New Zealand pilots stressed?

[framer]

The cost of Loss of Licence Insurance has just gone up in New Zealand by approximately 20%.
The reason is due to an increase in claims.
There there has been a worrying trend in increasing claims related to anxiety, stress, and depression.
I think this is due to increased workload. Not necessarily at work, but in general.
If we compared a pilot 15 years ago to a pilot now I suspect the modern day pilot would spend more minutes/ hours/ days attending to requests made of him or her, and a significant number of those requests would be made via email or text message. In some cases I imagine that to comply with all the requests would result in very little downtime at all between normal flying duties.
I was flying 15 years ago and it seems to me that a change in policy/ procedure back then was relatively rare ( every few months) as opposed to 2018 when it is very nearly daily.
Is this an issue that we will have to address as an industry in the decades to come or is this just what it feels like to get old and grumpy?
Cheers

[Duck Pilot]

It’s a sign of the times I believe. In most cases I wouldn’t be surprised if financial liabilities are the root cause of stress, particularly for pilots with young families. In most cases it’s simply unaffordable to live in a capital city with a wife and children being on anything under about 100k in Australia, particularly if the spouse wants to stay at home and focus on the children.

It’s really a single persons game now IMHO.

Heard a few weeks ago from a reliable source that more pilots are asking for help now than ever before. I was also shocked to hear that the number of pilots getting positive results in random drug and alcohol tests has also apparently spiked.

Regulators and some politicians don’t help either. Industry and company culture adjustment is the only solution.

[virgindriver]

Hardly surprising.

Pilots used to be treated as assets but now they are liabilities.

Sad to see the culture of management nowadays.

"Burn them out and then get fresh ones..", wasn't that the thoughts of some recent management. :-(

[Hawkeye787]

Its nothing to do with texts or emails or even the companies. It us just a societal trend of mental health issues becoming de-stigmatised. Which is a big positive. Gone are the days when a pilots career is over because a divorce is distressing/depressing.

[mattyj]

It’s actually because it can be a pretty suck career at times in some parts of the industry with pretty average pay and if you can get a payout get out and get a head start on doing something enjoyable with the next few years of your life it can be a juicy carrot

[Ramjet555]

Multiple factors affect the loss of licence and disability insurance rates.
Yes, the single greatest cause appears to be stress and or the secondary effects.

The single biggest cause of stress among male pilots is caused by societies incorrect views that males should not be parents and, that females should have absolute power in parenting and property.

In Canada all the pilots I've met that removed themselves from flying did so for medical reasons, and in particular, family court decisions that effectively removed them from the lives of their children. Its this last factor that has unnecessarily destroyed many a pilot's career.

Most pilots love flying and I think it would be a very small percentage that would want to rip off the rest of the population and end their own flying career.

The US has a government policy of cross-checking recipients of disability payments to pilot licences.

As for random drug and alcohol tests, I could not agree more.
It is that lack of random operational checking for drugs and alcohol that encourages its use. Random testing with hair follicle testing before and during employment is the only deterrent.