Insensitive, out-of-touch? FAA's recent mental health post on Instagram

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The FAA recently posted a post, on their Instagram account, related to mental health. Go to the FAA's official account to read the comments for some light entertainment. FYI - You need an account to see all the comments.

A link directly to the post is below in one of the comments.
 
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Tarheelpilot said:
Can you tell me what they said. I don’t have an Instagram account
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"Mental Health Awareness Month is an important reminder to check in with ourselves and loved ones. Mental health is just as important as physical health. Good mental health helps you cope with stress and can improve your quality of life. Tap the link in our bio to get tips and resources from @nimhgovto help take care of your mental health. #MentalHealthMonth #mentalhealth#mentalhealthmatters#mentalhealthawareness"
 
Not entirely sure what's so insensitive about the FAA posting about maintaining positive mental health. It is (or... should be...) one of our personal checklist items before we crawl into the cockpit. Pilots struggling with mental health issues make for potentially compromised pilots.

Now... that said, the FAA does not deal with this stuff well, especially for chronic issues that require medication (ADD/ADHD, for instance). So, it certainly is a bit of talking out of both sides of their mouths at the same time. "Take care of your mental health! Be sure to seek professional guidance as necessary!" "Oh... you have some mental health issues? Oooooh, that's... that's too bad. Sorry, we'll need to take your ticket."
 
Steve Costello said:
Now... that said, the FAA does not deal with this stuff well, especially for chronic issues that require medication (ADD/ADHD, for instance). So, it certainly is a bit of talking out of both sides of their mouths at the same time. "Take care of your mental health! Be sure to seek professional guidance as necessary!" "Oh... you have some mental health issues? Oooooh, that's... that's too bad. Sorry, we'll need to take your ticket."
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I think that's been the general feeling for most commenters on that post.
 
I have no issue with the FAA's post. It's just a bit annoying that, whatever the current "month", "day" or cause-of-the-moment, every institution feels they need to post something about it.
 
.. I personally don't see anything wrong with a post advising people to take care of their mental health

.. I also think that not everybody has the mental capacity to be a pilot

.. and I do agree that the faa's medical process is an absolute disaster

Those three statements above need not be mutually exclusive!
 
AKiss20 said:
Or OP simply recognizes the FAA is being insanely hypocritical with its faux concern about mental health when it otherwise completely demonizes those who seek help for any such problems?
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Tantalum said:
.. I personally don't see anything wrong with a post advising people to take care of their mental health

.. I also think that not everybody has the mental capacity to be a pilot

.. and I do agree that the faa's medical process is an absolute disaster

Those three statements above need not be mutually exclusive!
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I guess my subject line was not intended to be biased one way or the other. My intent was for it be a conversation starter hence the "?" rather than a "!"
 
What does "SUS" mean in some of the comments?
 
My comment: "So how come the FAA uses an outdated version of the DSM?"
 
If the FAA is looking for mentally challenged folks ... this would be a great place to start! Yep ... I know I'm one. :crazy:
 
tHe FaA cArEs aBoUt YoUr mEnTaL HeaLTh

upload_2021-5-6_17-30-11.png
 
That FAA post would only seem insensitive to people who are overly sensitive, this is not directed at the original poster.
 
AKiss20 said:
Or OP simply recognizes the FAA is being insanely hypocritical with its faux concern about mental health when it otherwise completely demonizes those who seek help for any such problems?
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Was just a guess based on the fact that all of his other posts are about getting an SI.
 
PaulS said:
That FAA post would only seem insensitive to people who are overly sensitive, this is not directed at the original poster.
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I would hazard a guess that most people who at best paid thousands of dollars to restore their medical, or at worst got chewed up and spit out by the medical process, for doing exactly what the post suggests, taking care of their mental health and seeking help, would find it a bit insensitive.

Actions speak louder than words and the FAA, through its actions, have made it very clear that they don't actually care about pilots' mental health or desire them to get help, preventative or otherwise.
 
Palmpilot said:
My comment: "So how come the FAA uses an outdated version of the DSM?"
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The knowledge base and approach to mental illness have evolved quite a lot since DSM 4 was published 27 years ago in 1994. Unfortunately, the FAA's views have not evolved to keep up with current understandings. Using an outdated reference allows a faux sense of seriousness to their bureaucratic stagnation....or something.
 
AKiss20 said:
Actions speak louder than words and the FAA, through its actions, have made it very clear that they don't actually care about pilots' mental health or desire them to get help, preventative or otherwise.
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I don't know how many pilots I know have said that they're dealing with depression or mental health issues, but know they can't do anything about it without the FAA yanking their medical. Or they have to lie, and worry about the repercussions if it gets discovered later.

I understand the reasons for concern by the authorities, and those concerns are valid. But balance is key, and the system the FAA currently has implemented does not promote pilots taking care of their mental (or physical) health.
 
Instagram has become the new Facebook in that it is the way boomers think they can connect with the millennial, and now Gen-Z, crowd. I remember in the late 2000s, early 2010s how every single corporation suddenly thought they had to jump on the Facebook bandwagon to "grow their brand with the youth" and literally being in meetings during internships where this was said. Newsflash, it didn't work on Facebook and won't work on Instagram either. No idea why the FAA is bothering with this stuff.

As the comments say, post is sus.
 
AKiss20 said:
Instagram has become the new Facebook in that it is the way boomers think they can connect with the millennial, and now Gen-Z, crowd. I remember in the late 2000s, early 2010s how every single corporation suddenly thought they had to jump on the Facebook bandwagon to "grow their brand with the youth" and literally being in meetings during internships where this was said. Newsflash, it didn't work on Facebook and won't work on Instagram either. No idea why the FAA is bothering with this stuff.

As the comments say, post is sus.
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Lol, boomers, I love it, those corporations couldn't care less about connecting other than to relieve the youngsters of some of daddy's cash. Rock on!
 
Ted said:
I don't know how many pilots I know have said that they're dealing with depression or mental health issues, but know they can't do anything about it without the FAA yanking their medical.
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That's simply untrue, no matter how many times people repeat the same OWT.
 
Salty said:
His personal knowledge of people think that is an old wives tale?
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I don't know what his personal knowledge is, but what is quoted about not being able to seek help without losing one's medical is an old wives tale. If he knows pilots acting to their detriment based on that old wives tale, he should correct them. And around here, people should stop repeating it.
 
Lindberg said:
I don't know what his personal knowledge is, but what is quoted about not being able to seek help without losing one's medical is an old wives tale. If he knows pilots acting to their detriment based on that old wives tale, he should correct them. And around here, people should stop repeating it.
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If prefer if people stop pretending like having mental issues isn’t going to create problems for you as a pilot with a medical.
 
Salty said:
If prefer if people stop pretending like having mental issues isn’t going to create problems for you as a pilot with a medical.
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Define "having mental issues." Severe OCD, alcoholism, clinical depression, schizophrenia, drug addiction, and other serious mental illness, absolutely will and should cause problems with getting a medical. But I've been regularly seeing a psychologist for years and have never even had to report it to the FAA, despite holding a valid class 2 medical.
 
Lindberg said:
Define "having mental issues." Severe OCD, alcoholism, clinical depression, schizophrenia, drug addiction, and other serious mental illness, absolutely will and should cause problems with getting a medical. But I've been regularly seeing a psychologist for years and have never even had to report it to the FAA, despite holding a valid class 2 medical.
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If those were the only people affected by the FAA policies then your position would hold water.
 
Palmpilot said:
My comment: "So how come the FAA uses an outdated version of the DSM?"
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They have no use for alcohol use disorder mild/mod/severe.
They want yes you do /no you do-not and the DSM4 produces that.

do you want you Captain to have Alcohol Use Disorder, “mild “?
 
bbchien said:
They have no use for alcohol use disorder mild/mod/severe.
They want yes you do /no you do-not and the DSM4 produces that.

do you want you Captain to have Alcohol Use Disorder, “mild “?
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In order to answer that, I would need to know how DSM5 defines mild alcohol-use disorder.

In any case, if a case were classified as mild, couldn't the FAA still consider that disqualifying if they felt it was warranted?
 
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