Sewickley commercial jet pilot pens book about aviation and mental health

Reyné O’Shaughnessy of Sewickley has spent the better part of about 35 years flying the friendly skies.

The commercial airline captain and pilot logged more than 10,000 hours of jet flight time across the world.

She has been at the helm of some of the world’s largest planes, including the Boeing 727, 747, 767 widebody, and Airbus A300 and A310.

The Moon Area High School grad and retired aviator recently added another title to her resume: author.

“This Is Your Captain Speaking: What You Should Know About Your Pilot’s Mental Health” was published in September and revised in November.

It reached bestseller status in several categories on Amazon.

O’Shaughnessy examines various aspects of mental health in aviation. Among the topics are the negative stigma surrounding pilots who seek treatment, pilot psychological health screening methods, and the impact of pilot well-being on aviation and public safety.

She hopes the book will bring to light some of the struggles pilots deal with just to stay in the air and provide for their families, and lead to changes in federal regulations.

“Pilots are looking for the answers,” she said. “Pilots are searching for intervention. … Pilots want freedom to seek treatment without barriers, without consequences to their livelihood.

”I’m not saying that every pilot out there has a mental health condition. What I am saying is that we all have mental health, everyone that is human. And we ought to be taking care of our mental health similarly like we take care of our physical health.”

It took O’Shaughnessy about two years to write the book. She said her first submitted edition was twice as long as the 155-page paperback that made it onto the shelves.

“It was more than a project to me, it was a labor of love,” she said. “I have this unique and up-close perspective of mental health in the airline industry. Pilots struggle with mental health more than what is realized by the public and regulators and (the) industry. And change happens when people refuse to be silent.

“I have to stand firm to what I know in my heart is true, and I have been inspired to find my voice by hundreds of pilots and my volunteer work and 35 years as a commercial airline pilot.”

Aviation is a heavily regulated industry, and pilots are usually evaluated by an aviation medical examiner before they can fly.

“If a pilot develops a new condition or a symptom and the AME determines that the minimum requirements are not met, that pilot runs the risk of temporarily or permanently losing their medical certificate,” O’Shaughnessy said.

O’Shaughnessy said pilots are hesitant to self-report any new conditions or symptoms of mental health struggles for fear of being grounded.

“There are barriers that are put in place that prevent us, or discourage us, from finding treatment,” she said. “I am a fierce advocate of pilot health reform.”

In the book, the captain describes some of the conversations she has had with pilots over the years about their bouts with depression and other mental hardships.

She also sites numerous studies and reports throughout the book, including one by the National Institute of Mental Health, which indicated about 40 million adults deal with an anxiety disorder at any given time.

The book takes a very personal story in Chapter 8 with “My Story.”

In it, O’Shaughnessy recalls her own battle with anxiety and high blood pressure at age 50.

Her body was showing signs of exhaustion and was experiencing catastrophic high blood pressure, in the “imminent stroke” range, in September 2007.

“After 20-plus years of night flying, I had neglected to take care of myself,” she said. “It was a giant wake-up call. It was a pivotal moment that reshaped the trajectory of my entire life.”

She sought out a cardiologist in Pittsburgh and other medical advice in dealing with her situation.

Her journey of recovery also included a self-help book, exploring meditation and mindfulness.

The subsequent chapters deal with implementing better health habits, finding balance and resilience as well as the importance of sleep.

“I just want to shout to the entire aviation community that from what I have learned they, too, can benefit from these life-transforming practices,” she said.

Her book is available via Amazon in paperback and for Kindle.

Family life

O’Shaughnessy graduated from Moon Area School District in 1974 and became fascinated with aviation.

“I was an atypical young woman,” she said. “I did not follow the mold of behaviors of age-appropriate girls of my time. When they were out chasing boys, I was in studying. I took my studies very serious and excelled, which really put me in line with my analytical abilities.”

She would learn to fly through an aerospace management program at the Community College of Beaver County.

Her husband, Frank Goetze, also is a pilot. He flies for FedEx.

They met as students at the Beaver County Airport and have been married for 28 years.

O’Shaughnessy is a mother of three, Logan and Blake O’Shaughnessy and Grant Goetze.

They went through Sewickley Academy.

She retired as a FedEx pilot in September.

O’Shaughnessy earned a certification in mindfulness-based stress reduction from Brown University, an institution known for its academic rigor in public health.

She has a bachelor’s in leadership and an executive certificate in business from the University of California, Berkeley, where she is pursuing a medical health coaching accreditation.

O’Shaughnessy also founded Piloting2Wellbeing, an organization that works with universities and provides modules that address the holistic side of aviation training.

Its initiatives focus on the students’ mental health, inner strength and other issues beyond academics.

“We teach the other 50%,” she said. “The school teaches the simulator, the technical skills, the communication, the situational awareness, the decision-making thought process, technical proficiency (and) teamwork.”

P2W focuses on three elements; well-being, competency and diversity.

More information about her nonprofit is available at piloting2wellbeing.com.