Explaining a leave of absence due to depression

[escavalier]

I couldn't find anything in the search function about this topic. Context: I took a leave of absence due to depression (and its effects) in a previous fall semester and returned to school a year later. I have 5 Ws from that semester on my transcript, as I left in November.

I am applying soon and this morning I had my meeting with my pre-med advisor for my committee letter. After I explained to her that I took a leave of absence due to depression, I inquired if it would be possible to not mention my depression at all while applying to medical schools, because I know that mental health is still stigmatized in medicine and I have read n=1's on people whose application was affected due to mentioning it.

She suggested that I be open about my depression to address my semester's worth of Ws at some point in my application, warning that not doing so could potentially have AdCom's assume the worst (along the lines of a psychiatric facility) and that my GPA/MCAT, while decent for mid/low tier MD programs, was nevertheless not strong enough to safely disregard the fact that I have W's for an entire semester.

1) Regarding my past with mental health, how open should I be about it in my primaries/secondaries/interviews? I am feeling perfectly healthy and have since adopted many positive habits to manage my own health, and I believe I can state this fluently in interviews/in words.

2) My pre-health advisor offered to write about my depression in the committee letter. Obviously she would spin it in as positive light as possible, but would it be advisable for this information to be included?

Thank you for reading.

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[MiamiBoyy]

I would say yes you should be open and honest about it on your application. While not ideal, the alternative is an unexplained slew of W's that will likely prevent you from getting any interviews. If anything, I think it shows maturity on your part in that you recognized a problem and addressed it instead of ignoring it like so many others that go through this especially in college. Your mental health should always be put first and that's exactly what you did. I think ad coms would be understanding if you also talk about how you've addressed your depression and what you're doing actively to deal with it now.
1 in 5 people in this country are depressed, to think you can't get into medical school or get through it because of the condition without proper treatment and counseling is narrow minded I think.

 

[Goro]

Depression is very common (having suffered from it myself) and a sustained period of academic excellence since your withdrawals will allay whatever concerns Adcoms might have about you.

I couldn't find anything in the search function about this topic. Context: I took a leave of absence due to depression (and its effects) in a previous fall semester and returned to school a year later. I have 5 Ws from that semester on my transcript, as I left in November.

I am applying soon and this morning I had my meeting with my pre-med advisor for my committee letter. After I explained to her that I took a leave of absence due to depression, I inquired if it would be possible to not mention my depression at all while applying to medical schools, because I know that mental health is still stigmatized in medicine and I have read n=1's on people whose application was affected due to mentioning it.

She suggested that I be open about my depression to address my semester's worth of Ws at some point in my application, warning that not doing so could potentially have AdCom's assume the worst (along the lines of a psychiatric facility) and that my GPA/MCAT, while decent for mid/low tier MD programs, was nevertheless not strong enough to safely disregard the fact that I have W's for an entire semester.

1) Regarding my past with mental health, how open should I be about it in my primaries/secondaries/interviews? I am feeling perfectly healthy and have since adopted many positive habits to manage my own health, and I believe I can state this fluently in interviews/in words.

2) My pre-health advisor offered to write about my depression in the committee letter. Obviously she would spin it in as positive light as possible, but would it be advisable for this information to be included?

Thank you for reading.

 

[Lannister]

Question for people who are more knowledgeable about this: how would it look if OP just said something along the lines of, "I took a semester off for health reason. My health problems are now under control" without specifying what the health problem is?

Not saying OP shouldn't mention depression, I'm just curious.

 

[LizzyM]

Question for people who are more knowledgeable about this: how would it look if OP just said something along the lines of, "I took a semester off for health reason. My health problems are now under control" without specifying what the health problem is?

Not saying OP shouldn't mention depression, I'm just curious.

Well, the cat is out of the bag now. I think it is fine to say "I took a medical leave of absence to address a health issue that is now well controlled ." (that fits for diabetes as well as for depression as well as many other conditions) but the OP has discussed this openly with the pre-med advisor who does not have the obligation to keep this medical diagnosis private. If you want to keep your health information private, don't talk about it. Be discrete. Once information is out, you no longer have any assurance that your personal health information will remain private. Frankly, I feel as if the specific diagnosis is no one's business as long as the applicant meets the technical standards for admission.

I believe that there is an unspoken bias against some applicants based on personal health information that is disclosed and I do believe that it is better to keep very private anything that could cause you to be the victim of (legal) discrimination.

 

[Lannister]

Well, the cat is out of the bag now. I think it is fine to say "I took a medical leave of absence to address a health issue that is now well controlled ." (that fits for diabetes as well as for depression as well as many other conditions) but the OP has discussed this openly with the pre-med advisor who does not have the obligation to keep this medical diagnosis private. If you want to keep your health information private, don't talk about it. Be discrete. Once information is out, you no longer have any assurance that your personal health information will remain private. Frankly, I feel as if the specific diagnosis is no one's business as long as the applicant meets the technical standards for admission.

I believe that there is an unspoken bias against some applicants based on personal health information that is disclosed and I do believe that it is better to keep very private anything that could cause you to be the victim of (legal) discrimination.

Is that something that you've actually seen pre-med advisors mention in their letters of recommendation?

 

[Goro]

I have. And to follow up on the wise LizzyM's words, if it's in your app, it's fair game to ask about.

Is that something that you've actually seen pre-med advisors mention in their letters of recommendation?

 

[Lannister]

I have. And to follow up on the wise LizzyM's words, if it's in your app, it's fair game to ask about.

Interesting, that surprises me!

 

[Pedsmd2b]

Hey I wanted to reply to this to give you some words of wisdom. I was assaulted in my freshman and sophomore years of college so I actually took 2 years off. I worked with someone on my personal statement and decided ultimately to include it. For me it was important to show that it was a hard decision to make, but I couldn't care for others until I cared for myself...I think its important to talk about and I hate talking about it lol. I was asked about it throughout my interviews and I didn't go into more detail than I wanted to and my interviewers all told me they appreciated my honesty about the situation. I wanted them to know that my grades were suffering because of things out of my control, not my academic abilities. So based on my own personal experience it sucks having to talk about it over and over, but at the same time, wouldn't you want them to know why you left? Its a good opportunity to talk about a challenge you faced and how you dealt with it. Its very mature and smart to take care of yourself when you need it. Its important to know when to ask for help...so I hope that helps! Let me know if I can help more.

 

[vellez]

Glad your depression is under control. I'm not on an admissions committee, but to be perfectly honest, I'd say opening up about depression...in your application...isn't a good idea. Maybe you can talk to your pre-med advisor about tactful ways to discuss your W's, and attribute them to a well-managed, under control health issue. If you were able to come back and get good grades after your W's, that seems okay. If that were the case, it'd be clear (to me at least) that the slew of W's was attributable to a factor somewhat out of your control.

Not every obstacle is one worth discussing with an AdCom; a mental health issue is one of them.