Mental illness remains a polarising topic in aviation circles. So too is the issue of sleep, or rather the lack of it. Mental alertness and maintaining concentration and attention are vitally important for commercial pilots. Irregular work and sleep hours make getting enough good quality sleep doubly important.
Poor sleep and depression are very closely linked and treating one condition will often improve the other. Just as sleep is the only measure to overcome fatigue, a good night’s sleep helps foster both mental and emotional resilience.
The Harvard Mental Health Newsletter states that “Once viewed only as symptoms, sleep problems may actually contribute to psychiatric disorders”. People who sleep poorly are much more likely to develop significant mental illness, including depression and anxiety, than those who sleep well.
Understanding mental health and its relationship to sleep is important. AFAP welfare representative Kevin Humphreys is keen to promote awareness.
Kevin was recently diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA). Initially thinking that getting up a few times during the night for a toilet stop was possibly a prostate issue, a check with the DAME cleared that possibility. The conversation led to investigating the
possibility of sleep apnoea when Kevin admitted that he could happily crawl back into bed at 10am most days due to feeling like he was never getting enough sleep.
He thought it was just the pressure of the job, getting a little older and broken sleep that was the cause and never connected the two together. But the DAME did. Indeed, one of the reasons Kevin missed making the connection was his misbelief that sleep apnoea was caused by being overweight or obese. However, the DAME quickly pointed out that the main link for sleep apnoea is genetic and has little correlation with weight. After a night at the sleep lab, which eliminated the likelihood of other sleep disorders such as Central Sleep Apnoea and narcolepsy, Kevin was diagnosed with moderate to severe OSA.
He has since used a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine for sleep with stunning results. (CPAP involves the wearing of a face or nasal mask during sleep and is the leading therapy for sleep apnoea.) He went from not breathing enough (or not at all) for 20 seconds during every minute of sleep to barely missing a second or two.
As a pilot Kevin travels regularly but ensures the CPAP is always the first item in the bag. He now enjoys a full night sleep and feels refreshed in the morning. The unexpected bonus was the positive impact on mood and wellbeing by not feeling fatigued every day.
(In addition, the benefit of not having 33 per cent reduced oxygen flow to all the vital organs every night simply can’t be measured. This hit home when Kevin’s mum, who has had a CPAP machine for about 20 years, saw a cardiologist about an unrelated issue and he asked how long she’d had sleep apnoea. She hadn’t told him she did! The cardiologist replied he already knew by looking at a scan of her heart. He could see decades worth of damage to her heart due to reduced oxygenation from how long she had had sleep apnoea prior to getting treatment with CPAP.)
While many people with OSA don’t realise their sleep has been disturbed, the condition causes excessive daytime fatigue and poor concentration. With almost half of people suffering some form of mental health issue in their lifetime, often brought on by the
accumulation of years of poor sleep, normalisation of this topic is essential.
Kevin encourages anyone who is uncertain of their mental wellbeing to talk with their DAME and an AFAP welfare representative about their situation.
“There is no need to battle alone when help is available through the AFAP welfare representatives and the Member Assistance Program,” said Kevin. “Through seeking practical and effective help, pilots can feel healthy and rested at work and in their personal lives.”