Anxiety past. Do I have any chance of getting Cat 1 Medical?

[tired of the ground]

It is not possible to apply for multiple categories of medicals and will only confuse the process. They will give their decision on the Cat 1 in due (i.e. slow) time and that is only where the fun begins.

You have two possibilities. Yes you have a Cat 1 or no you don't have a Cat 1.

If the answer is No then there are 2 possibilities. Straight out "no", which then you can decide if it's worth an appeal with documentation from doctors. Otherwise it will be "no", but we need more documentation.

Don't give up. Work with the system, not against it. Far more people are successful working within the system than trying to dodge it.

Good luck. I don't have a medical opinion as I fly planes for a living but I would be happy to share a cockpit with you.

[Tailwheelup]

I've seen this discussion verbally with several experienced pilots.
First, the description given here is called "a reactive disorder".
That is, circumstances beyond the posters control caused the anxiety
that is only human and normal.

If the stressors no longer exist, it should not be a problem.

If it requires medication, that is another story and any pilot needs to think
carefully before popping pills on a prescription by a doctor who does not realize the prejudice.
It may be better for the doctor to prescribe say time off, or suggest other solutions to the problem
rather than magic happy pills that do not deal with the causal factors that
will often just find another way of screwing up life.

Now, if "medication" is required, it could and might result in a demand for a mental health assessment
and these can be expensive.

I know of one career pilot with a prestigious job that a vindictive wife
engaged in years of improper conduct that caused stressors that ended his career,
required a $6,000 assessment before he got his class one medical back but by that time
the career opportunity could not be recommenced.

The real dangers are multiple stressors at the same time.
Take a vindictive spouse, alienation of the kids, fabricated criminal charges for posturing,
the death or deaths of people close to you, resultant sleep deprivation and you have
the causes of acute stress that escalates with time into chronic stress.

It's those factors together that become insidious.

While TC and the FAA have slowly evolved their understandings, its rarely mentioned in
company documents or asked about in medicals.

When you think about the incredible number of subjects that aviation employees have to pass
in their hiring process, the above is rarely discussed and plans to deal with the issues
just do not exist when in reality, its pretty important stuff.

[Tailwheelup]

I've seen this discussion verbally with several experienced pilots.
First, the description given here is called "a reactive disorder".
That is, circumstances beyond the posters control caused the anxiety
that is only human and normal.

If the stressors no longer exist, it should not be a problem.

If it requires medication, that is another story and any pilot needs to think
carefully before popping pills on a prescription by a doctor who does not realize the prejudice.
It may be better for the doctor to prescribe say time off, or suggest other solutions to the problem
rather than magic happy pills that do not deal with the causal factors that
will often just find another way of screwing up life.

Now, if "medication" is required, it could and might result in a demand for a mental health assessment
and these can be expensive.

I know of one career pilot with a prestigious job that a vindictive wife
engaged in years of improper conduct that caused stressors that ended his career,
required a $6,000 assessment before he got his class one medical back but by that time
the career opportunity could not be recommenced.

The real dangers are multiple stressors at the same time.
Take a vindictive spouse, alienation of the kids, fabricated criminal charges for posturing,
the death or deaths of people close to you, resultant sleep deprivation and you have
the causes of acute stress that escalates with time into chronic stress.

It's those factors together that become insidious.

While TC and the FAA have slowly evolved their understandings, its rarely mentioned in
company documents or asked about in medicals.

When you think about the incredible number of subjects that aviation employees have to pass
in their hiring process, the above is rarely discussed and plans to deal with the issues
just do not exist when in reality, its pretty important stuff.

[flyingjunkie]

It is not possible to apply for multiple categories of medicals and will only confuse the process. They will give their decision on the Cat 1 in due (i.e. slow) time and that is only where the fun begins.

You have two possibilities. Yes you have a Cat 1 or no you don't have a Cat 1.

If the answer is No then there are 2 possibilities. Straight out "no", which then you can decide if it's worth an appeal with documentation from doctors. Otherwise it will be "no", but we need more documentation.

Don't give up. Work with the system, not against it. Far more people are successful working within the system than trying to dodge it.

Good luck. I don't have a medical opinion as I fly planes for a living but I would be happy to share a cockpit with you.

You are right, the wise thing to do right now would be to wait for their response and not screw up the process by submitting another medical. Lets see what happens. Anyways, thanks for you advise

[flyingjunkie]

I've seen this discussion verbally with several experienced pilots.
First, the description given here is called "a reactive disorder".
That is, circumstances beyond the posters control caused the anxiety
that is only human and normal.

If the stressors no longer exist, it should not be a problem.

If it requires medication, that is another story and any pilot needs to think
carefully before popping pills on a prescription by a doctor who does not realize the prejudice.
It may be better for the doctor to prescribe say time off, or suggest other solutions to the problem
rather than magic happy pills that do not deal with the causal factors that
will often just find another way of screwing up life.

Now, if "medication" is required, it could and might result in a demand for a mental health assessment
and these can be expensive.

I know of one career pilot with a prestigious job that a vindictive wife
engaged in years of improper conduct that caused stressors that ended his career,
required a $6,000 assessment before he got his class one medical back but by that time
the career opportunity could not be recommenced.

The real dangers are multiple stressors at the same time.
Take a vindictive spouse, alienation of the kids, fabricated criminal charges for posturing,
the death or deaths of people close to you, resultant sleep deprivation and you have
the causes of acute stress that escalates with time into chronic stress.

It's those factors together that become insidious.

While TC and the FAA have slowly evolved their understandings, its rarely mentioned in
company documents or asked about in medicals.

When you think about the incredible number of subjects that aviation employees have to pass
in their hiring process, the above is rarely discussed and plans to deal with the issues
just do not exist when in reality, its pretty important stuff.

This makes really curious about how do pilots deal with tragic situations . As you said, most of us experience things like, like loss of loved ones, divorce, losing jobs, finances and many more. And ofcourse anyone going through these circumstances is bound to experience stress which can give rise to anxiety or depression. What I feel is that TC and airline companies should be a little more considerate, because as other posters pointed out there are pilots out there, who, because of the fear of loosing their career, try to brush their "circumstantial stress" under the carpet. I could be wrong but maybe GermanWings guy was also doing the same mistake.

[Dry Guy]

I'd like to thank you also, flyingjunkie. Because of your links I've started daily meditation practice.

[bearitus]

Pilots have to endure more stress than the average career especially at the start with the difficulty of finding a job, low pay, long hours, big loans and moving across the country.

What I found works for me more than anything is daily exercise especially cardio as well as eliminating all alcohol and caffeine.

[HansDietrich]

The reality of it is that a lot of pilots are suffering from some sort of depression, anxiety and mental illness. Most of them are afraid to mention anything to their doctor in fear that they may lose their medical. The laws have to change and allow pilots to keep flying if they are under a supervised and approved treatment. I'm not a medical professional, so I can't comment on what illness should or should not pull one's Class 1 medical.

As far as the original post, do what other people have mentioned. Ask the advice of your family doctor and your aviation doctor. AVCanada is no place to get medical advice.