Does anti depresents disqualify you from military?

Question

I took anti depressents about 2 months ago, after less than a week of using them I stoped, now looking at joining the military, is it possible to get a waiver or something for that? or does it just disqualify you automaticly like i hear..?

I was just getting over my GF who cheated on me so the doctor thought it may help

Answer 1

if you stopped them without your doctors knowledge and approval, then no, you cannot get in.

If you got off them withhis approval, typically the wait is one year before you can look to get in, but iof you onlyused for a week, who knows, you might be able to get insooner.

But be prpared to proved ALL documentation regarding this issue.

Answer 2

You can try to get a waiver but I think in your case a "don't ask don't tell" policy may work best. Don't volunteer the information and if they're concerned when they look at your medical records deal with it then.
My father was a Navy recruiter and my brother is in the Army and it is technically an automatic DQ but because it was for such a a short time you may be able to find a way around it. Take action now by calling your doctor who prescribed them and let him or her know you stopped taking it after a week so a note can be made in your chart. That way you have documentation for your claim.

Answer 3

No it will not disqualify you from joining the military. They will do their own mental assessment on you and deem if you are mentally stable to join the army. I know many guys in the army that are on anti depressants. They are able to ful fill their duties that they signed up for. However if you have a serious mental disorder such as PTSD or schizophrenia then you will not be able to enlist. I would talk to a recruiter and s/he will be able to tell you more about joining. If you feel like you are mentally ready to join the military i would go for it and not let on too much information about the period of time you were on the medication. There are millions of people who has or are taking anti depressants and they lead normal lives.

Answer 4

Every branch has there own admissions standards for instance the all the branches will not accept anyone who has been treated for add, adhd. The army since it lowered the admissions standards will pretty much accept anybody with a criminal hisotry since they are desperate for people to serve the war in iraq. Chances are getting into the airforce is slim, and they will review your case extensively however a waiver from the army or the navy are easier to get since it only occured for over the course of two months, and any other psychological issues you might have.

Answer 5

No it does not disqualify you. I was on anti depressents for a few months getting over an exhusband was got a girl pregnant while we were married. I wasnt on them very long, but I was, and then when I decided to join the Air Force 8 mths later, I did tell the people about them. They looked over my medical records and why my doc prescribed them and then they assessed my mental capacity and I was still allowed to join.

Answer 6

Dangerous in what way? When I saw your post I thought of a Van Wilder movie-life is dangerous, none of us will get out alive. OK, in all seriousness I would say that the answer to your question depends on a number of things. Many of the old antidepressants, such as TCAs (Elavil, Pamelor, etc) and MAOIs, had many side effects, drug interactions and a narrow therapeutic window, which means it was a fine line between a therapeutic dose and one that can be toxic. This is much less common with the newer agents such as the SSRIs (drugs like Zoloft, Prozac), NSRIs (Cymbalta, Effexor) and novel (Wellbutrin, Remeron) antidepressants. These drugs are generally very safe, even in overdose. As one colleague told me, you have to work pretty hard to overdose on an SSRI and you are more likely to choke on the number of pills it would take than be poisoned by them. In general, antidepressants as a class have the following commonly reported potential side effects: Headaches, upset stomach, anorexia, weight loss, weight gain, diarrhea, constipation, sexual dysfunction (anorgasmia), sedation, dry mouth, trouble urinating, teeth grinding and excessive sweating. These are the more common potential side effects. Not everyone gets them and when they do they are often transient and disappear as the body gets used to the medication. Also, for those side effects that are annoying and don't go away, there are things that can be done to minimize or eliminate them. More serious, and rare, side effects include something called SIADH (a syndrome where your body doesn't hold on to sodium as it should), serotonin syndrome, seizures and induction of mania/hypomania. The risk of SIADH is very very low, I think there have been only a few case reports in all of the millions of scripts that have been written. Seizures tend not to be an issues with most antidepressants unless you have a preexisting history of epilepsy or you are taking Wellbutrin and have an eating disorder or alcoholism. Serotonin syndrome, a syndrome where the body has too much serotonin, can be very serious but is also very rare unless the antidepressant is used in combination with a drug that also works on serotonin. As for the last one, this relates to the use of an unopposed antidepressant on someone who has bipolar disorder. A thorough history and education on what to look for for those people without the diagnosis but believed to maybe at risk, usually significantly decreases this risk. There has been some scuttle in the news about antidepressants and suicide. While there is some evidence to suggest that in some people there has been an initial increase in suicidal ideation, there have been no completed suicides associated linked to antidepressant use. In fact, there has been recent evidence to suggest that the rate nof suicide in children/adolescents has risen as the number of prescriptions of antidepressants written for that population has fallen. You made mention of the issue of blood thinning and antidepressants. This is a reasonable concern. We think that because of the serotonin receptors on platelets, people on SSRIs may have a little more difficulty clotting. This tends not to be severe and could be eliminated, if a source of concern, by tapering off the medication before surgery. And BTW, as for this alteration of consciousness stuff-that is nonsense. Everytime you have a thought you change the chemistry in your brain. Thats the reality of how the brain works. Vitamins and herbals, which some would promote, can be very dangerous in their own right. You've probably heard of arsenic, right? Well, thats a natural substance and its not all that safe, is it? Not all that is "natural" is safe and herbals in this country are very poorly regulated. A good multivitamin that has the recommended RDA equivalents will make sure your nutritional status is secured. Any advice about exercise is reasonable and certainly cannot hurt however the evidence as it applies to depression/anxiety suggests that this is only effective for mild to moderate cases. Psychotherapy is also a nonpharmacological approach to treatment if thats a path you are interested in.

Answer 7

Depends on why? If you are still depressed I do not recommend you join the service, seek help find out how to fix the problem then talk to a recruiter and inform them about all of this and go from there.

Answer 8

Possibly, you may need a waiver. But it al depends on what MOS you want. Anti depressants don't mix well with weapons, nuclear power plants etc. You might consider a crypto tech position, chaplains assistant, musician or clerical.

Answer 9

Yes you can join and that is why I fear our returning wounded vets more than I fear Islamic fundamentalists. Our disabled vets are F-ing crazy , I know I'm one of them . Timothy Mcvay, DC sniper, Atlanta Olympic bomber all disgruntled vets. This next wave will be far more destructive.

Answer 10

Oh god no they wont! I love them (but they are prescribed to me by the army)