Anxiety

[noflex]

Does anybody take something for anxiety, or know if there is anything that can be prescribed and still hold a class 1 medical?

[PostmasterGeneral]

Copius amounts of alcohol...

[loopy]

You would probably need to have a discussion with a CAME. Many are reluctant to do that in case it results in suspension of their medical. A good GP may be able to dig into it for you. Some of the more recent SSRI's may not have as serious side effects as earlier medications. St. John's Wort has some anti-anxiety properties, and it is used often in Europe with some good research supporting it.

Good old fashioned therapy or counselling is perhaps the best long term cure. There's no shame in it. I think everyone should try it for a while to gain some self awareness and improve the EQ. Emotional maturity is severly lacking in much of society these days, particularly on the masculine side of things. My opinion, and yes I'm a man.

[nine sixteenths]

Exercise. Take up a gym habit. Go every day or every second day, make it something akin to your religion. If the gym isn't your thing or too expensive consider running/jogging or hiking. Spend an hour every day or second day at this and use it as a form of meditation. Or if the exercise doesn't work, maybe just try straight up meditation, it helps some people. I've fought with anxiety my whole life, running is the best outlet I've found. I wish I'd found it earlier in life. I look upon it as both good for me physically and mentally, it's my "moving meditation" as someone once put it. It sucked big time when I started, I hated it, everything hurt, I couldn't get very far, I was slow, but I kept at it and now I can go put my earbuds in, turn the tunes on, and let my wrapped up thoughts untangle themselves. If you want to PM me you're welcome to, I can tell you a little more if you want, just not everything should be aired on a public forum.

[JBI]

The answer when it comes to this is "it depends". I am NOT a doctor so take this post for what it is worth.

As I understand it, some anxiety can be treated with the standard SSRI anti-depressants very effectively. A prescription plus a referral to a psychologist is a pretty standard response to anxiety issues according to my friends who are family-doctors. For most non-pilots this is a non-issue as a trial on SSRIs, if monitored closely, can be very effective.

For pilots, however, taking SSRIs is generally initially disqualifying for a Cat 1 medical. There is a lead up time while one adjusts to the medication. I know of pilots who are on SSRIs and have a Cat 1 but it was only after being monitored for a period of 6 months or more. If you are currently flying full-time (and able to do so safely despite the anxiety issues), then I would first look at alternatives other than medication. Many health care plans cover psychologist visits. I know a number of extremely high functioning individuals who have incorporated visits with psychologists in to their lives with extremely positive results. At the same time, it wouldn't hurt to check out your long term disability plan - maybe taking some time out to focus on your psychological well being, including taking medication could be beneficial.

At the end of the day, you need to be honest with yourself. Not getting the proper care you need because it may affect your medical is detrimental to your enjoyment of life in the long run.

[SuperchargedRS]

Uhh, a deep breath?




Could it be a case of female hysteria?

[North Shore]

At the end of the day, you need to be honest with yourself. Not getting the proper care you need because it may affect your medical is detrimental to your enjoyment of life in the long run.

..Losing one's job 'cause of medical issues could be detrimental to one's Q-O-L also, though..

[Meatservo]

Boy, SuperchargedRS, you're kind of a dick!

[CL-Skadoo!]

Boy, SuperchargedRS, you're kind of a dick!

Easy, my friend. What he has, there is no cure for.

[SuperchargedRS]

Boy, SuperchargedRS, you're kind of a dick!

Easy, my friend. What he has, there is no cure for.

Sorry but all these new "conditions" are really silly, they didn't exist up until recently and only in very liberal societies, especially ones where men were raised mostly by women or the government and raised to be much more feminine. Could you imagine D day, "hey guys, I have anxiety, I'm going to sit this one out". Our heroes and the real builders of our great nations would have laughed, and cured that with a swift size 10 to the arse.

It's one thing to come down with "anxiety" if your working as a liberal professor at some soft shoed college, go pop a bunch of pills and sit the day out in a "safe place", but this nonsense has zero place in the cockpit.

Jebus dude, I've had two full engine failures, guess I might have felt a little "anxiety" when the one engine chit the bed, didnt really think about it, didn't have time for it, I was a little busy flying the plane, I did my job and didn't harm any skin tin or tickets.

Don't mean to be a jerk, but if you suffer from some of these modern "conditions" professions like aviation, EMS, fire, police, millitary might not be a good choice.

I'm not saying this to be mean, or hurt anyone's "feelings", I'm saying this because one day you might find yourself flying me or mine around and there are enough variables in aviation by its nature.

[Rookie50]

Anxiety is quite real, always has been and can stem from many things, like unresolved trauma of many kinds, like family stuff, (and I'm sure those guys hitting the beaches had to deal with it. Look at the Vietnam vets)

It's a complex topic, but some things that can help:

Prayer. Yes, prayer.
Hiking, outdoor exercise +1.
Counselling
Medication for certain situations, and time periods perhaps.
Friendship and interaction. Don't (stay) isolated.
Unresolved trauma. Working on Forgiving others.

Don't either rely on alcohol, Ect. Might work for a bit, but This medicates the underlying issue.

Christmas can be a tough period for some people, too.

My. $0.02

Take care out there.

[Rockie]

Alcohol - no
Illicit drugs - hell no
Prescription drugs - only if necessary

Exercise and therapy are the way to go I think. Exercise because it is always relaxing and gives you a different perspective on things while you think, specifically while you're running - leave the Ipod and headphones at home.

Therapy because it will help you cope all the time without the need for drugs.

Sorry but all these new "conditions" are really silly, they didn't exist up until recently and only in very liberal societies, especially ones where men were raised mostly by women or the government and raised to be much more feminine.

Nope. Meatservo was right.

[JBI]

I'm not saying this to be mean, or hurt anyone's "feelings", I'm saying this because one day you might find yourself flying me or mine around and there are enough variables in aviation by its nature.

Sometimes it is best to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

[JBI]

At the end of the day, you need to be honest with yourself. Not getting the proper care you need because it may affect your medical is detrimental to your enjoyment of life in the long run.

..Losing one's job 'cause of medical issues could be detrimental to one's Q-O-L also, though..

I don't disagree. But can someone effectively do their job, as a pilot or otherwise, if they have a condition that is interfering with their everyday life? And how much are you enjoying life if your job is extremely stressful and making things worse when you haven't developed the proper tools to overcome this issues.

I know a few different lawyers who, while extremely successful in their practice of law, got to the point where they needed to go on short/long term disability and resolve the psychological challenges that they were simply using a size ten boot to ignore. After stabilizing on a medication and developing skills to deal with the situation, they went back to practice and were even more successful.

This is obviously much harder in aviation, but at the end of the day, I'd argue that a person's psychological health is worth more than time away from a chosen profession. That's just my opinion, though obviously somewhat biased.

[SuperchargedRS]

I'm not saying this to be mean, or hurt anyone's "feelings", I'm saying this because one day you might find yourself flying me or mine around and there are enough variables in aviation by its nature.

Sometimes it is best to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

You're right, he's a fragile little snowflake and must be coddled.

I hope if he ever has a inflight emergency he will have enough time to talk it through with his shrink over the phone, fix his "feelings" emergency, then if he has time the aircraft emergency, before the plane lawn darts into earth.

I swear, were become a society of fragile little adult children.


acknowledged that there have always been fragile people in society, the problem is we tell EVERYONE they can be anything they want to be, which is BS, so now government try's to force the issue, and we end up with someone who's quite fragile mentally, who should have a job that's not life and death, where if he freaks out worse case you just get another waiter, or have to call tech support again, your lawyer calls for a recess, etc, NOT you and all the other pax die in a horrific crash because snowflake is coming unglued in the cockpit.

Lots of decent jobs for these types of people, flying just ain't one of them.


And if you don't understand that, might want to reasses who's the fool here eh?

[JBI]

And if you don't understand that, might want to reasses who's the fool here eh?

Nope, I think we're all pretty clear on that.

[Heliian]

If you have any type of physical or mental ailment that effects or will effect your ability to perform your duties, you should immediately remove yourself from duty until proper diagnosis and treatment can be arranged.

Trying to skirt proper avenues to continue employment is not only dangerous but is a giant waste of time. Get yourself repaired and then get back to work when you feel ready.

[B208]

To the OP. I know of a few guys who are on medications for depression that are still flying commercially, so your condition may not mean instant death to your flying career. As has been said prior, the only one that can make that determination is the Flt Surgeon (CAME).

acknowledged that there have always been fragile people in society, the problem is we tell EVERYONE they can be anything they want to be, which is BS, so now government try's to force the issue, and we end up with someone who's quite fragile mentally, who should have a job that's not life and death, where if he freaks out worse case you just get another waiter, or have to call tech support again, your lawyer calls for a recess, etc, NOT you and all the other pax die in a horrific crash because snowflake is coming unglued in the cockpit.

Not saying that this assessment applies to the OP, but Supercharged does make a valid point. Some people just are not cut out to be in some jobs. Also, while there are certainly some people for who depression/anxiety are a real issue, there are a number of other people who pull the card out and use it as an escape when things get tough.

[Rockie]

Some people just are not cut out to be in some jobs.

That's been the case since humans were eating bugs off cave floors, so what?

It used to be females were unsuited to be pilots. It used to be some heart conditions and diabetes disqualified one from being a professional pilot. It used to be some people viewed psychological conditions like anxiety as a con hiding an overall weakness indicative of unworthy snowflakes...oh wait...there are still people like that.

[Meatservo]

Anyway, superchargedRS, there are different kinds of anxiety. You're maybe thinking of one kind of anxiety, but there's also the kind I have- the kind where I wake up at night grinding my teeth because I've been suppressing the urge to beat the crap out of assholes and idiots for my whole life. That kind of anxiety might have come in handy in Normandy or during an engine failure. Who knows?

Everybody in the old days had exactly the same issues we do now. It's just that now, we don't try to treat them by making the sufferers feel ashamed of themselves. I admit, I think sometimes maybe we've gone too far the other way when we hear about college students who feel "triggered" and "unsafe" when someone talks about abortion rights or cries about cultural appropriation because they are serving Korean food in the cafeteria and cooking it wrong, or whatever, but what you did was make fun of someone you don't know because he or she asked a question about a potential problem. That's the old way- pretend it's not real and make the guy feel ashamed of himself so he hides it better. It's the kind of thing that makes me grind my teeth at night.

Some people are not cut out for certain jobs, that's certain. There are people who should never fly. But I don't think we're looking for supermen in this job. SuperchargedRS, I might have had more respect for your opinion if your first impulse wasn't to post a mocking cartoon.

[SuperchargedRS]

You're right, you can be anything you want to be

I'm sure the dead pax families will find solace in knowing that their dead family members pilot, who was busy crying or otherwise freaking the F' out up front, had finally realized his life goal of being a professional pilot.

[JBI]

Not saying that this assessment applies to the OP, but Supercharged does make a valid point. Some people just are not cut out to be in some jobs. Also, while there are certainly some people for who depression/anxiety are a real issue, there are a number of other people who pull the card out and use it as an escape when things get tough.

I definitely agree that some people are not cut out for certain jobs. However, a previous poster is unfortunately mixing up situations where someone may feel anxious as opposed to a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder.

In North America, generally speaking, psychiatric disorders are diagnosed through criteria set out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) that is published by the American Psychiatric Association (not "the government"). The background of the authors of this manual is impressive and they all are scientists or medical doctors. In order to be diagnosed with a recognized psychiatric disorder, specific diagnostic criteria are used - not just someone saying they feel "anxious", "stressed" or "depressed".

This does not mean there isn't controversy - the nature of psychiatric disorders and illnesses is somewhat subjective - there are often many disputes and debates between experienced medical professionals and scientists on what should be considered. But, they generally don't refer to anyone as a "fragile little snowflake" in these debates.

A person's feelings of anxiety to a particular stimuli or situation may or may not carry over to other situations. Could that affect if someone would make a safe pilot? You bet! But it is a logical fallacy to make the jump that someone who has an anxiety issue in one situation will need to "talk about their feelings" when faced with an aircraft emergency (or any other situation). Chris Hadfield gets anxious from heights yet he's seemed to have had a pretty decent career in aviation.

[SuperchargedRS]

Sure, some folks get a little anxious, ain't nothing wrong with that.

I've felt that way too a little, it reminds you that you're alive, but no where near anxious enough to get on a public forum and ask for the best way to drug myself whilst hanging into my medical, or even have that thought cross my mind.

[Meatservo]

You're right, you can be anything you want to be

I'm sure the dead pax families will find solace in knowing that their dead family members pilot, who was busy crying or otherwise freaking the F' out up front, had finally realized his life goal of being a professional pilot.

What dead pax families? Are you actually talking about something that happened? The German crash last year maybe?

That guy wasn't a frightened crybaby, that guy was a murderous psychopath. There is no way the system should have let him slide. But your way of thinking is exactly what lets people like this into the cockpit. Something wrong with you? Feel ashamed. Cover it up. Don't be weak. Pretend everything is cool.

Probably at least as many planes have been crashed by tough-guy macho douchebags who can't admit they have become temporarily medically unfit due to an emotional problem. You could probably get away with it if you were storming a beach in France. Not so much in a cockpit.

You're right about going on a forum, though. The next stop should be the doctor, and if he takes away your medical, it's probably for a good reason. If he doesn't however, it's not for us to mock the person, which is what you did. Admit it. It was a dick move.

[Rockie]

Sure, some folks get a little anxious, ain't nothing wrong with that.

I've felt that way too a little, it reminds you that you're alive, but no where near anxious enough to get on a public forum and ask for the best way to drug myself whilst hanging into my medical, or even have that thought cross my mind.

What makes you think you're normal and the OP isn't? He asked a question and you went into attack and ridicule mode - personally I think the OP is more balanced.