Can You Get Into the Military With “Temporary Depression” in Your Past?
Question by Soc2009: Can you get into the military with “temporary depression” in your past?
I am looking into joining the Air Guard specifically. I have had “temporary,” also known as “situational” depression from 2006, for about 6 month duration. I have contacted the doctor and she said she has no objection and will provide required information.
Have you or someone within 1-degree of separation from you, joined the military with a similar past? If so, explain. I AM NOT interested in knowing your opinion or what you “think” is the answer…..I’ve already read enough of that on here and that will not help me.
Best answer:
Answer by HOOAH! It’s an Army Thing
As a former recruiter, I would be happy to let you know what to expect. When you apply, you will be asked about your medical history. Documentation can be your ally.
When you go to the physical at MEPS, they will likely set you up with an appointment to see a psychiatrist for what is known as an “S” consult. Having the records with you will assist the doctor who examines you.
Good luck!
EDIT: Raven says that I must be living in some kind of fantasy. He claims that if you don’t tell, they’ll never find out.
Now, allow me to reiterate what I said. You need to tell. If you don’t, there is a high likelihood that it will be discovered. Right now, Obama, et al., are planning to nationalize health care. This has been in the works for a long time. Under HIPAA (see link below) medical records are allowed to be transferred electronically. There are privacy safeguards that prevent unauthorized access to them. Guess who has nearly unrestricted access to your medical records? Uncle Sam, that’s who. If you conceal a medically significant fact, and the military decides they need to have a peek at your records and then discover a concealed fact, you will have set yourself up for punishment under Article 83, UCMJ – Fraudulent Enlistment. (Not exactly a career building move.)
So, if you decide to follow Raven’s advice, don’t come crying to me (or any Veteran) when you are discharged under other than honorable conditions.
Answer by RAVEN
“Documentation can be your ally?” Give me a break – our recruiter friend is obviously now retired and living in Disneyland, as that’s just plain fantasy where this is concerned. Documentation will probably get more questions than you want to answer. Since I faced the exact same thing (though my situation was a bit worse) before I enlisted, I’ll tell you the real skinny.
Forget bringing anything – If you bring your med records you’re not only telling them, you’re authorizing them access to your records. Screw that -the military cannot legally seek out your medical records unless you authorize them, and they cannot find out anything legally unless you first tell them about it. If you change your records access list so that only you can get information, not even your family will be able to know what’s in your records. Even during a BI for your clearance, they would have to know first about anything, and still need your permission. If you don’t tell them, they’ll have no reason to look, even if you have problems later on down the road. For all they know, it’s the first experience you’ve had with it.
You need to also keep the context of the times in perspective also. Recruiting during wartime is different than it is during Peacetime. In peacetime, they can afford to be choosy, and typically are more stringent with requirements. But during wartime, and especially with an all volunteer service, retention is harder, and they tend to relax recruiting restrictions. The honestly do not want to know about anything that could be a problem, unless it’s something that’s an obvious disqualifier for the service that there’s no possible way you can hide or pretend you didn’t know about it.
I said nothing about my problems prior to enlisting; It never came up once during my service, and I did 8 years active duty and 3 years Reserve in the Navy.
I’ve also had a doctor who did not respect my instructions and wishes, and instead issued her own opinion without my consultation to Reserve MO’s. It was for something else totally unrelated, but the point is that civilian doctors do not understand how military doctors work, and even a well-intentioned doctor can give too much information that can wind up screwing you. If you don’t give them the opportunity, they can’t screw anything up.
Don’t tell them things they don’t want to hear, and they won’t look for things they don’t want to know about. You might let family and friends know not to say anything either, if at some point you need a BI for a clearance down the road. Remember that they have no reason to look for things they don’t know about – and during wartime, they don’t want to know.
Think of it as “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”, just applied differently.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
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