The Blues in the Wild Blue: Minor Depression

Everybody gets “down in the dumps” now and then. Marital

or financial problems, a death in the family, job stress,

change of location…you name it. Life can be darn hard and

get the best of you for a while. Fortunately, the FAA realizes

this. They recently gave guidance to us Aviation Medical

Examiners (AMEs) as to how to handle an airman who honestly

reports depression arising from a challenging situation---

minor or situational depression (https://www.youtube.

com/watch?v=FebHBtwezwE). Minor depression has to

be differentiated from chronic recurrent depression. The

latter can come out of the...