Hello everyone, I have a questions about medical and depression.
I have a friend who is a commercial pilot in Canada who feels that he may need to seek the advice of a professional to deal with what he thinks may be depression.
Curious to know what seeing a doctor regarding depression might do to one's medical?
Thanks you
Depression and a friends medical
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I know a guy that went on happy pills, and his medical got yanked for a few weeks to see if there were any adverse effects. There were none, so he continued to fly after that. Soon he got laid and didn't need the happy pills any more.
I've heard that talking helps cure depression. It stimulates the frontal lobe of the brain which kicks the rest of the brain into gear. Well, that's what one Psych prof at school said.
My $0.02.
But a Medical Examiner would really be the person to talk to. (My $0.03)
-istp
I've heard that talking helps cure depression. It stimulates the frontal lobe of the brain which kicks the rest of the brain into gear. Well, that's what one Psych prof at school said.
My $0.02.
But a Medical Examiner would really be the person to talk to. (My $0.03)
-istp
There are actually a pretty good number of "medicated" depressive people flying these days. It really depends on severity and treatment required so they are approved individually. There is no blanket coverage but also no psyc evaluation required to hold a medical. You can fly with the condition, but not with many of the meds.
Transport has realised that it is better to be treated, than not but, the intial medical treatment will ground your friend. Health first though! There are many, non-pharma treatments that should be explored first.
Most important is finding the right physician. If in the YYZ area, Dr. R. Knipping is the leader in this field.
Transport has realised that it is better to be treated, than not but, the intial medical treatment will ground your friend. Health first though! There are many, non-pharma treatments that should be explored first.
Most important is finding the right physician. If in the YYZ area, Dr. R. Knipping is the leader in this field.
Your "friend" needs to look at TP13312, which Transport is supposed to use in these sorts of situations (but rarely seems to).
Click on:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/Cam/t ... s/menu.htm
Click on:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/Cam/t ... s/menu.htm
Depression:
Ongoing depression is disqualifying condition. May be recertified after full recovery and cessation of treatment. Waiting period prior to recertification will be individually assessed. Report from attending physician or psychiatrist likely required.
Note: Applicants who have been treated for a depressive illness and who are on maintenance or prophylactic therapy with non-sedating selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may be considered for medical certification on an individual basis after review by the CAM Aviation Medicine Review Board.
Stay away from the Transport doctor, go to your GP and ask for a referral to a psychiatrist and get diagnosed. If there is nothing to worry about, Bob's yer uncle. If there is a medical problem, Transport is the last to talk to. Voluntarily grounding yourself is a lot different from telling TC. When you get better you can get all the letters and stuff ready and submit the whole thing as a done deal.
"What's it doing now?"
"Fly low and slow and throttle back in the turns."
"Fly low and slow and throttle back in the turns."
Um, no. By law you have to identify yourself as a pilot whenever you seek medical consultation from any doctor!. And, in turn, the physician must report anything that they feel may impede your skills as a pilot. If you don't report yourself, have a legitimate problem, get better, hand in your documentation to Transport, hang on! You WILL get investigated, fined, and possibly suspened till Transport concludes a satisfactory result. I know, I did it, and recieved the full brunt of their hammer. And it was something very simple as well. Be very carefull, they live for this stuff.
Last edited by onmyway on Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
Man, I've tried nuthin and I'm all out of Ideas!
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Is there not something called doctor/patient confidentiality? Say for instance you go to a walk in clinic and don't identify yourself as a pilot, get prescribed a drug for a temporary condition that may (technically) disqualify your medical? Do you mean to say that the information on who and when got the prescription will somehow magically appear on a TC medical dudes laptop, and you will end up with big brother on your doorstep shortly thereafter with taser in hand and goons to enforce it?swpilot wrote:Um, no. By law you have to identify yourself as a pilot whenever you seek medical consultation from any doctor!. And, in turn, the physician must report anything that they feel may impede your skills as a pilot. If you don't report yourself, have a legitimate problem, get better, hand in your documentation to Transport, hang on! You WILL get investigated, fined, and possibly suspened till Transport concludes a satisfactory result. I know, I did it, and recieved the full brunt of their hammer. And it was something very simple as well. Be very carefull, they live for this stuff.
Yep but there are specific exceptions are for pilots and drivers. You are legally required to tell the doctor so they know that the exception for pilots applies to you where as the doctor can probably guess/ask if you are a driver. If a doctor finds anything they think will imped your ability to drive they are required to report it to the provincial government.
Of course the exception only applies to issues which would make you dangerous operating either type of vehicle.
Of course the exception only applies to issues which would make you dangerous operating either type of vehicle.
If your friend has depression, he needs to be treated for it. Then the treatment takes priority over the fact he loses his medical. If, however, he is just bummed out like Tibor says, there is no reason to involve TC because once you do, I would estimate that it will take anything from 3 to 6 months to get a medical back and if you are with Mickey Mouse Air Services, you are likely unemployed, too.
Use logic and your good sense to deal with this. The bottom line is, if he is clinically depressed he must be treated as this is a serious, life-threatening condition.
Use logic and your good sense to deal with this. The bottom line is, if he is clinically depressed he must be treated as this is a serious, life-threatening condition.
"What's it doing now?"
"Fly low and slow and throttle back in the turns."
"Fly low and slow and throttle back in the turns."
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/a ... tml#196690
Pilots On Anti-Depressants "Safer"
The first study on the safety records of pilots taking anti-depressants suggests they're no more likely to crash an aircraft than those who don't need the drugs. The study was done in Australia, the only place it could be done since it's the only country that allows pilots to take anti-depressants and keep their medicals. "There was virtually no difference in the number of incidents or accidents," Professor Kathy Griffiths, a mental health researcher from Australian National University, told a mental-health conference in Australia. "But importantly, there was a tendency for more accidents in the period prior to pilots going on to anti-depressants, but not once they were on them."
Use of anti-depressants is medically disqualifying in all other jurisdictions, but Australia has allowed them since 1993 and up until 2004 the medicated and unmedicated pilots groups each had five major accidents. The unmedicated had 15 incidents compared to 18 for those on the drugs but that wasn't considered a significant difference. "This really confirms for the first time that the longstanding liberal policy of supervised anti-depressant use introduced by CASA to allow medicated pilots is a good one," said Professor James Ross, a co-investigator and former aviation medical specialist with Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). "But it does raise a lot of questions about what is happening in all these other countries, where presumably people secretly take medication unsupervised, or they just fly depressed, increasing their chance of incident."
