Coerced into Compliance: An Airline Pilot’s HIMS Nightmare
I was tricked into going for an assessment, even though I did not have any legal issues or incidents at work. During the assessment, the people were cordial and assured me that only "extreme" cases are referred to the HIMS program. I soon learned this was all an elaborate ruse. I was blindsided when they said I had to either enter the program or lose my job. Under duress and with no union representative by my side, I was forced to enter the HIMS program or lose my career and entire life I had built for my family.
Entering the treatment facility was the start of a dystopian, multi-year nightmare. I had to live with hardened opiate addicts, and those who had multiple felonies for various drug and crime-related issues. I quickly learned that I had to submit to Alcoholics Anonymous, which is a religious, shame-based approach towards "recovery." It completely ignores the 30% of Americans who are not religious. But I had no choice: either pretend to help God guide me, or lose everything. Since then, I have had to say "God" thousands of times, even though I am not religious.
Being in the HIMS program as a non-religious person is like being assimilated by the Borg. (For those who don't know, the Borg was an alien species on Star Trek, who would penetrate your brain and make you part of the collective). It is a one-size-fits-all approach for what is a complicated and nuanced issue. If you have cancer, doctors will tailor your treatment based on the severity of the disease. In HIMS, they treat everyone the same, and everyone is branded with the scarlet letter of having a "lifelong disease."
The HIMS program involves many people who have no medical expertise in a pilot's recovery process. You meet with chief pilots each month, which blurs the line between their capacity of discipline due to your employment status, and their capacity to monitor your recovery of a medical condition. (Those with testicular or breast cancer do not have monthly meetings to monitor their recovery). The peer monitor is not there to advocate for you. Rather, they are a company emissary who are there to monitor for signs of relapse, even though they are not medical experts themselves. Sometimes they are even line check airmen, who have the ability to evaluate your flying performance on the job, again blurring the line between company obligations and a medical issue.
The most concerning part of the HIMS program is that because of its heavy handed, one-size-fits-all approach, there are likely more functioning alcoholics currently operating today than are in the program. Induction into the HIMS program is a blunt method. What would be much more effective would be a gradient-based approach, where on one end an employee assistance program could be offered, followed by outpatient help, and then working its way up to inpatient. That would allow many more pilots to be amenable to seek help, rather than waiting for an incident to happen, which actually brings more risk to the airline than the individual pilot.
I applaud P4HR in its effort to bring change to an archaic, sledgehammer program. Aligning the HIMS program with the standards of patient-based medical ethics will greatly help pilots, the FAA, and the airlines.
Sincerely,
[Anonymous]
Airline Pilot