Over 10% of the general population is on antidepressants. Just suggesting that it’s “very few” is contributing to the stigma of mental health. It is not honest. We need to be honest if we want to reduce the stigma.

It may be that very few pilots report taking antidepressants, but I’d say that we are just a subset of the general pop and therefore likely to be similar in percentages.

 

This makes sense. There is nothing that makes us different from gen pop, except that we need to lie, hide or misrepresent health concerns.

 

Also fair. But let’s separate. Yesterdays battles were fought so pilots can seek counseling counseling TODAY without reporting in the vast majority of cases. The battle to allow antidepressants is now only in the third inning. Not sure where the 10% is sourced but a vast majority of those who choose to take those medications do so for a short period of time.

The biggest battle is less about grounding airman that are in treatment, but allowing otherwise healthy airmen to fly for anything because of lengthy deferments, reviews, arbitrary “waiting periods”. That does not just include the mental health discussion. That includes the physical health as well.

 

Anti depressants aren’t aspirin. Chronic clinical depression is specifically disqualifying. Meds to restore psych/emotional balance come attached to adverse side effects and efficacy guesswork on a case by case basis. Patients going off treatment without reporting/disclosure cannot be ruled out. Is overall safety increased if broader approval for use of routinely prescribed depression/anxiety medication is made available to airmen? What scale does that?

 

No, I think very few pilots take anti-depressants under the table. I think many just suffer quietly instead.

Getting a diagnosis, a prescription, and then buying the meds all leave paper trails. All medical records are now saved in a federally-mandated digital format. While HIPAA currently protects that from the FAA (except for VA and SSA disability), a slight change in the legislative landscape could open up your entire medical history to FAA data scrutiny. I don't think many folks are risking that.

Might be a few whose wives have zoloft scrips...

 

they suffer because therapy is such a stigma in our profession. The stigma is simple: talk to a therapist, your career is over. Full stop. Rick, you essentially said as much down below. That it's better to do a Google search and try to make yourself feel better.

Not every therapist is going to immediately diagnose you with some sort of mental disorder and prescribe you an SSRI.

If you need to talk to someone, GO TALK TO SOMEONE! Most therapists are there to listen, help you tap into what you're unable to tap into yourself, and give you tools to succeed in handling the day to day problems that our society has cultivated, pushed, and now are prevalent in our world.

 

According to some AMEs the FAA can search and see prescriptions that have been filled in your name. Also been told that if it was filled they will assume you took it.

 

Absolutely. Yes.

More abundance of caution than stigma I suggest. Can’t have erratic behavior, episodes or fits at the control panel. Revealing a perceived psychological imbalance exists, however slight, is grounds for suspicion. In a society where folks don’t blink at coverage of another sociopath wiping out shoppers at Walmart, can you blame them? Of course confessional privilege extended to professional healthcare counselors is something many if not all will support.

 

That sounds to me very much like HIPAA information which *should* be protected by federal law, including from that sort of .gov fishing expedition. So as things stand right now, I don't think so.

But I can't totally rule it out since .gov has already found loopholes (follow the money) with VA and SSA records. Maybe insurance payments? Who knows.


Also... FAA could at any time add language at the bottom of the 8500 form which authorizes them to search your digital records, just like the NDR search. Don't want to sign that? No medical for you.

Most folks don't realize that some years back .gov actually implemented a standardized digital medical record system, to streamline records access and billing. This was mandated by federal law, with good intentions. But if the government (or anyone else) acquired legal authorization it makes it very easy to instantly access ALL of your records going back many years. I don't recall exactly when that started, you can google it. So if you have anything much after the 1990's which the FAA doesn't know about, that's hanging over your head if .gov ever throws the access switch for the FAA. Unless maybe you found a down-low doc at a strip mall who takes cash and doesn't keep records.


Yes, 100% guilty until proven innocent. You'd have to produce the unopened bottle, with all pills accounted for to get out of that one. Although the underlying diagnosis which resulted in the scrip in the first place is probably enough to hang you if not reported.

 

I don't think we're actually very far apart on this.

The nuance that concerns me is while you may not have to report a therapist visit, IF you go in and they say I really think you have anxiety/depression and could use some meds, let me call my supervisory psychiatrist or your GP and get that going. Now you have to decide... run out the office and pretend it never happened, lie to the FAA, or go out on LTD.

If that's what has to happen, so be it, but many folks have a good shot at dealing with it themselves... once they know what's going on, and how it all works.

I am speaking from experience. In the interest of helping others I'll go out on a limb here. Had some issues (related to mil service), got professional care, did everything right with the FAA and was all good. What I learned from that was very useful in preventing any future issues, once I understood the mechanisms at play. I was also fortunate that I didn't rely on aviation for income at that time (mil orders).





Footnote. Yes, contrary to popular opinion on this forum a diagnosis from a "Health Professional" is actually a diagnosis as far as the FAA is concerned. If you want to prove me wrong, write a letter to the FAA head counsel, they should respond quickly and the answer will be a matter of public record.

Significant fringe benefit to trying some research and self-help is that you are NOT a "Health Professional" so they can't hang you for trying to figure it out on your own (probably best if it's not all over SM though). Unless it's something very objective like a compound fracture of your femur.