As a Transport Worker, you may find it difficult to talk about your struggles and concerns with your colleagues. You may worry about being judged or seen as weak if you talk about emotions or problems and told “to grow some” if you do open up. But the reality is that mental health issues are common in the Transport Industry and ignoring them or trying to tough them out can have serious consequences.

Particularly when the research shows that Transport Workers in Australia report much higher levels of psychological distress (anxiety and depression) and higher levels of suicide than the general population. And unfortunately, the Transport Industry has been found to be the highest-ranking industry, in relation to mental health problems in Australia. Also, the studies have also shown that drivers reporting experiencing psychological distress are much more likely to be involved in risky and aggressive driving behaviours and twice as likely to have a collision.

Characteristics inherent in the Transport Industry that can contribute to the high levels of psychological distress may be attributed to:

Stigma 

• A culture of self-reliance and toughness
• Stigma attached to seeking help and talking about mental health. If you ask for help you believe that will be judged, told to ‘suck it up’ or ‘harden up’
• Concerned that asking for help will affect employability and opportunity for promotion.

Work Life

• The physical and emotional demands of the job
• Working alone for extended periods – social isolation
• Work/ time pressures and strict deadlines
• The need for constant mental alertness
• Hazardous work conditions such as traffic accidents, road conditions, fatalities and ‘suicide by truck’
• Lack of variation in the work or work environment
• Difficulty taking days off as you are irreplaceable.
• Long work hours and irregular shifts
• Repercussions from the wide reaching and varied changes in the industry during the COVID 19 restrictions (e.g., commercial aviation coming to a near standstill compared to the frenetic online retail and supply chain delivery industries)

Personal and Family Life /Relationships

• Being disconnected from family, friends and your community for extended periods or missing events
• Relationship problems
• Family problems

As a Transport Worker, some of the difficulties you may find yourself experiencing include:

• Feeling easily frustrated, short tempered, emotional and maybe even becoming combative and aggressive
• Not looking after yourself – your physical health and general wellbeing
• Difficulty focusing and finding your thoughts are scattered
• Fatigue and exhaustion
• Burnout
• Immersing yourself in work to cope
• Feeling flat, miserable and worthless
• Not performing to the level that you usually do and taking days off
• Lack of interest, pleasure or energy for activities you usually find enjoyable.
• Hitting the booze (or drugs) more
• Feeling worthless
• Thoughts that you have ‘had enough’ or are just ‘over it’
• Believing you can’t fix your problems
• Poor sleep
• Suicidal ideation, behaviours or attempts

During the times of the COVID 19 restrictions, many of these issues became more evident, particularly with interstate/ intrastate travel restrictions, as well as hotel quarantine. Hence many Transport Workers were staying longer away from their families, due to the extended time at work. The effects of these times are still felt today by the Workers and their families.