Psych Evaluation and Background Check for First Class Medical?

Monthly "stress" checks? Obviously most of you don't fly for a living and live in a a land of unicorns when it comes to dealing with the FAA. The company I fly for would use this in a punitive way within 24 hours and the FAA (who walk around with company ID cards) would go along.
ACTUAL SENARIO - happened at my airline three times already.

"I just didn't feel normal"
" I had noise in my head and realized that God made a mistake with me"

How would YOU handle these comments?
I now fly with two former males that are now females and the FAA, the company and the courts back them up....BUT if I were to "lose it" and ask a scheduler "WTF over?" I will be disciplined and possibly be required to undergo medical evaluation.
But at least I didn't cut off my ....

That is the issue, not just how the FAA handles mental health, but how we as a society in general handle mental health. There needs to be a shift in attitude of how we deal with the issue, and this may or may not force the FAA into dealing with it through a total shift in perspective.

EVERYBODY has mental health issues, it's part of the nature of sentience, of being able to question our existence, and of Free Will. We are social creatures much due to that, and our need for outside support. We deny the function of society in human evolution and development by making mental health a taboo subject, therefore we have a third of society medicated so they can cope with their own minds. This is a completely untenable situation and we need to change the model and mode of thinking behind it.

Mental Health is like blood pressure, it can be monitored and kept under control with general stress management techniques. The FAA has nothing to lose by trying to incorporate this, and everything to gain, because it also provides a continued monitoring and early warning system that pulls an airman that is getting into deeper trouble than the average life stuff. If implemented through the union/carrier relationship, it can even stay in house since the carrier has Strict Liability anyway.

This can be handled in a helpful manner that provides the airman, and the flying public, a greater level of safety by helping them manage their problems and keeping them under a basic monitoring protocol. If you just look for the solution that benefits everyone, you will find the best solution. In this instance, it also happens to be the only practical solution.

More likely though nothing will happen, we just don't like to deal with mental health issues, we'd rather ignore them.

As for the specific question to address, "Why do you think God made a mistake with you?" Once that is found out, then it's a matter of explaining their purpose on the world and that the thoughts they have are not unusual and part of the learning and thought process that we are created for. What those thoughts mean is that you are functioning properly by having and rejecting those thoughts, and that God has not made a mistake with them at all, they're right on track."
 
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Monthly "stress" checks? Obviously most of you don't fly for a living and live in a a land of unicorns when it comes to dealing with the FAA. The company I fly for would use this in a punitive way within 24 hours and the FAA (who walk around with company ID cards) would go along.
ACTUAL SENARIO - happened at my airline three times already.

"I just didn't feel normal"
" I had noise in my head and realized that God made a mistake with me"

How would YOU handle these comments?
I now fly with two former males that are now females and the FAA, the company and the courts back them up....BUT if I were to "lose it" and ask a scheduler "WTF over?" I will be disciplined and possibly be required to undergo medical evaluation.
But at least I didn't cut off my ....

I understand, I really do..... But - how did it make you feel when that happened? Don't be afraid to open up... :rofl:

scribble,scribble,scribble
 
I understand, I really do..... But - how did it make you feel when that happened? Don't be afraid to open up... :rofl:

scribble,scribble,scribble

That's not the way it works for real. Your 'Doc' obviously isn't in psychiatry.
 
Uh....It IS NOT ME that had their wingys lopped off :no:

My whole point is that, in today's FAA, you can be depressed but you can't talk about it. That is wrong. We have a very high divorce rate at my company and listening to some of the guys horror stories I am truly amazed at the lack of killings that take place.

The FAA is antiquated and only rules by bloodshed and pettiness. I have a couple of friends who are Feds and they agree with me but that is just another windmill.

My son suffers from PTSD from Iraq and the way this country stigmatizes mental problems is barbaric. There are some conditions that can be treated by counseling and "light" meds that can be taken away after a guy/gal gets their life lined up again. The Feds don't treat it that way.

The sex change issue is just ridiculous. If a guy, as happened at my company, puts down that he is a male but has voices that tell him otherwise, then he falsified his medical and pilot applications. If a guy says he has "noise" in his head but doesn't change genders then he is grounded.
 
You're exactly correct, there is no profit in mental illness though outside of pharmaceuticals, so we choose to ignore it. Plus we are afraid of it culturally, because everyone questions their sanity.
 
That's not the way it works for real. Your 'Doc' obviously isn't in psychiatry.

Well, first it's a joke, noted by the emoticon, and the italics of the word 'feel'.

Second, I'll put my creds up against yours any day there bote-cleaner. If you weren't on my ignore list, we could go back and forth for days giving you a lesson in psych. But - not interested.

buh-bye
 
The sad thing is a lot of pilots hide their mental illness for fear of permanently losing their wings. Obviously someone with bipolar disorder shouldn't be anywhere near an airplane but there are a lot of issues that can be fixed with talk therapy and medications. The hoops to jump through are extensive and expensive so most people with issues either suffer in silence or get help under the table. The system is broken and desperately needs to be reformed.
 
Well, first it's a joke, noted by the emoticon, and the italics of the word 'feel'.

Second, I'll put my creds up against yours any day there bote-cleaner. If you weren't on my ignore list, we could go back and forth for days giving you a lesson in psych. But - not interested.

buh-bye

I grew up with an awarded teaching psychiatrist who was clinical director of psychiatry for the state of Missouri for 20 years with professorship at, and students through, three universities. This was also a man who understood that the point of parenthood is to teach your children what you know. I grew up variously hooked to EEG machines, and answering phone calls at home from schizophrenics and other mentally ill.

I'll put my experience against your creds any day.
 
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