I suffered through some mental health issues which motivated me to pursue medicine. I included these issues in my personal statement but I've got varied responses from people reading them as to whether I should include it or not. Any thoughts?
Mental Health and a Personal Statement
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Don't.
It raises questions about your ability to handle medical school and the profession. Even if it's nothing that could reasonably be expected to interfere with those things, there's still a common perception that any kind of mental illness makes you inherently unstable or less competent. If you say you're depressed, adcoms will wonder if you're a suicide risk for the school. If you say you're bipolar, they'll wonder if you're going to embarrass the school by exploding in front of patients. If you say you have ADHD, they'll wonder if you'll be able to handle the academics. If you say you have a phobia of bees they'll probably imagine some scenario where there's a bee in a flat lining patient's room and you're unable to go in because of your phobia and the patient dies. You get the idea.
I've also heard mixed things about talking about other people's experiences with mental illness who are close to you. Some say it's fine, others say it shows a wild disregard for confidentiality.
It raises questions about your ability to handle medical school and the profession. Even if it's nothing that could reasonably be expected to interfere with those things, there's still a common perception that any kind of mental illness makes you inherently unstable or less competent. If you say you're depressed, adcoms will wonder if you're a suicide risk for the school. If you say you're bipolar, they'll wonder if you're going to embarrass the school by exploding in front of patients. If you say you have ADHD, they'll wonder if you'll be able to handle the academics. If you say you have a phobia of bees they'll probably imagine some scenario where there's a bee in a flat lining patient's room and you're unable to go in because of your phobia and the patient dies. You get the idea.
I've also heard mixed things about talking about other people's experiences with mental illness who are close to you. Some say it's fine, others say it shows a wild disregard for confidentiality.
Hmm, okay, so one of the biggest reasons I want to go into medicine is because of my interest in mental health rooted in both personal experiences as well as the experiences of people close to me. So I want to include it somehow.
I guess I probably won't talk about my personal experiences, but what about if I talked about how I helped people close to me emerge out of the experiences. I won't really be talking about the people and their circumstances or anything specidic, but more about how I helped them connect with things like exercise, for example, to emerge out of it, more focusing on how lifestyle changes can affect mental health issues. Does this still count as a wild disregard for confidentiality?
I guess I probably won't talk about my personal experiences, but what about if I talked about how I helped people close to me emerge out of the experiences. I won't really be talking about the people and their circumstances or anything specidic, but more about how I helped them connect with things like exercise, for example, to emerge out of it, more focusing on how lifestyle changes can affect mental health issues. Does this still count as a wild disregard for confidentiality?
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How about just discuss how the mind/brain is the "last frontier" of sorts and how much that mystery interests you?
I'd personally just leave it out all together though.
I'd personally just leave it out all together though.
My personal statement revolved around how mental health issues in my family and friends influenced me to pursue a career in medicine. So far the cycle is going great for me.
I wouldn't write about any personal mental health issues but I think the theme can be effective if done properly.
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I agree with this. As much as it sucks to have to "hide" it, it's best not to give them any reason to doubt your ability. Good luck!
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I was wrongly diagnosed by a ***** school counselor. Put on drugs with potentially bad side effects long term (such as loss of fine motor control... would be bad if I wanted to pursue surgery). Glad I took some psych courses to learn about the DSM and its criteria or else I'd still be in that mess. I wish I could write about it. But I know it would be a bad idea. If it taught me anything it's that psychiatry needs a lot of work in terms of research, and I want to go into research. In a sense I feel like that would be a good motivation, but I also know that, despite not actually having a mental illness, I would still be judged for that. The stigma is extremely unfortunate. There are plenty of very successful people who are bipolar, schizophrenic, OCD, etc.
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Don't write about any mental health issues that you have gone through in your personal statement. As people have said, it will raise a red flag.
However, as previous posters have said, you can write about the mental health issues of others. Present the anecdote and then focus on how you have grown from this experience/why it made you want to pursue medicine.
I wrote about supporting my sick mother with her illness in my statement and had to revise it many times with my adviser so as to not raise any red flags (a chronically ill mother can also raise some questions). I've received a few interviews so far so I can't see why your story might hinder your application as long as you write it carefully.
However, as previous posters have said, you can write about the mental health issues of others. Present the anecdote and then focus on how you have grown from this experience/why it made you want to pursue medicine.
I wrote about supporting my sick mother with her illness in my statement and had to revise it many times with my adviser so as to not raise any red flags (a chronically ill mother can also raise some questions). I've received a few interviews so far so I can't see why your story might hinder your application as long as you write it carefully.
