Originally Posted by rickair7777

If your employment and income is vital to your lifestyle and family obligations I would suggest an escalating approach. Research self-help first... lifestyle choices and things like mental outlook, meditation, etc can have a very real positive impact for many folks. For most normal people who hit a rough patch simply understanding how it works and what the factors are is 2/3 of the battle.




No it's not untrue, it depends on the airline and CBA. I know of at least one which has LTD to age 65 for pretty much any grounding condition including mental health. Many others have limits, such as ten years for all conditions, or a lower number for mental health. It doesn't matter much what other shops have (unless maybe you're in section 6), you just need to read the fine print for your own CBA.





That's great they were accommodating. I wouldn't bet that all docs would be willing to incur that kind of potential liability.

And this goes to my point of how they're spring-loaded to throw down anxiety/depression and sell some pharma.




That seems like a slippery slope. I'm addressing this in the context of keeping it all completely legal and above board. You're suggesting some grey area there.

I don't think the FAA or AME is going to gloss over "feeling a little blue" or "occasional anxiety". If you report any such at a minimum you'll be grounded and have to get an evaluation to clarify that you don't have a clinical no fly condition. They are going to view that like "a little bit pregnant". They're on edge a bit since germanwings, and mushroom dude isn't going to help that any.


We all know you have the option of getting all the health care you need, for anything and everything, not telling the FAA, and hoping you don't get caught. The good news is if you make it to age 65 and don't renew your medical they probably won't bother coming after you at that point. But that's not what I'm talking about here. In operational risk management hiding stuff from the FAA would fall into the "High and Right" category... low probability, but catastrophic consequences. So it comes down to how well you sleep at night.




I don't see how more information would be more stressful, especially for pilots. We like to solve problems (just ask our wives). Having a roadmap and something to work towards might be therapeutic in it's own right. If not, of course get the help you need.