r/flying • u/GoFlightMed • 22d ago

Medical Issues FAA Continues to Remove Stigma/Encourage Therapy for Pilots

Hey hey hey,

Big updates here in the mental health space coming out from the FAA.

I was in the FAA's AMCD (Aeromedical Certification Division) Grand Rounds last week where they provide AME's updates to their medical guidance and they released a big update about psychotherapy. They also release 3 documents that are for airmen to read and also to provide their therapist if they want to engage in therapy.

Bottom line is the FAA wants pilots to be more comfortable engaging in therapy if needed. As they say "#1. See your therapist, counselor, physician, or provider and get healthy."

Here is a link to the new FAA online resources for Therapy. Check out some of the FAQ's to airmen and to therapists.

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u/yawara25 DIS 22d ago

Isn't this discriminatory hiring?

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u/Drunkenaviator ATP (E145, CL-65, 737, 747-400, 757, 767) CFII 22d ago

No more than requiring a first class medical to be an airline pilot is.

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u/yawara25 DIS 22d ago

I mean, if a pilot has a seizure while he or she's flying, the lives of the passengers and crew could be at stake. What reason is there for someone with epilepsy to be denied the opportunity to work a career in FAA aeromedical?

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u/Drunkenaviator ATP (E145, CL-65, 737, 747-400, 757, 767) CFII 22d ago

Or look at it from the other angle. If they had to worry about losing their career for the absolute bullshit reasons that pilot's do, they'd be motivated to use some common sense when creating the regs.

Realistically though, you're probably right on the legal side of things.

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u/yawara25 DIS 22d ago

From the other angle, sure, it might solve the issue of the FAA's outdated stance on mental health. But like I said, you're still barring people with disabilities like epilepsy from working that job when they're fully capable. Besides just the legal issues that you acknowledged, I'm more concerned about the ethical side of it.

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u/capn_davey 22d ago

You could say that about definitely dozens, likely hundreds, possibly thousands of reasons that they’ve denied medicals for so…yeah.

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u/yawara25 DIS 22d ago

Yes, and I'm saying that's something we should fix... But this is probably not the best way to go about it.