It's the story that has captivated the world since March 2014: A Malaysian Airlines Flight with 227 passengers and 12 crew members disappears off of radar, never to be seen or heard from again. In a time when almost everything is computerized and monitored, it was unthinkable: how does an aircraft full of people seemingly vanish into thin air?
After years of conspiracy theories and debris discoveries, a horrifying new possibility has been discussed: The flight simulator in the pilot's home showed a practiced flight path into the Indian Ocean, near where the airplane is believed to have crashed. This suggests a premeditated crash.
Though pilot suicide is not common, it has occurred multiple times in the past, with the most recent incident in 2015, when GermanWings Flight 9525 was intentionally crashed into the French Alps by the copilot, who had suffered from depression in the past. He gained control of the plane by locking the pilot out of the cabin, who desperately tried to break down the door, to no avail.
Though nothing has been definitively proven, the question still remains: How do we prevent tragedies like these from occurring?
Most passengers who fly are concerned about terrorism or mechanical errors, not the crew's mental health. However, anyone who is responsible for the lives of others must be screened and monitored for possible psychological issues. That's not to say that every pilot who is depressed will commit suicide with passengers aboard a plane, but the risk is increased when one expresses suicidal thoughts or behaviors.
Even if a pilot does not exhibit any signs of depression or psychological illness, every pilot and crew member must be evaluated by a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist, someone who recognizes possible warning signs of danger. Passing a physical exam is obviously extremely important, but one's mental state is arguably just as important, if not more so - stopping a suicidal pilot from flying a plane could save a countless amount of lives, including that of the pilot, who could receive the help he or she deserves.
There is a bigger issue at play here: the stigma surrounding mental illness. As someone who has suffered from Anorexia, depression, and anxiety for years, I am very familiar with the stigmas that surround those who suffer from any mental illness. Uneducated people think that those of us who are depressed are violent and unpredictable, that we cry all the time and don't bathe for days on end. They think that those of us with anxiety are over exaggerating and attention seeking. They think those of us with an eating disorder are control freaks, are vain, and can be cured by just eating. The misunderstandings are so vast that I've barely touched on the majority of them, but the point remains the same: mental illness is seen to be a shameful, negative, dangerous things in our society.
It's understandable, of course: the media often paints mass shooters and criminals as mentally ill without going into the detail of the severity and history of said illness. By doing this, every person with a mental health problem is lumped into one category, and it's not a positive one.
We must speak up to break the stigmas surrounding depression and suicide. It's the only way to make a difference. If people felt more comfortable seeking help, so many lives could be saved, even your own.
