This Post Appeared in the October 2016 edition of Truck News
I have something difficult to share. A driver that I had run
down the road with several times over the years and had come to know as another
one of the hard working decent guys that are the mainstay of the Canadian
trucking industry took his own life in early August. None of us that knew him
as I did saw it coming. That’s why I have decided to share a few thoughts about
something we rarely discuss in this industry, mental health.
I don’t have any expertise whatsoever in the field of mental
health so I’m not trying to provide any answers or solutions to the stresses we
face as drivers. But I do know how I feel every Saturday morning when I pack
the car in preparation for another 5 days on the road and then kiss my wife
good-bye. We need to have a conversation about that.
It’s not easy just getting through the day. Anxiety, anger,
and feelings of depression find fertile ground to fester and grow in the mind
of a long haul driver. For me, it is a constant struggle to keep the opposing
forces of my work life and my personal life in balance. It is my love/hate
relationship with trucking and a constant source of stress in my life. I love
being out on the road but it keeps me away from the one person I care about the
most while at the same time providing financial security and stability for us
both. Life is difficult.
Trucking is indeed a great life to live as you explore the
country and the continent with the added bonus of getting paid well to do it.
For some individuals this lifestyle is all they ever need, it fulfills their
one great passion in life. They are the lucky ones. But if the high turnover
rate of drivers in this business is any indicator they are also a minority. At
some point in a driving career you must grapple with the question, is there
more to life than just rolling down the road? That feeling is all about the
need for companionship and stability. Those feelings run strong in me and
probably in the people that find they can’t continue to live on the road
despite how much they may enjoy the trucking life.
In the macho world of trucking we don’t talk about our
feelings. It’s a sign of weakness to the male ego. We bottle up those feelings
and put them on the shelf. That’s been the story for my generation. That’s
probably why we accept the authoritarian structure in this industry without
question and continue to wear hardship as a badge of honour. That’s what real
men do.
Of course nothing could be further from the truth. We all
know we work in an industry that is classed in the top 10 when it comes to
physical danger. But what about the dangers we face mentally and emotionally.
The personal example I shared of the big stressor I face every day is but one
example of the thousands of mental stressors that haunt a driver as he or she
rolls down the road. The common thing all drivers share is the time alone
factor and the long hours of uneventful driving time that the mind has to play
with.
How mental health affects a drivers daily life is yet
another topic that is not addressed in any type of ongoing training program for
drivers. The hazards we face in our mental work environment are every bit as
dangerous as the hazards we face in our physical environment.
Let’s Talk. That has been the rallying cry for the past few
years in encouraging people to talk about their mental health issues especially
surrounding depression. It’s something we face as drivers on a daily basis even
if we don’t recognize it as such. So Let’s Talk.
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