My name's Helen O'Yang.

I'm an emergency physician, and I'm a contributor to the New York Times Magazine.

For decades, the Federal Aviation Administration had strict rules around the mental health of pilots.

Pilots who were diagnosed with any kind of mental health of pilots.

Pilots who were diagnosed with any kind of mental health disorder, like depression, were not allowed to fly.

Almost half of all Americans will experience mental illness at some point in their lifetime.

So why would pilots working in one of the most demanding, isolating occupations, be any different?

Every single pilot I interviewed from my New York Times magazine story had withheld some kind of underlying medical issue or knew of a colleague who did, because they knew it was likely they would be out of work for months, maybe even years, if they had to go through

the FAA's special certification process for medical conditions. And the FAA might even conclude

that a diagnosis would be caused to ground the pilot.

So what I really wanted to dive into was, is the FAA so rigorous that it's making it less safe to fly?

So here's my article, read by Emily Wu Zeller.

Our audio producer is Jack Dissaduro,

and our music was written and performed by Aaron Esposito.

Thanks for listening.

Troy Merritt, a pilot for a major U.S. airline, returned from his 30th birthday trip in Croatia in October 2022,

sailing on a catamaran, eating great food, socializing with friends, and cried.

This wasn't back-to-work blues,

but collapsed on the floor, full-body-shaking misery.

When he wasn't crying, he slept.

I've got to find a therapist, he told himself.

And he did.

...