DSM diagnosable or normal?

[Unregistered]

I don't have a psyc degree but several of my family members do. I do have several psychology courses under my belt, but wouldn't presume to be anyone who could speak with authority.

One of my brothers killed himself, and shortly thereafter my father died of cancer. I had a really rough time of it. The only thing that kept me healthy was flying! Everything there was procedure, calm, etc. I would land feeling happy again. Flying completely grounded me, and made me feel connected to the world. (And I remembered that my Dad and brother loved flying, and that made it even better.)

I didn't ground myself, even though there were some emotions involved. I did, however, prevent myself from flying if emotions were to strong.

All this is two years ago. I'm just interested in your thoughts.

 

[weilke]

How are you doing now ?

Grieving in and by itself is not a diagnosis, distinguishing it from signs of depression can often be difficult. If you never saw a psych professional for it and never took any meds, there is no reason you should worry about it from a certification perspective.

 

[poadeleted20]

Where the FAA is concerned, unless there are some "overt acts" involved, they don't much care how you feel, just what's diagnosed. If what's diagnosed is nothing, then nothing is what the FAA hears. The fact that you've chosen not to fly when you weren't feeling up to it suggests that you're dealing with things just fine, so keep doing what you're doing and keep moving forward from the events behind you.

 

[Jeanie]

You say that was 2 yrs ago and it sounds like you made some very good choices to take care of yourself and fly responsibly. If you are still grieving at the same level today then you might want to talk w/ your pastor or a counselor for some grief counseling. That is not diagnosable by the way ....
Usually, deep grieving is completed w/in 1 year or so - if it last longer than 2 yrs that's not healthy.
PM me if you want and we can chat about it solo