tandem jump/ mental health question

[matthias 0]

I'm not sure how many on here are doctors that can answer this question, or if people with such conditions are evaluated on a case by case basis...but here is my dilema. I have a friend who wants me to take her skydiving. Problem is, she is bipolar, and taking medication (lithium, ativan, etc) for anxiety, mood stabilization, and the like.
Personally, I am not for certain it is a good idea as I have no idea how she would react during the event. I would not want to see her or the tandem instructors safety compromised if she has a panic attack.

I do know that she is..unpredictable. On the other hand, I feel it may be a possibility if a tandem instructor was good at keeping her calm and relaxed things might go well.

Would a drop zone allow her to jump? Have there been occurences where tandem passengers with such conditions made a jump without incident? I appreciate any knowledgeable feedback that anyone can provide. Thanks.

_________________________________________
trance/house mixes for download:
www.djmattm.com

[GravityGirl 0]

You may be surprized to know that a number of jumpers are bi-polar.

Her doctor would be the one to ask. Ask how stable she is on medication.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[sswayne 0]

My brother is bipolar and is on lithium (not sure about other meds). He has had two tandem jumps without incident and wants to start AFF.

[bch7773 0]

if you did take her to jump, make sure you mention her problem to the tandemmaster/ vidiot, etc.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[matthias 0]

Quote

if you did take her to jump, make sure you mention her problem to the tandemmaster/ vidiot, etc.

Yep

_________________________________________
trance/house mixes for download:
www.djmattm.com

[AFFI 0]

Quote

You may be surprized to know that a number of jumpers are bi-polar.

Her doctor would be the one to ask. Ask how stable she is on medication.

This is in my opinion the best statement and advice given so far.

[Deuce 1]

I was surprised it wasn't "your" Mathias.

If she's stable under meds, take her.

You have to be prepared to do combat with every single tandem you take out. They are COMPLETELY unpredictable. A normally stable person can have an event due to the stress of the tandem jump.

I'd suggest having the suspicious tandem never release the harness to opening, with some sort of reinforcement about keeping the hands on the harness. Landing would be the other challenge, and if you are taller than she is, you can adjust the harness to your advantage.

But if your "little voice" says don't go, DO NOT GO.

[GravityGirl 0]

My Mathias only has one "t" in his name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[Michele 1]

My questions would be how long has she been on meds? What do you mean by "unpredictable"? And what sort of panick attacks does she get (if any)?

There are definitely people with mental health issues who should never jump. Bi polar people are not generally prevented from jumping or any "life activities", however. I have a friend who is bipolar, and has made several tandems and also completed AFF. This person did fine, so I wouldn't believe it's an automatic no.

The questions above need answering though...

Ciels-
Michele

Edited to add: on her down cycles, do you know if she gets actively suicidal? And do you know when she's cycling down? It can be tough to tell...

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[matthias 0]

Quote

My questions would be how long has she been on meds? What do you mean by "unpredictable"? And what sort of panick attacks does she get (if any)?

I do not know how long she has been on meds, I would guess quite a while now. As far as 'unpredictable', this is a tough one to explain. I do not know the extent of her condition, and as far as the skydiving goes she has repeatedly changed her mind on whether or not she wants to skydive. I understand her anxiety on a first jump...but I dont want to pick her up, take her to spaceland, and the whole way there have to deal with "no I dont want to jump..okay i want to...no I dont want to: sort of situation. lol. To be honest, its hard for me to tell if she is on the meds and they arent working fully...or if she has taken them.

Because of this rapid sense of nervous indecisiveness, for lack of a better term (I'm not a doctor) I'm only taking her IF she convinves me that she has a rock solid commitment to making a jump so noone's time is wasted.

As far as panic attacks. I haven't witnessed any, nor have I seen her suicidal. She mentioned she had problems with that in the past but I do not know if those problems existed before she was getting treatment. I agree, questions that need to be answered before getting involved with this. My main concern is how the exit & freefall part would affect her.

I appreciate the feedbackfrom everyone that has posted. I made the thread to get a better idea of what kind of a scenario I was dealing with here. She's a good hearted, nice person, and I do believe this experience would be positive for her if all went well.
If such an option exists, I'll see if there is a medical release form that Spaceland provides that would have to be notarized by her doctor...he/she understands her condition best and this might be the best bet.

_________________________________________
trance/house mixes for download:
www.djmattm.com