This problem of mental health in the transportation industry is not cornered by the maritime industry.
Air, Rail, Maritime & Trucking industries have paid little time to the mental health of its Pilots, Captains, Engineers and Commercial Drivers. Seaman are not alone in being away from their families for long hitches though that it may seem so. Perhaps, they are away for extended periods more so but that is just but one of the factors that should be addressed in the mental health of the people that hold so much in their hands.
Of course, there is the age-old argument of does industry handle these issues or does government force the industry to address these issues. To some extent, there is a valid argument to be made that, if it is left to the hands of industry, it will not be comprehensive and will not have the penalties for non-compliance that must be attendant for non-compliance.
In a perfect world [LOL!] there would be a meaningful task force set-up for all these industries that worked hand-in-hand with government with a true free flow of ideas and concerns to address mental health issues that resulted in significant changes being instituted that would benefit the people that hold in their hands so much potential dangers; and also benefit the companies in truly setting forth realistic achievable goals. When this will happen is well beyond this writer’s ability to forecast. Mental health of persons has historically not been something that has been addressed even though we all know it is real and ever present.
The old “pick yourself up and dust yourself and get back the ring” mindset needs to quickly go away and we need to address things like depression, anger and the frailties of humans to sometimes cope with life’s rigors. We are all in this together and the stresses of life are “handled” by some better than others.
I know some seaman that prefer to be away because they cannot handle being at home! In fact, one of the things our law firm sees is, when someone gets hurt and cannot work and must, therefore, stay at home, one of the first things that deteriorates is the marital relationship simply because the seaman stays home more than he/she used to.
I guess what I am getting at is that, as we evolve as a society, it is in our best interests to address these concerns head-on rather than sweep them conveniently under the rug until they manifest themselves in extensive tragedies. There is a fear of persons in important positions that they will quickly be permanently removed from their important positions if they ask for help on a life problem. That is a cultural change that needs to be worked on and it will be tough to do but, nevertheless, needs to happen.