.

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
LoveAndSqualor

LoveAndSqualor

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2016
Messages
107
Reaction score
76
.
Members don't see this ad.
 
Last edited:
DoD Instruction 6130 lays out the disqualifications to joining the military. It includes the following:

Current or medically-managed hypertension.

History of anxiety disorders if:
(1) Outpatient care including counseling was required for longer than 12 cumulative months.
(2) Symptomatic or treatment within the previous 36 months.
(3) The applicant required any inpatient treatment in a hospital or residential facility.
(4) Any recurrence.
(5) Any suicidality (in accordance with Paragraph 6.28.m.).

That doesn't mean you can't join. It means someone needs to review your records and approve a waiver. I wouldn't expect any issues getting a waiver from what you're describing. If you've never received or declined any therapy, counselling, or medication I wouldn't mention it. You expressing a feeling of anxiety is not the same as being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
If your provider is offering treatment, the assumption would be they felt you had the diagnosis. The textbook answer is you should report it and they should just ignore it because you don't meet any of the disqualifying criteria. The reality is that often psychiatric medications and treatment are prescribed without the formal diagnostic criteria being met and without much thought about the potential ramifications for someone wanting to join the military, fly a plane, etc. I'm sure many would not mention it and advise you to do the same.
 
Everyone on earth gets anxiety from time to time. We are animals.

What do you mean when MEPS pulls up your medical records? Unless something has changed, they only know what you tell them and disclose. And then they will loose all the paperwork about that a couple of times even though it’s on a computer.
 
So not sure if my relatively recent (summer 2022) MEPS experience would be helpful for you. It's a bit a different situation but I had a spinal microdiscectomy several years back and when you look at the already cited above DoD standard it comes with a similar wording that you have to be treatment / symptom free (which was the case for me ever since the surgery) for x amount of time. So what I did was that I proactively got all my records from the surgery + all my records for the last 8 years (which was easy as all the providers used EPIC ... so basically it was a single printout) which made it clear that I never had any treatment / symptoms since the surgery. In addition to the records themselves (although the recruiter did not ask for this at all and was very skeptical about it) I also asked my health insurance to 'pull' a claims history (I mean what 'better proof' could it be that you did not get any treatment for any condition than not having insurance pay for it ....?) - which demonstrated that I did not have any additional treatments outside the ones submitted (I actually do not know if the recruiter submitted that to MEPS or not). Recruiter submitted things to MEPS for a 'pre-review' and basically the 'back issue' was already a 'non-issue' when I went (I asked the MEPS doctor if he would need to see any of the 'back issue documents' and he said no that this is all clarified already). Based on my experience my (very limited) suggestion to you would perhaps be:

1. Assuming that as a MS4 you likely had the same/similar providers for the last 3 1/2 years - get all the records now from them. See how they actually documented the 'anxiety' in the records [in my case I also had a one-time pre-syncopal event at one point due to being dehydrated... which I had mentioned to my PCP - she put it in her note but also stated that this was likely due to dehydration there and that no further investigation is indicated - MEPS never really cared about the presyncopy with the documentation in place like that]. It should be relatively easy for you to do this now before possibly moving to another part of the country for residency.

2. Try to get the claims history from your health insurance (they usually have offices you can walk into and they give you a print out) - again should be easy for you to do now before you change insurance as a resident.

3. In case the actual notes speak a lot about "anxiety" (e.g. it is mentioned in every single note...) perhaps ask for another follow-up appointment with your current provider. Perhaps she/he would be OK documenting that this was all related to stress in medical school/exams, did not require any treatment and is now fully resolved? [The reason I am suggesting this is that the only 'hick-ups' I had at MEPS was that of course I had to get a tick bite in the time between submitting all the documentation to the recruiter/MEPS and the actual appointment - had a textbook/classical 'bull's eye lesion' five days later - so was on a three week course of doxycycline .... - I mentioned that to the MEPS doctor and he required me to provide a statement from my PCP that my early Lyme's disease was completely cured and treated.... . And yes I mentioned taking the doxycycline because of 'GENESIS' which I guess is the new MEPS system - I have no clue how it works but I assume that it will be similar to e.g. "EPIC Care Everywhere" which gives very rapid access to notes as well as prescription records - so I wanted to avoid any confusion in that regard if it were 'discovered' that I took doxycycline for three weeks just a week prior to my MEPS appointment. In the end the recruiter was quite surprise how 'smooth' MEPS went for me as he had expected a huge problem because of my back issue...]

4. You are going Army National Guard - not Air NG - correct? Just if it were the Air Force be aware that there would at some point (I am not there yet myself...) be a 'flight physical' for any 'aeromedical' stuff you would do later on ... so again good to have all your documentation in a folder - especially if you are about to move/change providers for residency.

Again - not sure if this is helpful at all ... feel free to DM me if you would want any additional clarifications.
 
Glad this seems helpful to you. Again I am clearly not a MEPS physician (perhaps someone with more experience will comment) so I do not know if a repeat visit would help in any way ... this is just an assumption based on a 'common sense approach'. What was put in the letter to 'clear' me because of my Lyme disease was "He completed full treatment with doxycycline and is cleared and released with no additional workup or follow-up needed." - my pure guess is that if you are concerned about the anxiety documentation and can get a provider at your student health document that your "anxiety" was "situational" and related to stress in medical school/your car accident ... etc. and is now no longer present and has never and will not require any treatment or additional workup or follow-up - then it definitely should be the 'non-issue' which (in my opinion) it is anyhow... - also as you will be switching providers soon, be aware that you might have wait times of up to 3-4 month to find a 'new PCP' once you are in residency ... (also of course not sure when your recruiter will send you to MEPS) - so in case somethings 'cycles back' to you this might be a time factor in your situation. Again this is just a 'common sense' recommendation based on my own n=1 experience ... and things might be very different for you as well you have decided to join an organization where (based on a lot of info in this forum ;-) ) 'common sense' is not always the chosen approach [it actually happens everywhere in life ... most definitely in academic medicine....] ... - in my experience so far this is definitely the case with the 'scrolling process' which you will also go through ... ;-) - just a little tip - do not waste any time to try to understand 'the scroll'... I have done that and just had to give up after wasting way too much time ;-).
 
LoveAndSqualor said:
From what I understand, they now require you to sign a release allowing them to access your medical records. This is a change that occured in the last year or so.

And I agree, everyone has anxiety. I don't think I meet the criteria for any anxiety disorder. Just have a feeling this might be a headache during medical clearance.
Click to expand...

This is incorrect. You have always been required to sign a release. It doesn't mean they will send letters to all of your providers or insurance companies. You think they have the time or inclination to do something like that? Nope.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread
Top