One in eight commercial airline pilots may be clinically depressed, global survey finds
Hundreds of pilots may suffer from depression, Harvard study reveals, and many may not be seeking treatment for fear of impact on their careers, researcher says. Plus: can playing Pokemon Go help you lose weight?
Hundreds of commercial airline pilots currently flying may be clinically depressed, according to an anonymous survey of nearly 1,850 pilots from over 50 countries conducted by researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
About one in eight respondents met the criteria for “likely depression”, say the researchers in their report published online in the journal Environmental Health.
“We found that many pilots currently flying are managing depressive symptoms, and it may be that they are not seeking treatment due to the fear of negative career impacts,” says Joseph Allen, assistant professor of exposure assessment science and senior author of the study. “There is a veil of secrecy around mental health issues in the cockpit. By using an anonymous survey, we were able to guard against people’s fears of reporting due to stigma and job discrimination.”
The findings come a year and a half after Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who suffered from depression, deliberately crashed a plane into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.
