Can behavioral health get you out of the Army?

If you have a history of a depressive disorder that needed outpatient care or counseling for more than 12 months overall, you cannot join the military. Furthermore, a potential recruit with an inpatient hospital stay for depressive disorder will receive a disqualification for service.

Can the military access mental health records?

The Army may check medical records if there are red flags about the recruit’s fitness for duty. The Army often turns away individuals based on military disqualifications: mental health disorders, hearing and vision loss, underlying health conditions, poor physical fitness and obesity.

Can you get out of the Army for anxiety?

In the military’s scheme of things, serious disorders such as major depression, anxiety or schizophrenia may be grounds for medical discharge or retirement, usually depending on their severity and amenability to treatment.

Can you be on antidepressants in the military?

Response 1: Antidepressants are disqualifying for one year after you stop taking them. You must stop with your doctor’s advice; do not stop on your own. These medications often have to be reduced slowly to lower side effects and reduce risk of relapse.

Can you take antidepressants and be in the military?

Are antidepressants disqualifying? ( Response 1: Antidepressants are disqualifying for one year after you stop taking them. You must stop with your doctor’s advice; do not stop on your own. These medications often have to be reduced slowly to lower side effects and reduce risk of relapse.

Can you join the military if you are suicidal?

Both suicidal gesture and self-mutilation are disqualifying for military service, by DoD regulation. After Samantha De La Rosa visited behavioral health at age 13 because of what her father called “some minor self-harm markings we saw she had inflicted,” her military career was over before it started.

Can you join the military if you have a mental illness?

Disqualifying Mental Health Conditions According to the Department of Defense, you’re disqualified from serving in the U.S. military if you have a current diagnosis or a history of most mental disorders. The presence of any disorder with psychotic features, such as schizophrenia or a delusional disorder, does not allow one to serve.

Does the military use a mental health screening?

The military uses a mental health screening to see if there are any potential red flags that will prevent you from carrying out your role fully with the military. Furthermore, the military wants to verify that you aren’t a danger to yourself or others.

Can you get a waiver for Mental Health in the Army?

Expanding the waivers for mental health is possible in part because the Army now has access to more medical information about each potential recruit, Lt. Col. Randy Taylor, an Army spokesman, said in a statement. The Army issued the ban on waivers in 2009 amid an epidemic of suicides among troops.

Can you join the army if you have bipolar disorder?

WASHINGTON – People with a history of “self-mutilation,” bipolar disorder, depression and drug and alcohol abuse can now seek waivers to join the Army under an unannounced policy enacted in August, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY.