This article summarises the article by Captain Dave Fielding, from the British Air Line Pilots’ Association, ‘Recognising and dealing with stress’: http://bit.ly/2v5djod.

The 2015 Germanwings crash shed light on a formerly stigmatised issue: pilot mental health issues. Since then, countries have started looking into implementing Peer Pilot Support Programmes – EASA is even considering making them compulsory in every Member State. In Belgium, BeCA has taken the lead and started talks with the main stakeholders (the next meeting is planned for this fall). But all these initiatives will only work if pilots speak up.

The link between mental health issues and flight safety could not be any clearer. They no longer have the stigma that they did – it’s OK to talk about them.

Stress is a very complex issue that can lead to mental health diseases, such as depression, alcohol/drug abuse, etc. As pilots, we are used to dealing with stress on a daily basis at work. We usually face temporary stressful situations and find temporary solutions, whilst in our everyday private life, these situations aren’t always time limited, which can lead to continued stress.

Because we are not used to failures and because we fear that we could lose our licence, we are not always keen on sharing our mental health problems. One in four people in the general population will suffer from mental health issues, which suggests that pilots are underreporting their own problems.

Let’s be clear: avoiding it is a bad decision and no longer makes sense, for 2 main reasons:

• The Germanwings tragedy helped reduce the stigma over mental health issues and shed light on these diseases. They can now therefore be more easily spotted and healed;
• The vast majority of mental health injuries heal completely with no licence implications, especially if they are caught early. You can have a temporary removal of licence, but that applies to physical injuries as well;

Let us end this article with some advice:

• Be aware of yourself and be honest with yourself;
• Talk to someone you trust: a relative, a close friend, your BeCA Vice-President, etc.
• Use the pilot support programmes (if available, otherwise contact BeCA): they’ll understand you and be able to give you proper assistance;
• Don’t forget: the later you talk about it, the more difficult it will be to heal it;
• A temporary loss of licence does not mean your career is over.

So, don’t hesitate anymore, speak up!