hey there i'm in the middle of writing a paper on " mental illness among airline pilots". however i only need help with abstract (200-300) words
I only want the abstract only to be written. You can use my intro, lit review and methodology to summarise
Mental Illness Among Airline Pilots I only want the abstract only to be written. You can use my intro, lit review and methodology to summarise (Abstract) Insane pilots crash planes. That bad. CASA doing nothing about it the also bad. Here is DAME suggestions. They good. Pilots agree. The end. Introduction Mental illness is a widespread, highly stigmatised disorder that affects over half of the population of Australians during their lifetime (Health Direct 2016). With up to one in ten people affected by mental illness dying by suicide (Health Direct 2016), this has massive implications to the aviation industry; an industry based on safety and trust, that a large number of the general population use on a regular basis. Especially in regular public transport, or more commonly known as airline operations, the general public have little understanding of the process of flight, and put their lives in the hands of professional pilots to see them safely to their destination. But what if the pilot has an underlying mental health issue that has been hidden from their doctor, family and/or employer? This has been an increasing problem, especially highlighted by events such as Germanwings Flight 9525 of March 2015, where a pilot utilised a passenger aircraft as a means to commit suicide and in addition killing many innocent people. A critical factor that led to the accident was the lack of medical information provided to the Germanwings about their pilot’s mental situation as it was dependent upon self-declaration (BEA, 2016). The mental health of pilots in Australia is currently assessed by the pilot’s Designated Aviation Medical Examiner (DAME) in an annual medical assessment to gain a Class 1 medical certificate; a check required to be fit for flight. However, if this medical is not passed then the pilot’s livelihood, lifestyle, income and family can be in jeopardy. The question arises; do pilots fear reporting changes to their mental health or suspicion of mental illness because they fear punitive measures imposed by the government aviation regulator or their employer? Combined with the dominance of pilots being male (McCarthy, Budd & Ison 2015), and males only 27% likely to seek help for mental illness (White 2013), this creates a potential for a massive problem With mental health being a very important factor in how a person acts and the decisions they make, this can have a drastic effect on the safety of airline travel. Due to society’s negative perception of mental illness, many people already struggle to talk about their feelings for fear that something is wrong with them. Pilots have the added stress of potentially being stood down if they are found to be medically unfit. As a result, there could be added pressure on pilots to appear as if they are coping in their lives to avoid a loss of livelihood, and it may be incredibly difficult for a pilot to come forward and talk to a professional without any punitive actions taking place. It raises the question as to whether the current mental health screening process is effective in detecting any abnormalities in a pilot’s mental state. If the screening process is found to be ineffective then what steps can be taken to improve the effectiveness of the assessments? Thus the research questions for the study are: 1. How effective is the current Australian CASA’s screening process into pilot mental health and how can it be improved? 2. What would encourage pilots to seek help for their potential mental health issues? The research aim is to develop an understanding of how effective mental health screening is in the aviation industry, and if improvements can be made for pilots to access professional help if need be. The research questions are: Literature Review (Sheridyn) Mental Illness and Stigma Mental illnesses are highly stigmatised due to misinformation, prejudice, and discrimination (Beyondblue, 2015). Those with mental illness are unlikely to seek treatment due to feelings of shame, guilt, disgrace and embarrassment because of their condition. These conditions may instill feelings of worthlessness and low self esteem. Stigma exists because many do not fully understand mental illness, and the media usually reinforces and sensationalises negative stereotypes, such as people with mental illness being crazy, violent, unpredictable and untreatable (HealthDirect, 2017). There are many types of illnesses that can affect mental health. Some of the major types include, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar mood disorder and personality disorder (Department of Health, 2007). Mental illness is commonplace worldwide, with more than an estimated 300 million people affected (WHO, 2018). Depression, unlike other mental illnesses, is a serious health condition that can cause work ethic to suffer as well as social exclusion. If left untreated or undiagnosed, depression can lead to suicide, with suicide being the second leading cause of death in 15 - 29 year olds, with an approximated death toll of 800 thousand people per year (WHO, 2018). Germanwings Flight 9525 and Related Incidents In March of 2015, the co-pilot of Germanwings flight 9525 may have intentionally locked the captain out of the cockpit and flew the Airbus A320-211 into terrain of the French alps, killing all 150 people on board. After investigation, it was revealed that the co-pilot had history of depression and was experiencing a psychotic depressive episode that began the previous year (Pasha T & Stokes P, 2018). Airline wasn’t made aware of the pilot’s issue... The Germanwings incident, though being the most recent, was not isolated; in 1999, Egyptair Flight 990 crashed into the Atlantic ocean sixty miles south of Nantucket, USA. The crash was investigated by the American National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and believed the cause was likely to have been deliberate actions by the first officer. There were 203 people on board (NTSB, 2002). Similarly, In 1997 Silkair Flight 185 was also suspected to have crashed into terrain due to pilot suicide with 104 people on board. During investigation, it was found that the captain was found to have suffered difficulties at work over the previous six months and had amassed significant debt (NTSC, 2000). In March 2016, a QANTAS pilot was suspected to have hired a Cessna 172 and crashed into the sea off the coast of New South Wales. Despite being the only person on board, the suspected suicide came only a month after passing a Class 1 Medical. The pilot was struggling to deal with the breakdown of his marriage (Houghton J, 2016). Though rare, suicides made by commercial airline pilots utilising aircraft are devastating, have high casualties and high cost to airlines. The Germanwings incident highlights a lack of action by aviation operators and regulators in assisting the control of mental health among airline pilots. Changes Made by EASA Following Germanwings flight 9525, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) responded by convening a task force to analyse the current European Union method of medical screening. The task force issued recommendations in July 2015, including; the implementation of a ‘2 people in the cockpit’ rule, pilot psychological examination prior to employment with airlines, airlines implementing random drug and alcohol screening, pilot support systems, creation of a European aeromedical data repository and a program for oversight of aeromedical examiners (European Commission, 2015). The Task Force also noted that the emphasis on assisting pilots with mental health lies in the medical and psychological assessment of pilots, and stated that their report “strives to reach a balance between medical secrecy and safety” (European Commision, 2015). The two people occupancy in the cockpit rule was the first of the recommendations that was widely accepted by the aviation community. Though only a recommendation by EASA, many aviation operators were quick to establish this as a standard procedure, as it was seen as the easiest and quickest way to prevent a similar incident to Germanwings flight 9525 (Neuman S, 2015). In July of 2018, three more of the task force’s recommendations were accepted and published as law; European airlines now have to conduct psychological screening pre-employment and pilots for European airlines now have access to a support program. In addition, pilots and cabin crew of European and foreign airlines that fly into European Union territories will be subject to alcohol testing. This practice is already done by many European airlines but will be extended to all during the next two years (EASA, 2018). The massive drawback is that this change has taken three years to implement, and that only four of the six recommendations were accepted and implemented. In addition, the originally recommended drug and alcohol screening program was cut into an alcohol-only screening program. On top of this, two years on from the Germanwings incident, airlines began to doubt the effectiveness of the 2 person cockpit occupancy rule. They believe it creates as much risk as it mitigates, and some scrapped the practise altogether (Bryan V, 2017). Current Australian Mental Illness Screening Methods The current Australian method of mental illness screening for pilots lies within the annual renewal of the Class 1 Medical; without passing this medical, a pilot cannot legally fly. This system has been updated within the last few years to make the process quicker for DAMEs by converting the process to an online portal. The pilot fills in their medical history in CASA’s online Medical Record System (CASA, 2018) before seeing the DAME. This allows some time saved by asking the basic medical history questions beforehand. The extent to which mental illness is covered within the MRS is limited. It has a section for ‘mood’ and within this it questions some common symptoms of mental illness such as anxiety, panic attacks, hallucinations, psychotic episodes and asks history of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia (CASA, 2018). In another section, it also asks any problems with sleeping. All of these items on the checklist can be answered with ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘unsure’, so if any of these are checked then the DAME can follow up and question any potential mental illness. The limits of this process are obvious; if a pilot wanted to conceal mental illness, they easily could. One could simply check ‘no’ for all these boxes and the DAME might not ask additional questions on the topic; leaving something serious completely unchecked. CASA states that mental illness is handled on a case-by-case basis. Their decisions are usually based on consult with medical professionals, DAMEs and evidence from the National Health and Medical Research Council (CASA, 2017). They also produce fact sheets and past case studies into typical health concerns; one of which is depression and anxiety. In this case study, CASA makes it clear that depression is not always a grounding illness; however in their described situation, the applicant for a class 1 medical already has depression before undertaking flight training and attaining pilot licenses. At the end of this scenario, is its given that said applicant is granted a Class 2 medical with the requirement he must submit a report from his doctor every year on the