Depressed Pilot.

Not a professional pilot, but the understanding is that it can be like one of the most stressful jobs imaginable. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't captains sign a page before every flight saying they're physically healthy enough to be PIC? Imagine doing that every day of your career, with the knowledge in your head that you have psychiatric issues that haven't been dealt with. You're anxious now? Imagine if your livelihood (which happens to involve the lives of 200 innocent passengers) depended on successfully hiding a history of mental illness. Every day of your life. If there's any chance you think that's not going to work out, it's a stupid risk. It's bad aeronautical decision making. Not smart.

On the other hand, people can get a special issuance on anti-depressants. People can get a special issuance after having seen a therapist. As a fellow pilot, I'd happily share the skies with a guy who has openly sought help for personal issues and overcome them to the FAA's satisfaction. But it's not nice to think there might be people like you out there who are so selfish that they think their personal gratification is worth risking the lives of people they don't know, so they take the easy way out by closing their eyes and hoping they'll be ok.

If you're in college, life is long. You could take like 10 YEARS to work out your personal problems, get a special issuance, and still have a long flying career. Peace of mind, self-respect, strong mental health, insight and self-knowledge. Or you can jump into it now as your anxious, depressed self and "hope for the best," with the knowledge that you've had problems before and still have never come close to facing the kind of stress you're signing up for on an average day as an airline pilot. Up to you. Unfortunately, all we can do is hope you make the right choice.

Seriously, this is your life and others' you're talking about. We all jump through hoops to fly...I took two trains, a bus, and walked a half hour to each and every lesson. You can handle a few more hoops on the way. Get help.

/r/flying Thread