deferring for depression

[campesino1]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi everyone,

I have been accepted to a few allopathic schools this cycle. I applied this cycle because I was dead set on entering med school in 2011.

However, I have also recently been taking a medication that has caused me to be seriously depressed. I stopped the medication a few months ago, but my depression has been continuing.

I took this medication before both in high school and college, and back then it also caused me to have severe depression, even for up to two years after I finished taking it.

I was able to do well in high school and college even with the depression, but it made my life absolutely miserable (i.e., I wish I could have been home during those times). I know this sounds extreme, but I am fairly certain that if I enter medical school next year in the condition I am in, I might end up having to drop out. To make things worse, even though I am no longer on this medication, I still have serious body aches and fatigue that continue.

I have been working in a clinic and volunteering in a hospital over the past year, and have found that these have really helped make me happier. I am hoping to ask my top choice school that accepted me to let me defer for 1 year, and let me continue working and volunteering -- I really know that one more year will make all the difference.

I know this sound like a strange reason to want to defer. I should not be depressed at all, right? I mean, I got into med school, which was my dream. But I guess that just shows how serious my symptoms are.

So, I'm wondering if anyone can give me advice about this. Do you think med schools will think this is a valid reason to defer? How exactly should I explain it to them to increase my chances of having them say yes? A valid objection will be that matriculation is not for 9 months -- won't my depression be better by then? Believe me, as I said I have taken this drug twice in the past and my depression continued for almost 2 years each time. And I don't want to wait until close to matriculation to request deferment, because I feel it might be easier to get it now, right? Also, to make things even worse, my doctor says I might have to go on a 4th course next year.

Is it better to say something positive like "One year off working and volunteering will really help me feel better as a person and help me do much better in med school," rather than something negative like, "I will probably have to drop out if I enter in 2011 instead of 2012"?

Thanks so much for your input -- sorry this post was so long.

 

[Wermz]

Gotta go for it. You don't wanna be explaining to schools that you turned down acceptances for depression. Listen to some classical music and take long walks.

 

[Isoprop]

You really should speak with your doctor about this. He or she not only knows your situation more clearly than we do but also understands the demands of a medical education.

I would do everything to either get better or put off medical school. The worst outcome is dropping out in the middle with all that debt to pay.

 

[the duck]

Gotta go for it. You don't wanna be explaining to schools that you turned down acceptances for depression. Listen to some classical music and take long walks.

While you may have to do this, if you do decide to ask for a deferment, go from the angle of this is a side effect of a medication, you are taking for a medical problem...make it seem very much as a medical leave as you can.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

Listen to some classical music and take long walks.

Damn, bro. Can your advice be anymore solid?. Niiiiiiice.


🙄


Anyways, op if you're thinking that you won't perform as well as you should in med school, maybe you should defer. Perhaps you should speak with your doctor about your situation and than maybe get some sort of written letter from the doc backing up your decision. It'll be in their best interest to allow you to defer. You'll cost them money if you drop-out or have to repeat year 1.

 

[image187]

personally, I'd try it out and if I couldn't handle it, take leave of absence for a year before the last day where you can withdraw and get a tuition refund. In this case you'd be able to see how it is and you could still come back the next year if you wanted to. I've heard schools are generally very receptive to things like this, and once you get in they'll pretty much do whatever it takes to work with you to make it through school. You won't necessarily be costing them any extra money, if you let them know early enough they'll just fill your spot with someone else and then take your money the next year. Even if it came to deferring during the year, one of my classmates did just this last school year and now he's back in school.

 

[werd]

i'd go the deferring for medical illness route if you decide to defer. work with your doctor on this. be cautioned that med school is tough, and psychologically taxing to many...when i was in med school i heard a statistic that 40% of students will meet criteria for depression at some point during med school. also, your belief that this is 2/2 drug side effect raised a little alarm bell in my head; talk with your doctor about whether this is truly the case, as it would be highly unusual (i don't know your particular circumstances, but talk this over in depth with someone who does).

hope this helps... i wouldn't start med school while dealing with active psych issues. and if you're in med school and start having major issues, talk to the school counsellors and administration before you fail courses, not after.

 

[Wermz]

Damn, bro. Can your advice be anymore solid?. Niiiiiiice.


🙄

That's the joke...or is it? <-- THAT'S the joke.

 

[Coug]

K, so I'm curious. You want to be a doc and all that jazz, so what happens when you get depressed again when you're a resident and further?

 

[FIREitUP]

Hi everyone,

I have been accepted to a few allopathic schools this cycle. I applied this cycle because I was dead set on entering med school in 2011.

However, I have also recently been taking a medication that has caused me to be seriously depressed. I stopped the medication a few months ago, but my depression has been continuing.

I took this medication before both in high school and college, and back then it also caused me to have severe depression, even for up to two years after I finished taking it.

I was able to do well in high school and college even with the depression, but it made my life absolutely miserable (i.e., I wish I could have been home during those times). I know this sounds extreme, but I am fairly certain that if I enter medical school next year in the condition I am in, I might end up having to drop out. To make things worse, even though I am no longer on this medication, I still have serious body aches and fatigue that continue.

I have been working in a clinic and volunteering in a hospital over the past year, and have found that these have really helped make me happier. I am hoping to ask my top choice school that accepted me to let me defer for 1 year, and let me continue working and volunteering -- I really know that one more year will make all the difference.

I know this sound like a strange reason to want to defer. I should not be depressed at all, right? I mean, I got into med school, which was my dream. But I guess that just shows how serious my symptoms are.

So, I'm wondering if anyone can give me advice about this. Do you think med schools will think this is a valid reason to defer? How exactly should I explain it to them to increase my chances of having them say yes? A valid objection will be that matriculation is not for 9 months -- won't my depression be better by then? Believe me, as I said I have taken this drug twice in the past and my depression continued for almost 2 years each time. And I don't want to wait until close to matriculation to request deferment, because I feel it might be easier to get it now, right? Also, to make things even worse, my doctor says I might have to go on a 4th course next year.

Is it better to say something positive like "One year off working and volunteering will really help me feel better as a person and help me do much better in med school," rather than something negative like, "I will probably have to drop out if I enter in 2011 instead of 2012"?

Thanks so much for your input -- sorry this post was so long.

That's a terrible way of looking at things; you have an illness, you have as much conscious control over your depression as much as someone with cancer can control the rate of cell division of their cancer cells. You need to take care of your condition so that is treated, and so that the extra stress of medical school doesn't provide sufficient stress to deepen your illness. For now, see if you can find a way to get treated and if need be, consider getting your psychiatrist to write you a note for deferral.

 

[Ursa]

That's a terrible way of looking at things; you have an illness, you can control your depression as much as someone with cancer can control the rate of cell division of their cancer cells. You need to take care of your condition so that is controlled, and so that the extra stress of medical school doesn't provide sufficient stress to deepen your illness. For now, see if you can find a way to get treated and if need be, consider getting your psychiatrist to write you a note for deferral.

In case you haven't noticed, cancer cannot simply be controlled. I hope you were being sarcastic.

 

[FIREitUP]

In case you haven't noticed, cancer cannot simply be controlled. I hope you were being sarcastic.

i was stating that depression is as much of an illness as cancer is. sorry my wording was off, i fixed it in my post.

 

[Wermz]

i was stating that depression is as much of an illness as cancer is. sorry my wording was off, i fixed it in my post.

Eeeeehhhhhh, I think that's bs. Depression is interpretation of a spectrum, while cancer is black and white.

 

[FIREitUP]

Eeeeehhhhhh, I think that's bs. Depression is interpretation of a spectrum, while cancer is black and white.

because it's not concrete and quantifiable makes invalidates it? your posts are invaluable to this forum👎thumbdown

 

[werd]

alas. as suggested above, depression is an illness. the subtleties are too complex to get into tonight... but it's a medical illness. it does exist on a spectrum, but there are specific criteria for it's diagnosis, and specific symptoms, biochemical disregulations, and quantifiable abnormalities that characterize it. there's also dysthimia, which is sort of like a chronic mild depression, and "adjustment disorder with depressed mood," which is depressive symptoms in specific reaction to something bad that's happened, there's also "grieving" etc, etc...

i'll also challenge the above assertion that cancer is black and white. metastatic spitz nevi in children are just one of many examples; they met to lymph nodes but are benign in course and no harm comes of them. keratoacanthomas, malt lymphomas, and self-resolving histiocytosis are just a few others. these are all things you learn in med school... just keep an open mind til then 🙂.

 

[Wermz]

because it's not concrete and quantifiable makes invalidates it? your posts are invaluable to this forum👎thumbdown

What? No. -1 Internets

Alternatively, NO U!!!

it does exist on a spectrum, but there are specific criteria for it's diagnosis, and specific symptoms, biochemical disregulations, and quantifiable abnormalities that characterize it. there's also dysthimia, which is sort of like a chronic mild depression, and "adjustment disorder with depressed mood," which is depressive symptoms in specific reaction to something bad that's happened, there's also "grieving" etc, etc...

The "specific criteria" are arbitrary and man-made. Homosexuality used to also be defined as a mental disorder. Of course depression exists as we define it. I just think there is a tendency for people to think of spectrum mental disorders as yes/no situations, and I think that is dangerous.

This is all kind of beside the point though. OP has depression, depression sucks, etc.

 

[FIREitUP]

What? No. -1 Internets

Alternatively, NO U!!!



The "specific criteria" are arbitrary and man-made. Homosexuality used to also be defined as a mental disorder. Of course depression exists as we define it. I just think there is a tendency for people to think of spectrum mental disorders as yes/no situations, and I think that is dangerous.

This is all kind of beside the point though. OP has depression, depression sucks, etc.

Now it's besides the point? You come into a thread and offer nothing of value and bring the thread to a tangent, and now you have the audacity to say that it's besides the point after people challenge your assertions and general threadcrapping?

 

[Wermz]

Now it's besides the point? You come into a thread and offer nothing of value and bring the thread to a tangent, and now you have the audacity to say that it's besides the point after people challenge your assertions and general threadcrapping?

Nothing of value? Did you even see my post about classical music and long walks?

And I don't think what I said was tangential at first. When we're telling someone his depression is just as uncontrollable as cancer, I think that's messed up, so I said something. But then, later, when we get into diagnostic details etc I thought it was too far removed from the OP's question, so I said something. Get it?

 

[FIREitUP]

Nothing of value? Did you even see my post about classical music and long walks?

And I don't think what I said was tangential at first. When we're telling someone his depression is just as uncontrollable as cancer, I think that's messed up, so I said something. But then, later, when we get into diagnostic details etc I thought it was too far removed from the OP's question, so I said something. Get it?

Sorry I didn't read that quip about walking and music; super helpful. Like you, I disagreed with something you said; namely the fact that you can just "snap out" of depression by listening to Mozart while wearing Sketchers Shape Ups.

 

[gravitywave]

Nothing of value? Did you even see my post about classical music and long walks?

at first i thought this was just a lame attempt at humor. now i'm inclined to think that you are serious.

And I don't think what I said was tangential at first. When we're telling someone his depression is just as uncontrollable as cancer, I think that's messed up, so I said something. But then, later, when we get into diagnostic details etc I thought it was too far removed from the OP's question, so I said something. Get it?

yes, something that was wholly unhelpful and actually pretty denigrating. your whole attitude suggests that people with depression are simple malingerers. OP's problem sounded pretty legitimate to me, and you haven't made any remarks that are so much helpful as directly dismissive. that you are ignorant and believe you actually are being helpful merely compounds the problem.

Get it?

 

[gravitywave]

Is it better to say something positive like "One year off working and volunteering will really help me feel better as a person and help me do much better in med school," rather than something negative like, "I will probably have to drop out if I enter in 2011 instead of 2012"?

don't go negative, because they will want to know why you think you will drop out. they accepted you, after all, because they felt that on the basis of how they know you now, you had a high probability of being able to complete the MD program in four years.

but either way, they're going to want details. many places don't grant deferrals lightly. and truthfully, "coming out" to administrators in your med school that you have a mental health/substance abuse problem can hurt you, regardless of their protestations to the contrary. the bias is real (you've seen it in this thread) and there's no way for you to know how you'll be received for disclosing this information.

the good news is that you have time - six months until May 15. so, get help pronto. have you seen a psychiatrist? have you told your concerns to your regular doctor regarding your medication that you think might be responsible? start there.

ultimately, you are responsible for your own happiness. don't expect to start feeling better out of the blue - something in your life has to change in order for things to improve. motivate! and good luck.

 

[Wermz]

at first i thought this was just a lame attempt at humor. now i'm inclined to think that you are serious.



yes, something that was wholly unhelpful and actually pretty denigrating. your whole attitude suggests that people with depression are simple malingerers. OP's problem sounded pretty legitimate to me, and you haven't made any remarks that are so much helpful as directly dismissive. that you are ignorant and believe you actually are being helpful merely compounds the problem.

Get it?

You were right the first time. But lame? Cmon gimme some credit.

And as for being helpful, we're gonna have to agree to disagree about that. I think telling someone his depression is as uncontrollable as cancer is utterly absurd, and my attempt to point that out is probably useless but nevertheless important imo. Certainly I believe we have more control over depression than we do over cancer, but that does NOT mean I believe depression is illegitimate or whatever. That jump, from "uncontrollable disease" to "not a disease at all/malingerer" is a problematic jump imo, which is what I tried to say earlier with the black n white stuff.

 

[bravofleet4]

yeah, i would deal with it now. i'm a little reluctant to say this but i started school with depression (and am still fighting it), but I thought it would clear up within the first few weeks of med school. that turned out completely wrong. med school is a very intense place regardless of what people tell you and you want to be at your best.

IF YOU DO DECIDE YOU NEED ANTI-DEPRESSANT MEDICATION, DO NOT WAIT TO START TAKING THEM UNTIL RIGHT BEFORE MEDICAL SCHOOL. anti-depressants i found out have a sometimes several months long time before they kick in during which you may experience severe side effects such as heavy fatigue and disturbed sleeping patterns among other things. i can take you that they made the first few weeks of med school hell for me when the transition would've been much smoother.

 

[musafirah]

just one question.. how do you know you won't get depressed again later once you've started med school? that is, what if you go on that medication again in a year or two or later? you need to figure that out.. delaying a year isn't going to make your problem go away. you have to manage your medical condition in such a way that you have complete confidence you can handle med school, residency and everything else. i think it strange that your problem will magically go away in a year or two and then you can happily start school. you have to start right now to manage your problems in a way that WORKS (long term).

don't do anything hasty.. you have a few months to decide to defer or not. in that time you really ought to explore solutions so that your depression and other side effects don't come back later, and that you are healthy enough to handle extreme workload of medicine.
be proactive and work w/ ur doc or a better doc.. and then figure out the deferral question later before may.