Mental Health Awareness in the Trucking Industry

Mental Health Awareness in the Trucking Industry

The trucking industry hasn’t historically been known for being open about mental health. Indeed, many truck drivers carry the image of being tough and resistant to emotional stress. However, this perception simply isn’t true. Many fleet truckers and their employers are working hard to change that image, focusing on mental health and its influences on the workers’ well-being and work performance.

Suicides are up among truckers, necessitating the industry to shed light on this situation and provide support where needed. More than 17 million American adults experience depression, making it one of the most common mental health disorders. But death by suicide is just one small piece of the more complex puzzle of mental health.

In truckers, suicide rates are nearly double than in other industries, according to Transport Topics, of particular concern because depression is associated with suicide. Suicide is now one of the top 10 leading causes of death in this country.

Indicators of Mental Health Distress

Common indicators associated with mental health distress include:

• Fatigue
• Difficulty focusing
• Increased risky behaviors, such as substance abuse

All of these factors and more increase a trucker’s likelihood of being involved in a preventable accident.

Many factors put drivers in the fleet trucking industry at a higher risk of depression and other mental health disorders, such as:

• Pressure to deliver on time.
• Amount of time drivers spend away from family and friends, isolated in their cab.
• Poor access to healthy meal options and physical activity.
• Pressure from weather and traffic conditions.
• Inadequate amounts of sleep.

Gender

All truckers share common mental health effects, but many are divided somewhat along gender lines. Bottling up emotions has long been known to contribute to poor mental hygiene. Many men tend to do this. They are less likely than their female counterparts to talk about mental health and their emotions because they feel it is a sign of weakness. They also think that if they open up, they will be judged, and this embarrasses them. But both men and women suppress their feelings about what they witness on the roadways every day (i.e., bad accidents), burying it deep down.

Did you know the suicide rate is higher within certain groups and professions? In fact, the transportation industry has the fourth-highest rate among working-age adults in America, with suicide being a particular concern for male-dominated industries such as trucking. That’s because almost 70 percent of people who commit suicide are male.

Depression and anxiety are two of the most common issues among truckers, followed by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the end, it’s vital to understand that without good mental health, you can’t expect to have good physical health.

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