Mental Health in Aviation Act builds on efforts by UND, which continue to spread internationally – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS — When Sky Overbo began her work as an embedded aviation psychologist at the University of North Dakota, it was a “fast and furious” learning experience going through regulations and training, she said. Her hiring is one of multiple steps the university has taken to improve mental health care for aviation professionals like pilots and air traffic controllers.

What Overbo found was surprising.

“It was a shell shock — a culture shock for sure,” she said. “It seemed like everything was 30 years behind. The stigma and the fear surrounding mental health reminded me of what it had probably been like 20, 30 years ago when you were trying to get help for a mental disorder.”

The latest in efforts to push for modernized mental health care in aviation is the Mental Health in Aviation Act, introduced by Sen. John Hoeven., R-N.D., and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois. It is the companion to H.R. 2591, from by Rep. Sean Casten, D-Illinois, and Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minnesota. H.R. 2591 focuses on updating Federal Aviation Administration regulations to encourage people to seek mental health care, as well as setting aside funding for additional medical examiners and ensuring an annual review of the mental health special issuance process. It passed the House of Representatives unanimously by voice vote on Sept. 8. It has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

The legislation from Hoeven and Duckworth encourages pilots and air traffic controllers to seek mental health care when it’s needed, while also reducing stigma associated with mental health care and the potential impact on a pilot’s career, according to a press release about the proposal. The release also said the act builds on UND’s efforts to improve mental health care in aviation.

Under existing Federal Aviation Administration regulations, pilots and air traffic controllers must obtain and maintain an FAA Medical Certification, which requires them to disclose medical treatment, including mental and behavioral health treatment. Once it is disclosed, pilots with even minor or well-managed conditions can face “prolonged uncertainty and bureaucratic delays as they work through the existing processes that allow for treatment and safe return to operation,” the release said.

The Mental Health in Aviation Act by Hoeven and Duckworth would require the FAA to modernize its mental health guidance regulations, annually review the Special Issuance Medical Certification process, and allocate $15 million annually to the Office of Aerospace Medicine and $1.5 million annually for a public information campaign to reduce stigma around mental health care in aviation.

“It’s imperative that our pilots, air traffic controllers and aviation professionals have access to the resources they need to maintain their mental health,” Hoeven said. “The Mental Health in Aviation Act seeks to address mental health issues throughout the aviation industry, promote early intervention, provide additional resources to the FAA’s Office of Aerospace Medicine and support the well-being of aviation professionals and the overall safety of our skies.”

UND began looking at ways to help the mental health of its pilot student population during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also looking at ways to support every student. Because of the medical certification standards regarding mental health, there was extra scrutiny for aviation students, so UND created an in-house task force, said Beth Bjerke, associate dean and professor of aviation.

In fall 2021, aviation student John Hauser committed suicide by purposefully crashing the plane he was manning during a training flight. In letters to his friends and family, Hauser said he was struggling with his mental health, but felt he would have to give up flying if he got help. In one letter, he asked, “if you can do anything for me, try to change the FAA rules so that other young pilots don’t have to go through what I went through.”

Bjerke said that “was kind of the gut punch that said, ‘we’re still in the middle of this pandemic, this is a big issue, we aren’t going to fix it locally just talking about it.’ We need to expand nationally.”

Hauser’s family established the John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Initiative Fund at UND, which supports mental health efforts and helped in the development of the UpLift Peer Support program. UpLift trains students to provide their peers with mental health support. Overbo, who oversees and trains the peer supporters, said the program has turned into a national leader in collegiate mental health for aviation. UND was the first aviation school to have a peer support program in the United States and other colleges are trying to get their own running. Overbo and some of the students have traveled to different conferences — including Japan and Canada — to learn how to improve the program and share what they’ve learned with others.

“People have been asking for our peers to come talk at different conferences and touch base with other programs about how they can improve, what’s working, what’s not working,” she said. “It’s really cool to see UND be the spearhead, I suppose, of this mental health movement, at least in the college sector.”

UND also established the annual Aviation Mental Health Symposium, first held in 2021. The symposium fosters collaboration among collegiate aviation programs, mental health professionals, industry partners and the FAA regarding mental health care and reducing stigma associated with people in aviation seeking care. It has been a national event and became international this year when it was held in Canada, on Nov. 10, in conjunction with the International Peer Assist Aviation Coalition’s conference, Bjerke said.

Within UND itself, Overbo was hired in 2023 to provide therapy for aviation students, do outreach, conduct FAA evaluations for medical certification and do research. When she started, there were few mental health disorders a pilot or air traffic controller could have and still be able to work without needing to go through the process of getting a medical special issuance – a process that takes months and thousands of dollars, she said.

The FAA has made changes so people with minor conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder and adjustment disorder don’t need to get special issuance, as long as their air medical examiner and a psychologist say they’re in good shape. Overbo said some insurance requires a diagnostic code in order to pay for therapy, so some therapists will log “adjustment disorder” to get insurance to pay, even if the person seeking therapy might be doing so to deal with the loss of a loved one or divorce, and not for any particular disorder.

The university’s efforts to improve mental health support and assist the FAA medical certification to pilots will be able to expand across the state with the signing earlier this year of North Dakota

House Bill 1612

. The legislation allocated up to $250,000 in one-time funding to establish the North Dakota Center for Aerospace Medicine. The center will allow pilots across North Dakota to meet with the aviation medical examiners at UND and get routine medical physicals.

In the past, pilots have had to go to Minneapolis to see aviation medical examiners, as that’s where most are, Overbo said. Bjerke said North Dakota has the highest number of professional pilots per capita in the country and the services being developed at UND for local students will be able to be accessed by people across the state.

“Especially as a rural state, it’s hard for them (pilots) to access help,” Bjerke said.