Out Of The Blue

Just like most approaches to the runway it’s all going very well, on speed, on height, a stable rate of descent. I’m approaching the final 50 feet and I can sense the ground rush where everything in front of me suddenly gets bigger. I’m introducing some back pressure to develop the flare and settle the aircraft onto the runway, making sure I keep my muscles relaxed to deliver the finesse required to land a large jet aircraft. While it may look easy it requires careful, sometimes delicate control inputs to smoothly land an aircraft that weighs a few hundred tons, including an ability to remain calm under stressful situations, for example gusty winds, low cloud and poor visibility. The approach this morning is very pleasant: a clear view of the airfield the whole way down, with a transition in the latter stages from my cockpit instruments to some external lights that help guide me onto the runway.

‘With the ongoing pilot shortage the flight hours have been steadily increasing’

It’s a greaser, a very light, gentle and smooth touchdown, easing the wheels onto the runway. Afterwards, the cabin crew will provide some feedback from a few passengers “what a wonderful flight, so smooth on landing that I didn’t realise we were on the ground”. Despite everything that’s been done in the previous several hours the primary judgement by passengers of my ability and skill as a pilot ultimately comes down to about 20-30 seconds in the final landing phase. That combined with the clear, confident and articulate passenger briefs we’ve provided along the way! I’m now dozing on and off in the back seat of a taxi, able to switch off post flight and relieved to be heading home after a busy schedule. It’s the first time I’ve made the call to leave my car at the office carpark and to take advantage of the new company policy that encourages crew to take a taxi if too fatigued for the final drive home. It will involve filling out some paperwork so the company can better understand and track the impact of various flight schedules and fatigue. I’m still feeling a little guilty about making the call to use the taxi and as I drift in and out of some light sleep, I remind myself it’s better to get home in one piece than not at all.

I used to enjoy this flight sector, particularly those early days when it was novel, but with the ongoing pilot shortage the flight hours have been steadily increasing. The once loose jokes of only working eight days every month and needing a second job to keep busy are long gone. I’ve been in the international long-haul game for a few years now. When I first started it was fun, particularly the excitement of flying to new countries, but as I’m getting a little older it’s getting more challenging and the novelty has long worn off.

The greater workload with regular time away from home is not only increasing my general levels of fatigue but also starting to cause some friction with those I love. As a long-haul pilot, it’s not unusual to be away from home for about half of the year which, combined with the constant adjustments to different time zones and the ever-present effects of jet lag, can result in the time at home between flight schedules being far less productive than required as my body readjusts to local time.

Often low on energy for the first couple of days, the kids quickly pick up that I’m not as much fun and I regularly have trouble being able to deliver what they need. I’ve been away and they are craving my attention.

My partner is equally tired having been a single parent for many days, not helped by the washing machine breaking down while I was overseas which further increased the stress for the family with little I could do from a foreign country.

‘There is clear evidence that regular time away … can have a debilitating effect’

I’m sometimes struggling to ensure I adequately recover before the next flight which might be only a few days away. I’ve started to think the time when I’m away is not so bad, a comfortable hotel, the flexibility to make my own decisions but mostly it’s not having to manage the arguments, which seem to be on the rise. When I’m away I feel safe and in control of my own destiny. It’s the transition back into their lives and routines that’s becoming the problem.

More and more often now I’m feeling like an outsider, a parent that doesn’t quite seem to have the same mutual respect with the kids. It’s not unusual for them to default to my partner rather than take on board my own parenting direction. When I do get back from a flight my partner always seems so busy catching up with close friends that there doesn’t seem to be much time left for me. We used to enjoy dinner dates, but I can’t remember the last occasion where we had time for that.

And this constant cycle is now resulting in me feeling deeply frustrated. It doesn’t feel like they even know that the constant travel is hard on me and that while I miss them when I’m away I’m doing this to deliver a good wage so we can have a good life. We get to make choices: we can afford to send the kids to a good school, we get to take family holidays overseas.

I feel confused, lonely, misunderstood, not appreciated and the more this cycle repeats itself the worse it seems to get. My world feels like it’s starting to fall apart, and I just don’t know why. And I’m reluctant to discuss this with a health professional as the last thing I need is to jeopardise my aircrew medical. What’s going on, what’s my problem?.

Human survival and small communities

There is clear evidence that regular time away, whether you work as longhaul aircrew, corporate charter, or fly-in/fly-out type arrangements (for example taking a promotion – second officer to first officer, first officer to captain) in one city while leaving your family in another can, if not carefully managed, have a debilitating effect over the longer term.

It is further exacerbated by to the impact of new technology, particularly smartphones and other portable devices with highly addictive applications that may take us away from the normal, healthy habit patterns, including social connections that help keep our brains balanced. Furthermore, the new mantra of society is ‘busyness’: a significantly decreased downtime with a corresponding increase in the release of stress hormones in the brain and a reduction in the release of the good chemicals that are necessary for the longer-term maintenance of healthy “heads”.

If you look back at the evolutionary path, human survival depended on the ability to live and work together in close communities. Our brains and what keep us happy are still hard wired from this evolutionary process.

Face-to-face, social interaction and engagement, and a genuine and deep sense of community purpose and belonging, something bigger than ourselves as individuals, are critical processes that allow our brains to release the correct mix of chemicals.

Based on this longer-term need to survive, the middle section of our brain triggers a fear response when there is a threat to belonging to an important community, such as your family or friends. When activated, an aggressive response can be triggered quite sub-consciously, almost as a ‘fight and flight’ reaction.

It can prove confusing for most people who experience it and may even require the intervention of a local doctor or psychologist to help understand what’s going on and why. It doesn’t happen overnight, rather it builds up slowly over time.

Aircrew new to a role that they are finding exciting may yet need to understand the real impact of ongoing flight rosters and time away from the community.

In the introductory scenario, our pilot is unaware that the brain is responding normally to what is considered a significant threat to survival, with emotional outbursts a by-product of not feeling a sense of belonging to the important community at home. The changes in mood, coupled with negative self-talk (for example, I’m not good enough) are a sign the effects of the ongoing and regular travel and disrupted sleep patterns are leading to troubles with re-integrating into the normal routines.

For some, this is an all-too familiar scenario given there is often one partner in a relationship with the primary role of taking care of the home and/or other family members. This person over the longer term has deeper connections with the local community, often through capacity to be a regular part of local parenting groups, more regular attendance at sporting events and social gatherings, and the development of closer bonds with other family and close friends.

In general, many parts of society have been drifting towards selfinflicted loneliness which is why the need to manage mental health and longer-term wellbeing is becoming more critical to both the aviation community and other high stakes workplaces – aviation, emergency services or those involving operation of complex equipment in challenging environments (mining, for example).

A drift towards self-inflicted loneliness

Philip Slater, an American sociologist and author of the bestselling 1970 book The Pursuit of Loneliness was an early leader in identifying societal trends that were having debilitating effects. In Western society (his research was based in the United States), Slater recognised a trend that displaying affl uence and success was associated with a move towards larger more private homes, a private means of transportation, a private garden, a private laundry, self-service stores and do-it-yourself skills of every kind.

This was combined with an enormous change in technology which seemed to have set itself the task of making it unnecessary for one human being ever to ask anything of another in the course of daily business.

Slater identifi ed, even within families, trends that each family member should have a separate room, a separate television, a separate telephone and own car (when economically possible). He found people seeking more and more privacy were feeling more and more alienated and lonely as an outcome. He observed people actively seeking the thing that was making them unhappy and bitter.

And this was before the impact of other disruptive technology such as smartphones, Facebook, Twitter and so on.

Another husband and wife team, Dr Jacqueline Olds and Dr Richard Schwartz, associate Clinical Professors of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and authors of The Lonely American, have identifi ed a drift towards self-infl icted loneliness.

They’ve found that perfectly reasonable people with no problems are retreating from the turmoil of social contact that until recently formed the fabric of almost everyone’s daily life. The retreat is a quiet one, a set of small steps back rather than a dramatic dropping out.

You often hear, over and over, how busy people feel. They complain about being too busy but if you listen closely most are proud of their busyness, it serves as a badge of toughness, success and importance. Everyone is too busy, and we often feel that we won’t make contact with someone because we don’t want to intrude. Due to this busyness and the application of new technology, we can treat socialising as if it’s a frivolous diversion from the tasks at hand rather than an activity that is essential to our wellbeing as individuals and a community.

For many, our culture currently views isolating behaviours as marks of high status: so many more possessions and technologies that each person must have one for themselves rather than sharing with others. Rising status is resulting in people who are too busy to chat or even to answer the telephone.

It’s no wonder for some of you that you’re fi nding it challenging to be the best you can and to genuinely feel happy.

What you need for your brain to thrive

Dr Mike Dow, author of The Brain Fog Fix summarises a large body of research to identify what your brain needs to thrive and to maintain the right balance of chemicals to deliver sustained, high performance outcomes for the longer-term: » proper nutrition with the right vitamins, essential amino acids and healthy fats; » exercise; » suffi cient restful sleep; » regular, healthy circadian rhythms ie going to bed and waking up around the same time each day; » downtime for relaxation and restoration; » purpose and meaning, including a spiritual connection to something larger than yourself.

The last point doesn’t have to be a religious experience, rather it could be coaching a local children’s sporting team, being a member of a local community assistance and/or taking regular time out to be in the moment (surfi ng, for example, where you remove distracting devices to feel the sun’s warmth, to look at the cool water, and to refl ect on the beauty of the coast and the ocean. ) These are all means to keep the balance required in an ever-busy society.

The impact on aviation

Aviation is challenging enough, having to manage long and routine periods away, a work role that tends to operate at two extremes (boredom to high stress) and all the while trying to maintain a connection with your family and the local community.

While Part 1 of this article serves as an introduction to highlight the impact of societal changes and the infl uence of emerging technology, in next month’s article I will further discuss the impact of technology, the degradation of attentional focus as well as provide some clear insights and tips on how to build new habit patterns for high performance to enhance your professional and personal lives. I will also highlight how these processes can contribute to longer life expectancy.

So, between now and next month my advice is simple: identify your close friends, make time to catch up with them, consciously remove distracting devices (turn off your phone) and get re-engaged with talking about those things that you’re fi nding challenging in life, both at work and home. And if things are pretty good for you, take the time to identify and make contact with a close friend who is showing signs of being withdrawn or someone you just haven’t caught up with for a while due to being too busy.

‘People seeking more and more privacy were feeling more and more alienated’