Am I DQ'd?

Spike511

Spike511

Well-Known Member
Well, hey guys, long time no see...

I'm recently coping with the high possibility I will be unable to join the army for medical reasons...great.

So, I'd like to see if I can fall back on being a pilot. I changed my mind awhile ago for a few reasons...but I want to see if all my hope is lost.

I searched all over for an answer to this...and couldn't find one, so please bare with me. I'm already upset enough over having issues with not becoming a soldier or law enforcement officer...

In elementary school (I'm 17 now) I was on Adderall for ADD. However, I'm in junior year in high school and have been off the meds since 6th grade. I have a 3.59, im in NHS, and play varsity football...so I can function easily without the meds.

However, when I was 14 I had a few councling sessions for OCD/General Anxiety. However, no medication was taken. I'm fairly confident I can get a letter from him saying i'm good to go. However, would my Class 1 be rejected? My dads an ATC and said he had to take an airman medical to be one and said I would be fine. However...its my dad, he's supposed to say this stuff....

I have alittle depression as well...just school and the work load getting to me. I havent been treated or medicated for it...

Thanks,
Eric
 
Rule #1 with the FAA is don't self disclose what you don't need to. If you are truly depressed that is one thing but dude every teenager goes thru times when they are "sad" and "depressed". Do you think about killing yourself? No? OK forget it. Plus you are sad you can't go to the Army, that would make anyone upset. I was sad when I got downgraded, doesn't me we are depressed. Big difference.

Just a tip from a guy who has to deal with the FAA. Oh and IMO forget you ever did any sort of counseling, everyone has OCD, I have to have the papers in the "correct" location on the plane or I get bent out of shape. Don't worry about it. I wouldn't bother with any letters or anything, but that is just me. Of course I'm not an AME but I'm just saying what 99.999% of pilots out there do.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
What is the medical issue keeping you out of the Army?
Click to expand...

I counted about 15 that the deputy director of DoDMERB said would be an issue. Stupid stuff that dosent make a huge deal but apparently the Army cares about...chronic sinusitus...etc.

Its not 100% yet...but its not looking good.

--
Eric
 
Just state that you were treated as a child and have not required any treatemnt since 6th grade. Have your doc write a letter stating the same.
 
My Flight Surgeon said:
Just state that you were treated as a child and have not required any treatemnt since 6th grade. Have your doc write a letter stating the same.
Click to expand...

Does that apply to the ocd therapy as well, sir? Or is 4-7 councling sessions without medications not a big deal?

--
Eric
 
OCD is a pilot characteristic. Its in the nature of the job to check and double check and triple check things. We have a three step exchange of flight controls.

Turbine
 
Turbine said:
OCD is a pilot characteristic. Its in the nature of the job to check and double check and triple check things. We have a three step exchange of flight controls.

Turbine
Click to expand...


Excellent. Gentlemen, thank you for making me feel better about the decision. It was a tough move to change my career focus from pilot to army. I guess every cloud has a silver lining and that silver lining is I can revert to one of my strongest dreams...becoming a professional pilot.

One last thing before I let the thead drop. I experience anxiety a little more than others, however I have not been treated for it and its nowhere on my records. Will this be an issue? Should I mention it in my medical?

Thanks again,
Eric
 
Spike511 said:
Does that apply to the ocd therapy as well, sir? Or is 4-7 councling sessions without medications not a big deal?

--
Eric
Click to expand...


look man. dont self diagnose. youre not a doctor. so you dont need to put any crap about any of those talky-sessions on there.
 
Spike511 said:
One last thing before I let the thead drop. I experience anxiety a little more than others, however I have not been treated for it and its nowhere on my records. Will this be an issue? Should I mention it in my medical?

Thanks again,
Eric
Click to expand...

NO NO NO NO NO

As long as you aren't diabetic and can see 20/20 in each eye and don't have any DUI's or anything you are good to go, only be as honest as you need to be. By that I mean don't embellish anything. Seriously.

The FAA doesn't have some magical database they can look you up in, what you tell them is what they know about you...
 
I agree with TXaviatior. As long as you think you are capable, and its not a serious safety concern, you should be ok.
 
I had a student who had anxiety and couldn't make up his mind on decision-making skills. He has learned to live with it to make himself a better pilot, and is now an instructor.

You are only human. We are all different.
 
Turbine said:
OCD is a pilot characteristic. Its in the nature of the job to check and double check and triple check things. We have a three step exchange of flight controls.

Turbine
Click to expand...

Yea... that's not what OCD is, popular misconception however.

OCD is a compulsive disorder that prevents anyone affected from having a normal life.

Example. They leave their house for work and get half way to work but think they forgot to lock their door. They obsess about if they locked their door so badly that they return home (not going to work) and check and triple check or more that the door is in fact locked.

Then they worry that if they leave again, the door might become unlocked, so they feel that they have to stay home to watch the door and thus prevent it from opening randomly. They become so obsessed about checking and rechecking, and worrying about the door not being locked or randomly opening that their life is in effect over because they're afraid to leave their house and live a normal life.

Another example would be someone who might have to clap ten times then whistle and count backwards from ten in a succession or repetitive pattern. They feel if they don't do this for example their mother or a family member might die. These are just a few examples for OCD, they can be any kind of obsessive behavior, again that interferes with life.

OCD is just a person who's affected by this disorder attempt at feeling in control of some sort of action or aspect of their life, as they feel completely and utterly helpless. Consider it almost a rationalization, as they feel completely helpless in most aspects of life, so they rationalize that if they do "X" daily they can regain at least some aspect of control of their life back.
 
Turbine said:
OCD is a pilot characteristic. Its in the nature of the job to check and double check and triple check things. We have a three step exchange of flight controls.

Turbine
Click to expand...

That is not really OCD. OCD is more of a serious mental condition that impedes normal function. There are many different manifestations of it, but a few examples are:

- Touching things multiple times until they feel right. A person might touch a door knob 20 times before he finally opens the door. This can make everyday life miserable. You can't be a pilot if you have to rock the wings 20 times before you make a procedure turn or have to bounce every landing 4 times before you stop.
- Repeating words over and over again until they sound right. Remember the movie aviator where DiCaprio keeps repeating "the way of the future?" ATC would have a pretty big problem with this.
- Obsessed with cleanliness, afraid you will get HIV from even looking at blood, etc. Not good when your FO get a nosebleed and you have to run to the lav and wash your hands for 30 minutes.
- Compulsively checking things. People might check every room in their house before they go to sleep, then get in bed and worry they forget something, so they re-check. This process can last all night long. People might not be able to drive a car because every bump in the road they hit, they think they have ran over somebody, so they pull the car over and check and make sure there is not a person underneath. They might do this 100 times on the way to the way to their work making a 5 minute drive a 3 hour trip. A pilot with severe OCD wouldn't simply re-check a checklist 2 or 3 times, he would do it 200 or 300 times. He might spend 7-8 hours preflighting a plane over and over again.

OCD is used in the vernacular by people who don't understand what it really means. Common use makes it synonymous with perfectionism, and that is completely false.

The point is don't put down OCD on your application if you are just a little anxious about things or have a slight tick/repetitive behavior or superstition. OCD can run the full gamut from a person you wouldn't otherwise know if affected to a person who literally cannot get out of bed.
 
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