Good Afternoon Left Coaster
Your reply on Mental Health is absolutely spot on, as for too many years Mental Illness has had this stigma attached to it. For example if someone has a tooth ache they see a Dentist, a bad head cold they see a G.P. so why should Mental Illness be any different?
I find it ironic that most disability plans will take care of a person for many years but for Mental Illness it is in most cases just two years. In the former a company will make sure you get to see the specialist needed to get back to work quickly yet in the later it is almost lip service!
Over the years I have known a couple of people who suffered under this stigma one was able to get back to work with in the two years and is now a very productive citizen the other sadly has disappeared.
Part of the culture in aviation comes from the military philosophy that Mental Illness is lack of character issue which really does more harm then good as the person will tend to suffer in silence rather than seek help.
We all need to change our collective philosophy on this subject and challenge others who still think of this as a character flaw before we have more issues related to this subject.