FAA Ends Ban on Pilot Antidepressant Use

[Anasazi23]

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http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/faa-ends-ban-antidepressant-pilots/story?id=10264194

I know that I've had quite a few pilots come to my office stating that they're caught between a rock and a hard place when it come to their depressive symptoms and desire for treatment versus disclosing this to the FAA.

Glad to see they've come around. The comments section is particularly interesting on the ABC website. People are grossly misinformed.

 

[sunlioness]

I'm really glad they're starting to make changes in this area. And you're right. Some of those comments are amazingly clueless. All drugs can have side effects, but they don't tell people they can't fly when they're on blood pressure meds. And personally I'd rather have a pilot flying on prozac than a clinically depressed pilot not getting tx because he's afraid for his job.

 

[whopper]

I'd feel safer with a pilot on Prozac, who is known to be stable on that medication than a pilot who was just prescribed a beta-blocker.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

I'd feel safer with a pilot on Prozac, who is known to be stable on that medication than a pilot who was just prescribed a beta-blocker.

Or than with a pilot whose depression is untreated due to social or occupational stigma.
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