Depression

[HaiThar]

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Will having a history of depression or being on psychotherapeutic medications hurt my chances of becoming a physician?

 

[swamprat]

Um.. don't tell them until after you get accepted? Unless you want to use it for why you performed poorly in a particular semester or something.

 

[runrunrudolph1]

How would they have access to this information? I wouldn't tell them if you don't have to. Less explanations and less chances for people to take anything the wrong way or interpret it as they wish.

 

[Caesar]

Will having a history of depression or being on psychotherapeutic medications hurt my chances of becoming a physician?

no.

 

[ThaliaNox]

They will never know unless you tell them.

As an interesting sidenote, we were learning about depression in a small group recently at my school and they made us all fill out the depression screening test "to learn how to score it," and plastered the email of the medical student mental health counselor all over the boards and gave us a ten minute talk about how depression was commmon in medical students and nothing to be ashamed of.

 

[searun]

If you are a medical student and you are not stressed and/or depressed, people think you are weird. I get crap on SDN all the time for saying positive things about med school and for usually being in a good mood.

 

[red10]

You'd never have to tell them if you don't want to. I told one of my interviewers that one of the biggest challenges in my life was dealing with my depression soph/junior year not because it was very severe but because I had to ask for help and couldn't deal with it alone. I was accepted a week later.

now if you go in and are like "i'm depressed but refuse to do anything about it and often feel like offing myself" well then yea chances are you aren't going to be accepted.

 

[red10]

If you are a medical student and you are not stressed and/or depressed, people think you are weird. I get crap on SDN all the time for saying positive things about med school and for usually being in a good mood.

being a cynic and being depressed are different things. but yes, perkiness is considered abnormal

 

[loveoforganic]

I wouldn't disclose until after I was accepted. People who have experience an episode of depression are more likely to relapse than those who haven't, and I'm sure adcom knows that. So get accepted, then notify and get your support system set up and whatnot.

 

[riverjib]

Will having a history of depression or being on psychotherapeutic medications hurt my chances of becoming a physician?

They have no way of knowing unless you disclose it to them. It's not really relevant. Just take care of yourself. Pre-med is stressful, and so are med school and residency. I've had very close friends with similar issues, and depression is tricky, since you need to monitor yourself. Only those who know you best can see when you're slipping away, so you need to stay proactive and do whatever it takes to keep you on track.

But med schools won't and don't need to know...unless you're struggling with it during school. Even if you disclose it during a physical, so many people have a history of depression that it won't hurt your standing.

 

[taciturngirl]

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