Under-reporting of mental health issues

[kaz3g]

Aviation industry encourages pilots to come forward with mental health problems - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-26/pilots-under-report-mental-illness-aviation-industry-says/7878724)

[Ollie Onion]

Good luck with that, every Medical related thread I have read on here is full of Pilot's saying 'why would you tell your DAME that?' Keep your GP and DAME seperate. I have always been totally upfront with CASA and it has always been a total pain in the arse the extra hoops you then need to jump through, if they want a true open culture it needs to be far more predictable and certain as to what the outcome will be.

[Sunfish]

Perhaps if AVMED was renowned for doing their best to keep pilots in the air instead of being intent on weeding out anyone who cannot prove (often at great expense) that they meet AVMEDS Olympian standards, there would not be a problem with suppressed medical conditions?

[zanthrus]

Tell them NOTHING! At least nothing they can not see for themselves in the medical exam.

[cattletruck]

Now that manufacturing is dead there is a new wave of psychologist graduates out there that are looking for employment.

Regardless of whether the trends have changed or not, mental health awareness is currently a government initiative that also includes CASA, so it will get rammed down your throat whenever you deal with government.

And yes, as with all industry groups there is also a corrupt element to be found in there that has no real concern for your recovery as long as they receive the money. Let's not mention big pharma.

If you seriously think you need help then ignore these clowns and try your own reputable GP for a proper referral, otherwise you are better off burning incense.

[Pinky the pilot]

The number of times I have actually heard a GP or indeed a Specialist (Surgeon) say with reference to CASA

"...The less they are told the better.."

Well...if I had a dollar for every time I heard that....... a couple of bottles of Grange perhaps..:hmm:

[Sunfish]

I have a sneaking suspicion that this article is about setting up the public for a "Government response" to a manufactured "problem" - pilots mental health.

Given the alleged behaviour of CASA AVMED in relation to colour blindness and the allegedly ridiculous lengths AVMED will go to in relation to getting second, third and fourth opinions on individual medical conditions, at great expense to the licence holder, what possible chance is there of AVMED taking a reasonable approach to pilots perceived mental health issues?

Could i be forgiven for wondering if CASA AVMED is trying to justify its expansion in the face of reducing demand for its services as evidenced by falling numbers of GA pilots?

[Pastor of Muppets]

Cattletruck!
Best post I have read in a long time!!
The "peripherals" to our industry, indeed to Australia's workforce are choking!!
The greatest cause of anxiety in my workplace these days is the inexperienced, over-enthusiastic clown with a clipboard and clicky-pen.

[cattletruck]

PoM, I speak with some qualification on the subject.

Very soon after I received a reasonable settlement from taking my previous employer to court over a summary dismissal, I received a call from an "agent" about a prospective new job, in fact the calls and pre-meetings to arrange the job interview were abnormally numerous.

The job interview was executed whereby I learned that this particular company had the old company I worked for in their books.

A few days later the "agent" called me and told me in the worst possible terms that I did not get the job because "I had no respect for management". Co-incidently these were also the exact same words used by the HR manager of the company I took to court in her submission. The job interview was just a set-up, and I was being deliberately groomed for its failure as a favour to the previous company I worked for. The only regard for the well-being of my mental health by this "agent" was to destroy it, which was also a tactic employed by the HR manager of the company I took to court.

So I looked up this "agent" on Linked-in and it turns out she had a "Degree in Psycology" - she could not even spell her own university degree.

These people are complete f@#king morons. My advice is to stay as far away from them as possible.

Do you hear me CASA?

[gerry111]

I once read that Napolean described England as: "A nation of shopkeepers."

Australia today perhaps may be described as "A nation of tertiary educated consultants."

(And generally very well paid ones too.)

[Sunfish]

anecdotal, but the guys holding the stop sign on roadworks do a six week course to get the job and pull in well over $100k a year - mainly through overtime and holiday hours.

the OHS scam of which "mental health" is soon going to become a part is killing this country

[Pinky the pilot]

Australia today perhaps may be described as "A nation of tertiary educated consultants."


gerry111;An acquaintance of mine is a Stipendiary Magistrate here in SA, and back in the late 70's was heard to describe the average Uni Graduate as 'an educated f***wit!':ooh:

I think he was referring to the then seemingly endless number of graduates with BAs.

[cnnnn1]

I think this problem needs to be addressed urgently and it exists in a number of professions.

I did 7 years of medical training and now I'm a resident doctor barely scraping the 70k mark, with huge stretches of unpaid overtime and 70+ hour weeks. There's no gravy train here. God forbid that doctors come forward and talk about their mental health struggles either. It doesn't often go down well.

It's interesting that our profession is then so rough on pilots as well.

I'm not surprised a few of my colleagues have knocked themselves off in the last couple of years.

[gerry111]

PM sent, Pinky.

[Lead Balloon]

Unfortunately, despite all of the efforts of organisations like Beyond Blue and the objective evidence about mental illness, the facts are that it continues to be stigmatised. And in an environment in which telling AVMED anything these days can result in intervention, intrusion, restriction and a generally disproportionate response to the objective risks, I'm not surprised pilots withhold information from their DAME.

[framer]

If anyone in power was actually serious about it we wouldn't be able to do 12 hour multi sector duties that rotate between very early and very late with single days off in between year in year out. Being knackered all the time makes you grumpy, which makes your wife grumpy, which makes the family grumpy, which is quite depressing when you're trying hard to do right by everyone. If they wanted to address pilot mental health they would start by ensuring we can't be worked into the ground.

[Captain Nomad]

Ah, but framer, you are only 'tired' not 'fatigued' so that's okay! No problem here folks, move along... :rolleyes:

[mickjoebill]

3303.0 - Causes of Death, Australia, 2015 (http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/3303.0~2015~Main%20Features~Australia's%20leading%20causes%2 0of%20death,%202015~3)

"Intentional self harm" aka suicide, has risen 50% in Australia in the last decade.
Shockingly, it is the leading cause of death in men aged 25-45.
The incident rate for men is is three times that of women


Mickjoebill

[Lookleft]

Well said framer. Once there was the opportunity to cut loose a bit with other pilots and just talk about what was annoying you. It was called the overnight but now that has gone or you are by yourself and it is the minimum legal time before you are being picked up (or not because crewing has stuffed it up again). This statement is very true:
when you're trying hard to do right by everyone.

The suicide rates are a blight on our society mjb but because it is mainly blokes then it doesn't get the coverage.

[Kelly Slater]

Does loss of licence insurance cover mental health issues?

[The Bullwinkle]

Any pilot who openly admits to having mental health issues would have to be insane!

[Snakecharma]

Which ironically makes him/her the safer pilot. Catch-22 in its purest and most accurate form :)

The pilots that deny they have a problem, or refuse to report it (for sound and perfectly logical reasons) are the ones you have to worry about because they are untreated or their treatment has the potential to interfere with their flying.

If casa would wake up and understand that reporting mental health issues is a good thing and to not threaten the livelihood of those that do report we will be in a much better place.

Alas, I fear it will never happen as we are too litigious a society and once you report you might have an issue you get branded for life for fear that you might have a breakdown or whatever at an inappropriate point.

It is the mental health equivalent of the peril sensitive sunglasses that go dark at the first sign of danger - if you can't see it it isn't a problem :)

[mattyj]

It's about time that we faced the truth as an industry...Pilot IS a mental health condition!

[Pinky the pilot]

Sorry Tailwheel, but someone has to do it!!:E

https://youtu.be/l-lJZiqZaGA