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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Depression ???
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Question
Hi, my daughter is trying to join the coast guard active duty and we were wondering about her past depression. She went to see a Doctor when she was 14, only visited him twice and got prescribed medication. She never followed up with the doctor and we tossed to prescription out after rethinking about her being on antidepressants. Which was the good decision I think, turns out she was just suffering the onset of PMS. She has not had any other medical issues, and is very physically active. This was over 3 years ago. She met with a recruiter a couple of weeks ago but he never asked her any real medical questions I just happen to hear from someone on the Internet that you will be disqualified for this, is this true?
Hi Kara, I'm afraid that it's probably going to require a waiver. Medical Standards for joining the U.S. Military can be found on my site at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/l/blintmedstandar.htm
Generally, any *treatment* for a mental health disorder will require a waiver. For obvious reasons, any previous history of treatment for depression is examined very, very closely.
For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Answers by Expert:
Rod Powers
Expertise
Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.
Experience
Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.
Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).
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