Airplanes are considered the safest mode of transportation, but with the recent findings brought about by an anonymous study, these findings might affect the perception of every airline passengers from now. The study that has caught the attention of everyone is about most airline pilots suffering from clinical depression.
In a study conducted through an anonymous global survey and published in Biomedcentral, authors Wu, et.al, were able to conclude that most airline pilots are depressed. A total of 3,485 pilots took part in the survey but only 1,848 completed the questions about mental healthy.
With the prevalence of mental illnesses in our time right now, it is still alarming to know that there is still a social stigma when it comes to people suffering from such illnesses. Pilots, among many other profession, suffer from such and hides behind secrecy for fear of losing their jobs. Thus, in order for the team to make pilots answer the survey, they formed the questions in a way that will not make the pilot think it really is a survey about their mental health. Finding showed that 233 pilots or 12.6 percent of them showed signs of depression. Meanwhile, 1,430 pilots who reported to have worked within the past seven days, results showed that 193 of them are depressed as well, or 13.5 percent.
According to an article released by CNN, the study was released a year and a half after news of a Germanwings co-pilot who locked the pilot out and crashed the plane into the French alps, which killed 150 people, and the cause behind such action was said to be because of thoughts of suicide. With that being said, the World Health Organization mentioned that although there are a number of effective treatments for such illnesses, only few people are seeking treatment because of the said social stigma.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
