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We discriminate against pilots for their health quite broadly, not just their mental health. I think what makes mental health different than say, eyesight, is
by faeriechangling 4y ago
We discriminate against pilots for their health quite broadly, not just their mental health. I think what makes mental health different than say, eyesight, is that it's hard to fake having eyesight but relatively easy to fake being mentally healthy.
As such, the system doesn't effectively discriminate against the mentally healthy, it fails at such discrimination in all but the most extreme cases and instead succeeds in getting the mentally ill to seek less treatment.
- chrismeller 4y ago> but relatively easy to fake being mentally healthy. You know, there’s an argument to be made that if you can fake “normal” you’re close enough to be “normal”.
- Gunax 4y agoMental health is filled with poor incentives. Pilots are an extreme, but not unusual case. I think there is a confluence of factors: professionals are incentived to be over cautious, even to the extent that it's unhelpful. Most of the language around mental health is focused on extreme cases, and rational-but-suicidal people are lumped in. And society expects too much. We really cannot do much, especially for people who are capable of saying the right things. Every mass shooting is blamed on a lack of mental health care. But it seems there is seldom even a mental illness (eg. Steven Paddock) and even so--how would you prove it? Mental health isn't minority-report-style mind reading. When I read about this issue with pilots, it makes me think we have chosen a sub optional system based on outrage and not balance
- hgsgm 4y ago