Hey Everyone,
Before I had met my wife, she had her medical denied due to a 'history of depression' and 'suicidal ideation.' This all happened when she was a minor: she was diagnosed with depression because of her father dying, given antidepressants -- which did not react well with her (hence the 'suicidal ideation') -- and subsequently taken off antidepressants. She made a full recovery and has been a normal, well-adjusted functioning adult for 6+ years now. She has never otherwise been depressed and she believes she was misdiagnosed as someone just grieving her father's death (e.g. not chronically depressed) and given antidepressants which temporarily messed with her chemical balance even more.
To complicate matters, when she was 18 years old, she applied for a medical, was denied, subsequently appealed and was denied again. She was poorly guided in the appeal process by her AME and was naive to the process (e.g. didn't submit supporting paperwork, character references, etc.). In my opinion, I think so much damage has been done at this point that there's little she can do in order to successfully obtain an approved medical; however, it's extremely frustrating because she is a perfectly healthy and mentally sound person.
She has been around aviation her entire life (dad was a USAF pilot, relatives commercial pilots, friends who are pilots, etc.) and has hundreds of hours flying in airplanes and extremely competent despite not being rated. She is presently a Flight Attendant and working towards her A&P just because she loves being in and around aviation. Her hope would to be able to get her medical so she could, at minimum, get a PPL, though she dreams of being able to fly commercially for a career if the FAA would entertain the idea of a First Class medical.
Is there anything she can do at this point to fulfill her dream of becoming a pilot?
Before I had met my wife, she had her medical denied due to a 'history of depression' and 'suicidal ideation.' This all happened when she was a minor: she was diagnosed with depression because of her father dying, given antidepressants -- which did not react well with her (hence the 'suicidal ideation') -- and subsequently taken off antidepressants. She made a full recovery and has been a normal, well-adjusted functioning adult for 6+ years now. She has never otherwise been depressed and she believes she was misdiagnosed as someone just grieving her father's death (e.g. not chronically depressed) and given antidepressants which temporarily messed with her chemical balance even more.
To complicate matters, when she was 18 years old, she applied for a medical, was denied, subsequently appealed and was denied again. She was poorly guided in the appeal process by her AME and was naive to the process (e.g. didn't submit supporting paperwork, character references, etc.). In my opinion, I think so much damage has been done at this point that there's little she can do in order to successfully obtain an approved medical; however, it's extremely frustrating because she is a perfectly healthy and mentally sound person.
She has been around aviation her entire life (dad was a USAF pilot, relatives commercial pilots, friends who are pilots, etc.) and has hundreds of hours flying in airplanes and extremely competent despite not being rated. She is presently a Flight Attendant and working towards her A&P just because she loves being in and around aviation. Her hope would to be able to get her medical so she could, at minimum, get a PPL, though she dreams of being able to fly commercially for a career if the FAA would entertain the idea of a First Class medical.
Is there anything she can do at this point to fulfill her dream of becoming a pilot?
