Is it OK to admit I’m struggling? COVID-19 and mental health awareness

The global aviation industry was the first, and one of the most drastically affected industries in the world as the disease began its spread across the globe. To date, many Australian aviation companies have been forced to stand-down or let go a vast majority of their staff, at least until border restrictions ease and demand for travel returns. Major Australian airline carriers have suffered and buckled under the pressure, and their fate is still uncertain. And yet, the survey results suggest that the mental health and wellbeing of those working in the industry has somehow held up, relatively.

Those in the aviation sector were one of the least likely, across all the studied industries, to report a negative impact on their mental health amid the COVID-19 pandemic, even when compared with sectors that were objectively less affected. For example, while 17 per cent of those in the aviation industry reported a negative impact on their mental health, this proportion was down on the 23 per cent of those working in law who reported the same, and 21 per cent of those working in accounting.

Firstly, it is hardly surprising that one in six people in the industry are concerned with their mental wellbeing, after mass public layoffs and stand-downs, and the extreme uncertainty that follows; elevated levels of stress, anxiety, grief and depression are to be expected. However, considering the sheer enormous extent to which the sector has been hit, one might wonder why more aren’t admitting to feeling the heat.

Australian Aviation spoke with designated aviation medical examiner (DAME) and board member for the Australasian Society of Aerospace Medicine, Dr Jeremy Robertson, as well as Sharon Pearson, founder and life-coach at The Coaching Institute, to unpack these statistics.

Commenting on the survey results, Dr Robertson noted that many who have spent any meaningful amount of time in the industry are aware of its “cyclical nature”, and have seen this type of thing happen before.

“There seem to be some major global events that are totally outside the control of the sector, that massively impacts the sector … and I think that most people can see that this is finite,” Dr Robertson says.

“Pilots are trained to handle uncertainty and problem solve. I mean that probably goes for anyone that’s in management in aviation as well because it is such a volatile industry.”

Pearson shares a similar sentiment. She says that “uncertainty is a given” in anybody’s journey, but “to act like it is permanent, will only make it worse”, given the nature of the industry.

Despite this, Dr Robertson states that he is still “surprised” that more individuals, particularly those who are yet to spend decades in the industry and have been stood down at the front lines, aren’t reporting higher levels of stress and anxiety at the least. It appears that the lack of reporting on mental distress, despite encountering the most challenging economic climate of a generation, is a symptom of a much larger issue.

“There’s such a large stigma around mental health, generally, and that’s even more acute in the pilot community, because of a perception that a mental health issue will have an impact on your ability to hold an aviation medical,” Dr Robertson states. “That is something that is a very long-standing cultural attitude inside the pilot community.”

According to the DAME, big companies in the sector, including Qantas and Virgin, have made huge headway over the decades, utilising their resources to beat the stigma, acknowledge the importance of improving mental wellbeing, and improve the facilities available to pilots.

“I think the shift in focus from mental health to mental wellbeing has changed from a reactive thing to being proactive, and yet part of the picture is just looking after yourself. Just like you look after your weight and your cholesterol, you have to look after your mental wellbeing,” he says.

That’s been a community mindset shift we’ve seen in the last decade, he adds, and it’s been embraced by the aviation sector.

His understanding is that these companies have various “wellbeing programs” in place to support flight crew, “from just peer-support, all the way through to psychologists on-tap, available for staff to talk to”. He adds that mental health awareness initiatives are “well in place” at the “bigger end of town”, however, smaller GA companies might not yet have the resources to implement such awareness programs. This could potentially have an effect on the ongoing stigma in the community.

Despite shifting attitudes from the top down, the fact that the livelihood of a pilot is intrinsically linked to their ability to retain peak physical and mental wellbeing can mean that, outside of an anonymous survey, it’s difficult to admit you may be struggling, even amid a rampant worldwide disease outbreak, en masse industry job losses and a global economic crisis.

So… maybe I am struggling. What now?

First things first, no one is going to blame you for feeling stressed, anxious or even depressed in an era of major uncertainty; it’s only natural. As Pearson says, “No matter who we are, we are human.”

Pearson says that it is firstly important to acknowledge how you feel, whether it be grief over the loss of a job or income, or anxiety over the future. “To deny it is to create more mental ill-health,” she says. “To deny that real feeling would cause more problems.”

The first step to being able to move forward is to acknowledge the feelings and admit that perhaps you don’t yet have the tools you need to feel better.

“The goal isn’t to get through anything; it’s to grow through something,” Pearson adds.

Secondly, according to Dr Robertson, temporary hits to mental wellbeing, including those induced by COVID-19, are likely to be resolved relatively quickly, through the appropriate channels. He encourages those who are concerned about their wellbeing to flag it with their GP or DAME, and get the matter addressed before it escalates into something bigger and, ultimately, more detrimental.

“It’s more important to look after your mental health in a proactive fashion than to try and ignore it and let it get worse to a point where you need more treatment than if you’d had intervened earlier,” he says.

The danger of distraction

One major concern amid the COVID-19 pandemic is struggling individuals trying to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, which can quickly turn into an addiction. Both Dr Robertson and Pearson note that many pilots might turn to alcohol or substance abuse instead of seeking professional treatment, as it presents an easy way to ‘manage’ difficult and unresolved negative emotions.

Pearson says that turning to drugs and alcohol during a period of high stress and anxiety is little more than a way of distraction, and a means to avoid acknowledging true feelings and working through them. She calls this process an “obsessive distraction”, which in and of itself can perpetuate lower levels of mental wellbeing “because it’s distracting from what’s really going on”.

“There’s a difference between ill health and wellbeing. So, to get great wellbeing, we need to stay savouring and present to moments that give us joy or a sense of meaning,” Pearson says.

“To get lower levels of wellbeing and start reading the spectrum into the negative side, we need to obsess about distractions that can never give us joy or meaning, but literally just distract us from what we have trouble handling.”

She states that reliance on drugs and alcohol could exacerbate mental health issues, and essentially work to avoid treating the root cause of the problem, which, as mentioned earlier, can lead to more intensive treatment being required, potentially having a greater effect on your work life.

Dr Robertson notes that substance abuse does exist within the Australian aviation industry and that the use of alcohol, in particular, has been a part of the culture for a long time.

“The broader umbrella of mental health is something that I do see more often. Another role I have is I work with an organisation called HIMS Australia. They specifically look after pilots who have drug or alcohol problems, which is currently a very topical issue in the sector,” he says.

The industry has come a long way in recognising and supporting pilots through substance abuse issues. However, the pandemic situation could lead to an uptick in drug and alcohol reliance.

“The progression of the way drug and alcohol problems are managed in the aviation context has changed drastically in the last number of years. The COVID situation has brought these issues to the forefront again, and I think it’s necessary to be proactive to make sure those affected get through it,” Dr Robertson says.

He recommends that those who might recognise the signs in their own lives seek out help, through a GP, HIMS or via workplace support programs.

But… won’t seeking help potentially harm my career?

Dr Robertson thinks that mental health concerns, including substance abuse, are to be flagged and treated “just like any other” physical concern, and in many cases, seeking help will not be of any significant detriment to your career. Speaking specifically about mental wellbeing, Dr Robertson states that “if a pilot came to see me, the first thing I would be doing would be thanking them for being proactive about their mental health, and reminding them that this gets treated just like any other medical illness”.

One downside is that, for the sake of accurate and appropriate diagnosis and treatment, you may be asked to cease flying for a period of time. However, this means that for those who have been stood down or are otherwise not currently flying, now might be the ideal time to invest in the tools that could change the game for your ongoing mental wellbeing upkeep, through counselling or therapy.

“As far as their aviation medical goes, we may have to stop someone flying for a period of time, while you’re diagnosed, and the initial treatment happens,” Dr Robertson says.

Importantly, he states that “once the treatment is either complete or stable enough for them to return to the normal level of health, their aviation medical goes back to what it was before”.

While treatment will be dependent on the severity of the mental health issue at hand, many issues will be able to be resolved through the processes in place with your GP or DAME.

“For someone who’s just been through professional counselling and then, in fact, felt fine, that sort of stuff is not going to affect their medical. Yes, it might require support from a counsellor or me, but it’s not going to have a long-term effect,” Dr Robertson says.

You can be assured that processes are in place to ensure that you can get back to feeling happy and healthy, and, assuming that treatment is either completed, or the condition is stable enough for you to continue to work proficiently, your medical should remain intact.

Hmm… what would that process look like?

If and when you choose to approach your GP or your DAME with worries about your mental wellbeing, this is how you can expect the process to go.

“The general steps would be to spend time talking to that person, to target the types of problems they may be experiencing. Then, depending on how severe the problem was, you would decide the appropriate methods of intervention,” Dr Robertson says. “Some GPs who have additional mental health training will be happy to manage [lower-intensity concerns] of mental health. Others would refer people to counsellors to start with.”

He notes that for most people dealing with stress or anxiety that has been brought on by a specific turn of events, a few sessions of counselling could be all that is required. Recently, he says, there’s been an increase in the number of presentations of people experiencing anxiety and stress, and it usually only takes one or two sessions with a counsellor just for them to work through what it is that’s worrying them.

And if more treatment is required to have you back to feeling healthy and happy, then your doctor will support you through that.

“If counselling is not appropriate initially, or isn’t effective after a period of time, then I’d probably refer them onto a psychologist, for a bit more targeted treatment. And then the same goes, if that wasn’t effective or appropriate initially, then we’d send them to a psychiatrist for medical therapy, as well as all of the other support that psychologists and counsellors provide,” he says.

It’s time

Dr Robertson concludes by saying that if you’re feeling worried about your mental wellbeing, it’s time to speak to someone you trust.

“If you’re worried enough about your health that you want to speak to someone, but you’re worried about speaking to someone, that is a golden case for: really you do need to speak to someone about your mental health,” he says. “It comes down to who you’re comfortable speaking to. I thoroughly recommend just going to speak to your GP.”

The DAME also recommended seeking assistance through workplace support programs such as EAP (employee assistance program) services or other programs facilitated through the workplace. However, if you’re feeling stressed at the thought of going through either of those channels, some methods can feel a little less intimidating.

“If you don’t have a regular GP, I could recommend some of the telephone services. Beyond Blue is one that has telephone counselling available … There are also anonymous processes that mean that you can speak to someone initially without the perceived flow-on effects,” Dr Robertson says.

He adds, “If nothing else, talk to your mates. That’s something fantastic that I’ve seen in the last few months amongst the pilot community, people setting up regular Zoom meetings or catch ups.”

He notes that sometimes, just “bouncing ideas off someone”, and feeling heard and understood, can make a huge difference not only to your wellbeing, but also to theirs.

As you can see, there are plenty of options available to those who might be feeling uncertain, stressed and unsure how to process during this difficult time. Dr Robertson encourages those feeling this way to be proactive with their wellbeing, reach out through a channel that you trust and get back to feeling healthy and happy.

If you, or someone you know, is experiencing difficulty during this time, please don’t struggle on your own. Contact Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636, HIMS Australia on 0414 767 300, or a trusted GP.