View Full Version : Anti deppressant question
texasflood08
03-21-11, 06:26 PM
I am currently on anti deppressants but I want to get off of them in the next year or so, so that I can enlist in the Corps. I know that after you go off of these medications, you must be abstinent from them for atleast a year. If I were to go off of the medications and attempt to enlist after just 3 or 6 months of abstinence, would the recruiters have any way of finding out?
This is assuming that they never knew I was on them in the first place. Wont they have access to all of my medical records in the future anyways?
I'm not really interested in breaking any rules, its just a curiosity thats been nagging at me for some time now. Thank you.
Lisa 23
03-21-11, 06:40 PM
If you start lying about things now, you'll continue to lie.....so be honest, and if you have to wait, then wait.
And besides, DO NOT go off medications like this on your own without your doctors permission.
SGT7477
03-21-11, 07:06 PM
If you start lying about things now, you'll continue to lie.....so be honest, and if you have to wait, then wait.
And besides, DO NOT go off medications like this on your own without your doctors permission.
Right on Sister, Semper Fidelis.:flag:
USNAviator
03-21-11, 07:11 PM
It's not a good idea to lie, excuse me, truth by omission, to a recruiter. Just be open and up front with him. He's there to help you, to mentor you into the Corps. If by some fluke you do get in...
iamspartacus
03-22-11, 07:06 PM
I agree as well. Don't mess with anti depressants on your own. Especially not before you go to boot camp! Everyone is depressed as it is in boot camp. You don't want to take a serious condition like that with you. Just ask any of the recruits that were on suicide watch damn near every week I was there.
Devil1087
03-22-11, 08:14 PM
Depression isn't a disease, it's called being a man and dealing with your problems, you should try it.
TheReservist
03-22-11, 08:50 PM
Depression isn't a disease, it's called being a man and dealing with your problems, you should try it.
It's that big shot attitude that has Marines internalizing their problems and end up killing themselves...
YourPhoneIsMine
03-22-11, 10:47 PM
I am currently on anti deppressants but I want to get off of them in the next year or so, so that I can enlist in the Corps. I know that after you go off of these medications, you must be abstinent from them for atleast a year. If I were to go off of the medications and attempt to enlist after just 3 or 6 months of abstinence, would the recruiters have any way of finding out?
This is assuming that they never knew I was on them in the first place. Wont they have access to all of my medical records in the future anyways?
I'm not really interested in breaking any rules, its just a curiosity thats been nagging at me for some time now. Thank you.
Technically no, they only have access to the medical records you give them. HIPAA laws prevent anyone from obtaining medical records without your permission or a warrant. There is no magic database that the government has access to that can tell them when you've seen a doctor.
Still, if the rules say a year just wait a year. If you're on those meds then it may be for a reason and boot camp can be really frakkin stressful. That is not a place you want to lose your biscuit.
Be honest with the recruiter, let him know the situation and offer up the necessary medical records. If it ain't meant to be it ain't meant to be but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a try. More importantly, talk with your doctor to see if you're ready to come off the meds and if he/she thinks that you can handle the stress of the military. Not saying you only have to take the doc's word for it (you can always get a second or third opinion assuming it's from another licensed medical professional) but it's damned important to know what their opinion is.
Devil1087
03-22-11, 11:30 PM
PTSD =/= Depression
Marines deal with seeing their brothers killed right in front of them. That is traumatic stress, not the same thing. Not even close.
YourPhoneIsMine
03-22-11, 11:33 PM
Depression in many cases is due to a chemical imbalance. Our neurochemistry essentially defines us as individuals. Everything we think and feel is determined by those chemicals so when they're off kilter it can wreck havoc with a person's perception of the world. It's physiological, not just psychological.
iamspartacus
03-23-11, 10:54 AM
HIPAA laws prevent anyone from obtaining medical records without your permission or a warrant.
This is true, but I'm pretty sure you are required to give that permission if you want to be considered to join the military.
AAV Crewchief
03-23-11, 11:56 AM
This is true, but I'm pretty sure you are required to give that permission if you want to be considered to join the military.
No you don't. I never remember signing any paper that said I had to give the name of every doctor I visited while I was a kid.
Still, a person on anti-depressants heading for Parris Island is going to be in a world of ****E once he gets there and doesn't have them.
YourPhoneIsMine
03-23-11, 01:46 PM
This is true, but I'm pretty sure you are required to give that permission if you want to be considered to join the military.
In order to have them collect the medical records for you, yes. Since that's a pain in the ass you just get asked to bring in the medical records yourself. But the point is that if you don't tell them you visited a doctor they're not going to be able to find out unless some circumstance results in them contacting that very same practice or hospital.
Still, a person on anti-depressants heading for Parris Island is going to be in a world of ****E once he gets there and doesn't have them.
Exactly. Listen, if you're on anti-Ds because you have a legitimate chemical imbalance and need them to remain normal then you do not want to screw with that in what will probably be the most stressful long term situation you have faced until now. If you genuinely don't need them then a doctor will be able to confirm that for you. If you need them then work on the medical stuff before you try again. No one says you have to join right now; you can take a few years to get your mind in order before taking the plunge.
Sgt Leprechaun
03-23-11, 11:48 PM
So, then 'how do they find out'? Well, you lie about it, then something happens in/at Recruit Training, you try to slash your wrists with a 'bic' or some crap. Anyway, off to the nutter ward you...
YourPhoneIsMine
03-24-11, 08:06 AM
they find if you've given them your family doctor's information in the first place :p
although the amusing thing is that if the navy doc manages to get that dingbat's medical information without permission and without obeying hipaa laws (some practices will mistakingly think that those "official" phone calls trump federal law) then said named dingbat will likely come away with it with a few million in a malpractice lawsuit
really stupid way to go about things, though. so yeah, doing it is pretty retarded. I sure as hell wouldn't have wanted someone who was off anti-d meds without physician approval next to me on the firing line :O