“If you’re not lying, you’re not flying.”

A pilot said that in a Reuters investigation this week.
It is one of the clearest statements of stigma I have ever heard.

Because in aviation, telling the truth about your mental health can ground you.
Not for a day.
Not for a check-in.
For good.

Pilots know this.
So they stay quiet.
They avoid therapy.
They hide symptoms.
They choose silence over support because honesty feels dangerous.

This is not about weak people in a strong profession.
It is about a system that teaches people to lie to survive.

The stigma built into the rules

Federal aviation rules require pilots to report mental-health conditions, therapy, and medication.
On paper, the purpose is safety.
In practice, it creates fear.

If you disclose anxiety, depression, or panic, you are at risk.
If you seek treatment, you must defend your stability.
If you take certain medications, you may be barred from flying at all.

The message becomes clear.
Protect the cockpit by pretending you are fine.

That is not safety.
That is silence with wings.

The human cost

Reuters found that pilots hide mental-health struggles because they believe disclosure will end their careers.
Some stop therapy.
Some avoid medication.
Some lie on mandatory forms to keep flying.

Not because they do not want help.
Because the path to help feels like a trap.

This is how stigma works when it is written into policy.
It creates a choice no human being should have to make.
Tell the truth and lose your identity.
Stay silent and keep going.

The bigger picture

This story is not only about pilots.
It is about every profession where help comes with a penalty.
Health care.
Law enforcement.
Education.
The military.
Counseling.

Anywhere people fear that saying “I am struggling” will cost them their future.

Stigma grows when silence is rewarded.
Stigma grows when honesty is punished.

What You Can Do Now

We can call out systems that turn mental health into a liability.
We can push for rules that protect the public without punishing the people who keep the public safe.
We can stop pretending strength means hiding everything.

A pilot should not have to lie to stay in the air.
A human being should not have to lie to keep their purpose.

The truth should not cost someone their career, especially if their mental illness is being sufficiently treated.

And the truth should never be the thing that puts them at risk.

Thank you all for coming along this journey.

Until next Friday morning, come back…be here.

Keith