I know there have been a lot of threads around here lately with people's problems, but I have another one to add.Things have not been going at all well for me lately. I seem to have flown a Cessna Citation X into a 20 ft thick concrete wall and I survived, unfortunately. I suffer from chronic depression but I am not allowed to take medication for it because the FAA won't allow it and I've hit a bout of it in the last 2 weeks and I am horribly depressed. On top of that, things really have been going out of control. I have a ton of projects for school that I have to do which I haven't really started on (I'm going to try to today but depression makes things really difficult). I have a crush on this guy and I still can't muster up the courage to speak to him which is causing me to lose tons of sleep. I saw a psychiatrist over a month ago when he came to the campus and he told me that I have no hope of getting over this depression and that I would have to make a decision of whether or not I should keep flying or if I should quit, switch my major, and get back on medication. That is an impossible decision to make. Flying is the first and only thing that I have enjoyed in my life and I don't want to stop. I exercise frequently and I eat healthy but nothing is working. I need to get over this depression quickly so that I can go back to having the success I was having when I came here. My grades are starting to slip and I am really in trouble.The next big problem is about my family's finances. Hurricane Ike wiped out the money my parents had saved for my school costs next semester and my dad didn't listen when I told him to take my family's money out of the stock market and we have officially lost just about everything. My parents never listen to me on things like this and now I am in a situation that is really horrible. My parents are selling our house and possibly a car or two but they are still spending money like crazy with credit cards. I am trying to return my plane ticket home for Thanksgiving so they won't spend $450 that doesn't exist but they won't let me. I'm going back home 3 weeks after Thanksgiving anyway, so it doesn't really matter if I don't go home for those 3 days. I am sick of feeling like the only person in my family who is actually concerned about money. I've been expecting a phone call recently and I finally got it from my brother yesterday (behind my parents' backs) which confirmed it: all of the money that my parents have given me this semester (over $6,000 not including tuition, board, and food) has come from credit card advances. About 4 or 5 years ago my family almost filed bankruptcy because of credit card debt and I thought they would have learned, but they haven't. I am expecting my family to file for bankruptcy before the end of January. Money is the other part that ties into flying. I have to pay for flights and without the money I can't fly. I have a couple of scholarship applications already and I am going to go talk to my academic advisor and the financial aid advisors next week about what to do. I came to school with a plan all worked out and things have really changed fast in the last 2 months and I am now in a situation where I have no idea what to do. There are tons of other things, but that's all I can, and want to, think about right now.Thanks for listening.
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My Life is Crashing, Too
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That sounds pretty rough. I don't really want to say much considering I don't know your exact situation, and I don't want to put my foot in the wrong place. Have you tried talking to your parents about the money problems? I'm sure you have, what about your brother?
The best thing I can say is to try to do what you can, but ultimately, you just have to allow things to run their course. I'm sorry I wasn't much of a help.
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This is a tough situation, Bob. :frowning: A common means for those who can't afford flying lessons is to join the air force - have you considered that?
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Would that not involve dropping out of school? And if he might get a scolarship?
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I considered joining the Air Force when I was looking at paying for this school which has a Harvard price tag. I can do AFROTC here which many people do, but my dad won't let me. He was drafted and had to serve in the Vietnam War and he is very adamant about not letting his kids join any military service. I'll figure out some way to make it work out.
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I'm a little concerned about the psychiatrist saying that recovery is impossible without medication. That, to me, seems like a very extreme response and (without delving too much into the world of paranoia) an attempt to promote psychiatric drugs as the ultimate cure.
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Well, chronic depression runs strong on my mom's side of the family and the only that has been found to help was antidepressants.
