My gripe is currently dealing with dive ops who see OW and deny deep dives. I, for one, believe if you panic in a open environment (not talking about non permissive overhead here just deep) you probably should seek training again. From the way most ops around here talk when confronted with the fact I'm better off scheduling it on my own and rent nitroxxx tanks.
As already answered in several posts, there are good reasons (both for safety and liability) that dive ops require "proof" that I diver is actually
ready to dive below 60'. If they don't know you, the only "proof" available to them is your certification card and logbook, and whatever "feeling" they form about your stated skill level based on observing you.
Most OW courses that I know of do not go much below 60' during their checkout dives. At the end of most OW courses, the instructor will usually tell the students that they are certified to dive in conditions they were trained in,
or better.
Are "recreational limits" 130 feet? Yes. Should you dive deeper than the deepest dive you did in OW training, in conditions worse than you experienced in OW training? Probably not.
Move into deeper diving gradually. Get whatever C-cards are required by the dive ops to do the dives you want to do, but do dive a lot and move into more difficult diving
slowly.
As far as panic goes.... I've seen it. On the surface (by a diver who was not
really in true danger), and passive panic at depth (by a diver who
was in grave danger, but froze and could not help themselves). You do not know what your personal limits are until you've had some "come to Jesus" moments, and you typically don't have those until you've been diving awhile.
Best wishes.