Mens mental health in aviation

[glenb]

Its an interesting thing life, full of ups and downs. I tell my kids, its like a piece of string with ups and downs like a cardiograph during a heart attack. As the passage of life continues on and that string gets pulled out, those ups and downs get less significant, and it all gets into perspective. Just gotta look after the string, and don't let it break.

Throughout my life, I have had two accusations repeatedly made towards me. I compartmentalise too much (which I still don't fully understand) and im too "half glass full".

Ive gone through life with heaps of friends, and had a blast. I had never even had a gloomy day.

At Primary school, (1970 to 1977), I would arrive at 7.30AM (straight after Aquaman) talk to the cleaner Mr Carnervale, and wait for someone to turn up, so I could play with them. He used to lean on his mop and amuse me, lovely fella.

Basically, I probably had a bit too much energy for life. I considered myself a pretty happy chappy. Unexpectedly, and far too close to home, I was touched by a suicide event. I couldn't understand it.

Im certainly no "mental health practitioner, but feel eminently qualified to have an emotional dump, so here it is.

Drawing on over 35 years experience in GA, I have learnt that mental health manifests itself through stress, anxiety, or depression. They are real, and every day we become more and more aware of it.

I had an experience that bought an entirely different perspective to life. If you are a male (I can only speak to males), you are in the perfect industry to have a mental health issue. I was someone who never opened up, and had a rare opportunity about 12 months ago. Unexpectedly, and out of left field I had a tearful and emotional mini meltdown (of sorts). Embarrassingly, it was with someone from CASA.

Surprisingly, and hours later, I reflected on it, and actually realised how much better I felt. It was like I had "sighed" deeper than I had ever breathed out before. It was a good place to be in. I looked around and realised im in a pretty good industry for a bloke to "sigh" a little bit more. I began opening up to workmates and colleagues. It felt good to "sigh" a lot.

The point is, if your a bloke feeling a bit "pent up" or going through a rough patch, you are extremely fortunate. ( Dear Lord, for what I am about to say, may it be taken in the manner it is intended, gulp!)

Many walk into their workplace and look around, maybe 40, 50, 60 % of the people will be ladies, and the balance men. From a mental health perspective, in aviation most blokes are surrounded by 90% men. Your off to a good start already, surely one of them must be able to have a chin wag with you. Its amazing how a problem shared, is a problem halved..

We are also fortunate that in aviation we are so aware of the importance of team work. In many industries the people will all be pulling in different directions, but in aviation whether it be in the plane, the workshop, or the office we respect the importance of teamwork and support.

You begin to realise that a bloke in GA has a lot of options, a high proportion of "blokes" in tune with the concepts of teamwork, support,communication etc.

From my own personal experience, the more I opened up, the more support and energy I drew. I can only talk to GA, but the people that you are surrounded by are exceptional, and dependable, if you are having a bit of a challenge, I wholeheartedly encourage you to open up a bit more and fully embrace the opportunity you have. You will not be let down. I say that from personal experience. We are very very lucky

[Office Update]

Glenn,
Not a wise topic for you to get involved in. Emotion's may cloud your present agenda.
Don't give CASA a reason for the CASA medical freak to call you up for a chat with a 'shrink'.
Mine is the only response in nearly 12 hours …. don't go there please!

[Sunfish]

We have a very good and successful neighbor undergoing divorce who announced he has a history of depression. His ex wife and kids in response to his new independence, have recently been deliberately increasing his stress levels to the point that he voluntarily entered a psychiatric ward. Now that has happened, there is very little his friends can do to support him as he is now ensnared in “the system”.

Given the powers of attorney he unwisely signed, we expect that we will never see him again as he is returned to the bosom of his “loving” family along with his many millions of dollars. It is likely that his family will get control of his assets, sell his retirement property adjoining us and send him, medicated and confused, to a nursing home.

Glen, be very careful of any admission regarding mental stress or treatment to anyone, as once you are labeled as “mental” it is impossible to remove the stigma. CASA would cancel your medical certificates in seconds.

[megan]

CASA would cancel your medical certificates in secondsCongratulations Glen in facing up to the demons and coming out the other side. CASA gets a lot of flak for different reasons but on the mental health front they come up trumps. Know a number of aviators on anti depressant medication with CASA approval, I was one. In fact the CASA medical boss at the time arm twisted the reluctant psych to write a positive report, psychs not being in the business of being held accountable.

[Runaway Gun]

Unfortunately aviation is often staffed by pilots who only see things in Black and White. If you mention any issues about Mental Health, then despite the latest "Speak Up and Share your Problems" campaign, you are very likely to have someone try to help you lose your job, your medical, or maybe just your friendship. It's rarely understood, so your mates may jump to conclusions, or simply declare you to be a danger. Aviation is full of pilots who are in debt, divorced, with uncertainty in their future, under the stress of yet another sim check. I assume more of us have issues that they care to admit, because of the likelihood that it will only make matter much much worse.
Australian workplaces have much more to learn than to display "Are you OK?" brochures, or to grown moustaches in November.

[novice110]

megan,

I am happy for you to have had this positive experience with your medical in regards to mental health. The way it should be.

I wonder how long ago you had this positive response from the regulator ?

The stories I have heard from the last few years are very, very different.

Maybe the tragedy of German Wings has forced an unfortunate change in their approach to mental health ?

You need to deal with your issues, but sadly must go to extraordinary lengths to keep it private. That is what I have been told.

[Squawk7700]

We have a very good and successful neighbor undergoing divorce who announced he has a history of depression. His ex wife and kids in response to his new independence, have recently been deliberately increasing his stress levels to the point that he voluntarily entered a psychiatric ward. Now that has happened, there is very little his friends can do to support him as he is now ensnared in “the system”.

Given the powers of attorney he unwisely signed, we expect that we will never see him again as he is returned to the bosom of his “loving” family along with his many millions of dollars. It is likely that his family will get control of his assets, sell his retirement property adjoining us and send him, medicated and confused, to a nursing home.

Glen, be very careful of any admission regarding mental stress or treatment to anyone, as once you are labeled as “mental” it is impossible to remove the stigma. CASA would cancel your medical certificates in seconds.

So pretty much what you’re saying Sunfish, is to bottle up all the stress and pain, don’t tell anyone, let your mental health decline to a point that you commit suicide? Far better than anyone trying to help you eh?

There’s so many different levels of psychological issues. Depression, depression come anxiety, come schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s or more. Everyone is different and no single “solution” suits all people. Glen sounds like he’s having a rough time due to issues with the regulator, giving him some extreme levels of self doubt, depression and plain and simple old school sadness. That’s something to work with and to have others help out and move on for the better. Your neighbors case sounds far more serious and likely he’s experiencing something more medical. Look up the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist.

[desert goat]

I personally object to the use of the term "mental health" to describe common, (and very normal), problems like stress, anxiety and depression. To me, that's not "mental health".... it's just health.


Your brain is just another organ like any other and if it gets overstressed, then it will malfunction. Just like any other body part will if it isn't looked after. Or the wings and engine mounts of your aeroplane if you repeatedly pull too many G's or continually fly through turbulence overloaded for many years. Sooner or later, something cracks. The brain is no different, nor can we expect it to be. Anyone who thinks that they are above all that, or somehow immune to it, is in my humble opinion, either very wet behind the ears in terms of life experience, or just a self-delusional fool.


I think that by lumping these very human responses to stress in under one generic banner of "mental health", we are effectively confusing the people who are simply very stress-fatigued with people who have more dangerous problems, like psycotic disorders. All that this achieves is to create a stigma that makes people too frightened to seek help and fix the problem early, for fear of being labelled as a "nutter" and shunned. All of these issues have potential to become serious if left unaddressed, but I feel strongly that the only way to truly address the problem, is to remove the mystery surrounding it and get the issues out into the open where they belong.


These are common issues that affect normal, everyday people, yet here we are, in the year 2019, still treating a well documented and very treatable medical problem as a taboo subject. We wouldn't shun or label a person who had a kidney issue or a heart issue as being "tainted" and avoid them, would we? So why do we do it to people with a brain fatigue issue?


So to my mind, yes, it is a serious problem with potential flight safety implications that needs to be handled carefully. But in terms of how we discuss the problem, it should be treated as the very common everyday health issue that it is, not as some spooky weird "mental health" boogey man. Just my two cents worth.

[megan]

I wonder how long ago you had this positive response from the regulatorCases that I'm personally aware of range from two to five decades ago ie over a thirty year period. I realise it may depend on the person in the CASA medical chair how much s/he wants to make life difficult.

[Sunfish]

Squawk. The person concerned did NOT ‘bottle it up” he came out as suffering from long term depression a year ago and had sought and received treatment. Previously he had successfully avoided the issue by immersing himself in running a very successful business. The trigger was selling the business and retiring. His wife then decided she didn’t need him any longer and threw him out.

The ex wife and kids only arced up when he found a great female companion and started building a new life for himself. He was found with a rope already over the beam.

This is an ongoing matter and we are still very worried for the pair of them.

[Duck Pilot]

Check your PMs Glenn.

desert goat has hit the nail on the head, good post and very true.