FAQ: Depression, Anxiety, and SSRI's

[kath]

We get a lot of questions in this forum about SSRI's and depression/anxiety diagnoses, and how (or if!) one can navigate the FAA medical system with them... I have picked a few hopefully useful threads from the recent past on the topic. If you've got a question about these issues, I recommend reading these threads first!

Question about anti depressant/anxiety
https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/question-about-anti-depressant-anxiety.131010/

consumed 2 pills of SSRI through Telehealth, third class medical
https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/com...hrough-telehealth-third-class-medical.130425/

Long-term SSRI use, stopping, then applying for medical
https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/com...se-stopping-then-applying-for-medical.129968/

Your thoughts/opinions on my situation; hx depression and ssri use
https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/com...-situation-hx-depression-and-ssri-use.120589/

SSRI vs. Buspirone (anxiety)
https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/ssri-vs-buspirone-anxiety.120351/

Anti depression question
https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/anti-depression-question.133254/


I hope that this thread -- designed to be a "sticky" can be a "living" one, where additional threads can be added, if they will be helpful to the PoA community.

@bbchien, @lbfjrmd, @AggieMike88, and anybody else: If you know of good PoA threads that should be added to this list, feel free to add 'em. Or good "Read this first" resources.

And another useful tip for new users: PoA has a "Search" feature -- find it in the upper right corner of the page -- where you can enter (say) the name of a particular drug, and it's very very likely someone has asked about it already.

 

[AggieMike88]

Good start…

Suggest some keyword SEO so the Google catalogs this properly.

Also, the post could be the start of a “Mega thread” that also provides links to solid sources of information on FAA medical certification, anxiety, depression, and SSRI use. Sources such as the AME guide, AOPA, https://www.aviationmedicine.com/, and more. Things that answer the common initial questions and what and how too.

 

[Lindberg]

Great resource here: http://steinmetz.org/peter/flying/faaMedicalInfo.html

 

[Anonymous]

Having gone through this process myself with my own depression/anxiety diagnosis…

I’d put in bold at the top of thread:

Recurrent Use of SSRI Requires Path 2

The FAA confuses AMEs/Pilots into thinking they can go with path 1, which only leads to denial. I’ve been told by AMEs I could path 1, and only knew otherwise via POA forum. Nowhere in the documentation packet does it mention the concept of recurrence requires path 2.