This is the problem, not the solution. I'd suggest that find a good instructor and doing a few dives with her/him 1 on 1 would set you straight.
with 1000 dives and talking about recreational diving and a safety stop there is zero an instructor could do for this person.
It is a new stress factor. scuba divers cant help her with that. It is odd that it is only at a safety stop that there is stress.
This sounds like something she or I would not be able to figure out on our own. The human mind is far more complex than a bunch of us rubes can figure out.
I would suggest honestly to get a full physical. Check yourself out. Maybe your mind or body is saying something we cant translate. Maybe its inner ear. Maybe its a visit to someone that can analyze your thoughts and feelings, maybe its changes in the body i.e. loss or gain of weight that makes the safety stop not as easy as ten years ago.
For most of us its a fine balancing act at safety stop, i gained 25 pounds during covid. Can I safety stop at the same amount of weight in my bcd? Not a chance. Is that mental? No. Is that a psychological issue if I am used to alot less weight and I added a bit but not enough? Could be.
Id suggest first thing checking your ideal nuetral boyancy. If no changes then id suggest talking to someone, maybe there are other stress issues.
This did not just pop up on its own. Maybe the safety stop is a point to contemplate and at that point only do you then think wow....this may be stressing me more now that im not 20 years younger even though i have 1000 dives.
Man, or Woman, all im saying is this isnt a dang scuba instructor solution when the person has literally 1,000 freaking dives.
She knows the ins and outs.
She needs to rule out the obvious ie weight change and or illnesses and then maybe life changes that may have caused stresses in life then after all that talk to someone to get to the root of it.
Were all mortal and even though she is by no means old as we get older we do get less adventurous less risk taking as it were. As a people. Not as an individual. Most humans get more risk averse as we see our mortality approach.
I know I do.