times, it quickly becomes a lot easier.
Furthermore, once you’ve gotten over the initial fear of jumping out, the rest of the jump is actually fairly calming.
You are carried by a current of air, and because of the altitude and your terminal velocity, you feel more like you are floating or flying than falling.
So, skydivers aren’t all crazed adrenaline junkies.
Many people just find beauty and serenity in the experience of skydiving—far removed from the idea that it is something people only do as a thrill ride.
But let’s consider further this idea of the adrenaline junky.
Are skydivers adrenaline junkies?
Firstly, what is an adrenaline junky?
Simply, it’s someone who is addicted to thrills that release adrenaline into the body.
They are not chemically addicted in the way we would understand, though.
They don’t get withdrawal; they are just big fans of adrenaline rushes.
So, yes, many do enjoy skydiving because of the adrenaline rush.
As I’ve said, though, skydiving isn’t always this sort of an experience.
Often, it’s more calming than anything else.
Adrenaline junkies might enjoy skydiving from time to time, but for the most part, it will quickly become less thrilling.
So, no, not all skydivers are adrenaline junkies.
You will quickly realize if you try it a lot that it is not the kind of thrill that you might think, at least after a while of doing it.
Adrenaline junkies might prefer something with more variability, such as driving fast cars or white-water sports.
Obviously, though, the big question around skydiving is that, if something goes wrong, it could go really wrong.
We might think that the chance of something going wrong increases the thrill—so what are the chances of something going wrong?
How often do skydives go wrong?
The simple answer is very, very rarely.
In terms of death figures, there is only 1 death roughly every 220,000 jumps.
This is extremely low, and overall, the activity is incredibly safe and there is very little risk of injury or death.
No one, not matter how much they like to thrill-seek, wants to put themselves at serious risk of death.
There is always an element of risk involved with skydiving, but it is vanishingly rare for anything to actually go wrong.
So, in this way, skydiving is a very safe way for thrill-seekers to get their fix.
But it also shows why skydivers are not crazy—the chances of anything going wrong are incredibly low, and thus it’s a very safe activity.
Skydivers may seem crazy to those of us who can’t imagine the pleasure in such an experience, but they are actually much safer than rally car drivers or other, similar dangerous events.
What happens to your brain when you skydive?
Though skydivers are not crazy, there is nonetheless a lot of interesting stuff going on with the brain during a skydive.
Most importantly, the brain releases a lot of dopamine during a fall—this is a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and other sensations.
Especially after a skydive, your brain is flooded with dopamine, producing even feelings of euphoria.
You might say this is, in part, due to the thrill.
It can also be a sense of relief, especially for first time jumpers, to be back on solid ground.
It’s also a sense of reward, as dopamine is your brain’s reward system.
Your brain feels you have achieved something.
So, skydivers really aren’t crazy, except in their own, perfectly healthy way.
It’s all about perspective.
People have different tastes and enjoy different activities.
Most of us aren’t inclined towards constant thrill rides as a day-to-day hobby.
But skydivers are just different people with different tastes—and the thrill of a skydive becomes almost pedestrian to them.
