
Research shows that over-the-road truck drivers have a “higher-than-normal” rate of antidepressant usage due to the pressures of the job.
Sanford Health Doctor Jolene Mitchell, D.O., and M.O.H., is the Medical Director for Sanford Health Occupational and Environmental Medicine in Sioux Falls, South Dakota as well as a Federal Motor Carrier Administration certified medical examiner. Though her research, she has discovered that truck drivers have a “higher-than-normal” rate of antidepressant usage, a fact which she attributes to the pressures of the job – including regulations, lack of sleep, and the public’s general lack of appreciation for those who transport everything from toilet paper to sleeping bags, allowing the average American to live the lifestyle they do.
“It’s an enormous responsibility to drive an 80,000-pound vehicle,” Mitchell said.
“We want to keep the roadways safe and our tractor-trailer drivers safe. They move 70 percent of GDP every year. And a lot of times with the pressure of their job, there are so many things that complicate their well being.”
“I try really hard to emphasize they’re the person driving the truck. They’re not the truck,” she continued.
“They really struggle with that. It’s heartbreaking, recognizing that maintaining their health and their mental health, and they aren’t just a piece of equipment.”
According to Sanford Health, Mitchell also says that, apart from the more widely-known mental and physical health issues such as being away from family and the mostly-sedentary lifestyle of a truck driver, the ever-increasing regulations are taking their own toll on the emotional and mental health of drivers.
“They’re worried about not being able to operate because of the pressure of their career,” she said.
“It’s a really difficult population to maintain their health, simply because they have so many regulatory pressures.”
Mitchell says that the new Hours-of-Service rules force the truckers into a more rigid, less forgiving schedule. With less flexibility in their driving, resting, and eating times, Mitchell says that drivers are less likely to drink the proper amount of water in order to avoid restroom breaks, leaving them dehydrated, and are also less likely to stop in order to find or cook a decent meal, contributing to weight gain which contributes to other prevalent health issues such as sleep apnea.
“They said this [new regulation] was done to get better sleep. Well, they’re not getting better sleep,” said Jennifer Raddatz, safety director at K&J Trucking in Sioux Falls.
This difficulty in maintaining physical health negatively affects mental health, according to Mitchell, who says that poor physical health paired with all that time away from a “family support system” tends to push many truckers towards psychotropic drugs such as antidepressants, which have risks in themselves, prompting doctors like Mitchell to suggest changes in diet, exercise, and supplements in lieu of blood pressure medications and antidepressants.
“If people are open and willing to give it a chance, a lot of them do succeed. That’s what we do here,” Raddatz said.
“If we can help make them want to be healthy after working, they’ll be healthy here. They’ll have a good retirement with family and friends afterwards and will be happier.”
Mitchell suggests that, in order to combat the mental and physical health difficulties of life on the road, truckers should keep their body mass index below 35, find ways to eat better food (a feat that many say can be accomplished by cooking inside the cab or even outside on a small grill,) and to walk at least 30 minutes a day.
“Then when they come to see me, our conversations are along the lines of ‘I’ll see you in two years instead of 30 days,’” she said.