Mrsnuggles raises some good points, however I must contest the definition of 'Depression'.
Depression is low mood, in essence. May I suggest that how depression manifests is different in each affected person? Some may just find it difficult to get out of bed in a morning, others may lose interest in things they usually enjoy. Some may become socially reclusive. All of these can be combatted by effective CBT and SSRI treatment, I would go so far as to argue that once someone has suffered from this, the coping strategies they learn may put them in a far better position to deal with stressful situations in the future. Of course, chronic conditions are different, and their management will be different too.
I would be interested to find any statistics that may have been collated into how many patients being treated for depression have symptoms manifesting into psychotic episodes. I would suggest that they are (fortunately) reasonably remote in the bigger picture, and therefore the chances of such a person being at the controls of an aircraft are slim..?
Personality disorders are different. I tend to believe that those with a personality disorder will typically not believe they have a personality disorder (and be able to convince medical professionals of this too). This could therefore affect a far wider group of people than those with a history of depression/anxiety. I believe that most people receiving a form of treatment for depression or anxiety have never had thoughts of harming themselves or others.
I suppose, in relation to the Germanwings incident, was a personality disorder directly related to the depression? I fully believe, that in cases such as this, everybody is different. Assessment should be focused on the individual in my opinion. That said, I don't believe anybody who is taking a course of anti psychotics should be at the controls of an aircraft. SSRI's are completely different.
Last edited by pug; 21st June 2016 at 22:13.