Originally Posted by
rarelyathome
Delicately put!
Respectfully, that's fairly accurate. There is a HUGE difference between long term mental health issues and short term stress related issues.
As relates to the Airman's Medical admittedly the issues on the serious side of the equation are sometimes extremely difficult to recognize without the airman offering up data needed for a proper decision to be made.
With lifestyles and livelihoods on the line pilots can become quite adept at "hiding" things they have determined might be disqualifying on a medical examination.
There really isn't (in my experience in professional aviation anyway) an easy answer to the question.
Basically for a large part what we have is an honor system coupled with a Doctor's discovery process as the medical is processed.
It's one of the real grey areas in aviation.
Dudley Henriques