Originally Posted by
UnoriginalName
Wow, this got a lot more positive responses than I thought. I really appreciate everyones advice and insight. No medical action was taken, no law enforcement involvement, and no divorce looming (my wife has been nothing but supportive as I/we deal with this). My problems started to affect my job, unfortunately, like TiredSoul said, I resigned before it spun out of control (prevent actions taken against medical/cert) and more issues in my marriage. I had to resign to take care of myself and my family. It's been tough to deal with my problems, but also hard to figure out how to word this resignation and unemployment to employers in the future.
I feel like going to a regional is a push back down the stairs, but a move to Spirit, Allegiant, or Frontier would be closer to a lateral move in the mean time. But when I am in a better place to return, I just don't know what the better move would be. Just sucks to take so much time off, when all of these carriers want to see currency and updates in applications. I need to take care of myself, but also put myself in a position where I can provide for my family once better.
If you can manage the problem yourself, without any direct medical intervention, you might not have to report it since there's no paper trail or diagnosis. AA and the like are anonymous for a reason, and probably don't constitute medical care. Obviously get professional help if you need it.
You might need to ask an aviation lawyer if you should report the problem on your medical application... you might not need to.
If there's no FAA paper trail, you could simply tell a prospective employer that you had serious family issues to deal with. If they press, just say it was marriage related, and it's now resolved. It's your personal stuff, and close enough to the truth.
Even if there is a paper trail, they don't need to know medical details and typically won't ask. I'd probably stick with the family/marriage explanation.
***Caution: The medical form asks "have you ever had...". So lack of formal diagnosis does not strictly get you off the hook. But there's probably a difference between "had a problem", "suspected you might have had a problem", "worried that I might develop a problem"
If it's just between you, yourself, and the fencepost nobody will ever know. But obviously the wife knows... if that relationship goes south at some point in the future, she'd be holding a pretty big deal over your head if she were to drop a dime. Unfortunately that has happened before, and the FAA can shoot first and let you appeal to a Kangaroo Court. Which is why I'd suggest talking to a lawyer.