I’ve been doing a lot of reading on this forum and I am seeking opinions regarding my son’s specific situation. He just graduated from college with a B.S. in Business and Finance, GPA 3.85. He lived in Japan for 1 year of college on a study abroad program and speaks some Japanese. He has always dreamed of becoming a naval aviator and wants to apply to OSC. He recently underwent PRK to correct his vision, but he has a diagnosis of childhood depression/bipolar in his past that is going to be a problem. However, I believe that he was misdiagnosed by unqualified professionals. Here’s his story and I apologize for the length.
Around the time he was 8 years old, his father and I divorced and my son was misbehaving in the 2nd grade. His teacher in school made me feel terrible about his bad attitude and I took him for counseling. We saw a nurse practitioner who said he was depressed and suggested we try an anti-depressant. Since I’m a rather worrisome mother and willing to trust the “professionals”, I agreed. (Note, these particular records were destroyed by that clinic over 14 years ago and I do not remember the name of the nurse). After a period of time, I noticed that my son was excessively “happy” after being on the anti-depressants and the nurse suggested that this was a symptom of bipolar disorder. She then took him off of the anti-depressants and placed him on a mood stabilizer. The nurse practitioner eventually left that clinic and referred me to another psychiatrist who carried forth the diagnosis and for a period of a few years, he was continued on the mood stabilizer and occasionally took an anti-depressant as well. This doctor’s notes are sketchy, so it’s difficult to recall all of the details. (Note, I discovered recently that this psychiatrist was under disciplinary action by the medical board when he was treating my son and we were not aware of this fact at the time. I have the court documents validating this). When my son was 15, he wanted to know why he was taking these pills still because he felt just fine. I decided to have him evaluated by a different doctor because I wasn’t sure what to do next. This new psychiatrist tells me that my son is just fine and does not have bipolar disorder. He also referred us to a psychologist who does biofeedback or some sort of fancy testing that cost us big bucks. This psychologist told us my son was just fine too and may have had a adjustment disorder, reactive to parental conflict. So, we discontinued the medications 7 years ago without problem and he has been fine since.
Little did we realize how damaging this history would be on my son’s future plans. About 1.5 years ago, he applied for a 2nd class airman’s certificate. He had thought about private aviation or air traffic control and this is when we were honest about his childhood and suddenly his mental health was being scrutinized. The FAA required a complete forensic psychiatric work up. We submitted all of the medical history we could obtain and spent a fair amount of money on this assessment. The psychiatrist concluded as his diagnosis the following when my son was 21 years old: History of Depression NOS during childhood, early adolescent, now in full remission for 7 years and History of Oppositional Defiant Disorder, currently in remission for 6 years. There is no mention of bipolar in the final diagnosis, but he does state in the main body of the report that he probably never had it. He recommended a special issuance of an aeromedical certificate and the FAA granted it. He’s supposed to follow up with his AME and this psychiatrist in a few months. I’m hopeful at that time that the FAA will remove the special issuance as my son’s AME said that they probably would and then would leave him alone.
I feel partially responsible for my son’s medical history because I was a busy, single working mom who let him stay on these meds for far too long because I didn’t want to “rock” the boat. Therefore, I’m doing all I can to help him now. I’m looking for advice on the best way to present all of this information to the Navy for a waiver. I’ve read about people being permanently disqualified for just the mention of this kind of stuff in their past and I want to do everything “right” the first time around. My son was just a kid who got caught up in the land of misdiagnosis because he had a “Type A” personality at an early age and would become “down” easily when his expectations weren’t met. He obviously excelled in college, lived abroad for a year on his own (which can be a very stressful endeavor), has had the same part-time job for 6 years though high-school and college, has no criminal record whatsoever, and has excellent credit. What do you believe his chances are for a waiver and what can I do to improve the odds so that the Navy won’t immediately and permanently disqualify him? I will pay for however many assessments or tests are needed. I just want him to have a fair chance based on his true person, rather than this crap attached to his childhood. It may also be worth noting that he would consider Navy Supply or the Air Force too. He just really wants to serve his country.
Around the time he was 8 years old, his father and I divorced and my son was misbehaving in the 2nd grade. His teacher in school made me feel terrible about his bad attitude and I took him for counseling. We saw a nurse practitioner who said he was depressed and suggested we try an anti-depressant. Since I’m a rather worrisome mother and willing to trust the “professionals”, I agreed. (Note, these particular records were destroyed by that clinic over 14 years ago and I do not remember the name of the nurse). After a period of time, I noticed that my son was excessively “happy” after being on the anti-depressants and the nurse suggested that this was a symptom of bipolar disorder. She then took him off of the anti-depressants and placed him on a mood stabilizer. The nurse practitioner eventually left that clinic and referred me to another psychiatrist who carried forth the diagnosis and for a period of a few years, he was continued on the mood stabilizer and occasionally took an anti-depressant as well. This doctor’s notes are sketchy, so it’s difficult to recall all of the details. (Note, I discovered recently that this psychiatrist was under disciplinary action by the medical board when he was treating my son and we were not aware of this fact at the time. I have the court documents validating this). When my son was 15, he wanted to know why he was taking these pills still because he felt just fine. I decided to have him evaluated by a different doctor because I wasn’t sure what to do next. This new psychiatrist tells me that my son is just fine and does not have bipolar disorder. He also referred us to a psychologist who does biofeedback or some sort of fancy testing that cost us big bucks. This psychologist told us my son was just fine too and may have had a adjustment disorder, reactive to parental conflict. So, we discontinued the medications 7 years ago without problem and he has been fine since.
Little did we realize how damaging this history would be on my son’s future plans. About 1.5 years ago, he applied for a 2nd class airman’s certificate. He had thought about private aviation or air traffic control and this is when we were honest about his childhood and suddenly his mental health was being scrutinized. The FAA required a complete forensic psychiatric work up. We submitted all of the medical history we could obtain and spent a fair amount of money on this assessment. The psychiatrist concluded as his diagnosis the following when my son was 21 years old: History of Depression NOS during childhood, early adolescent, now in full remission for 7 years and History of Oppositional Defiant Disorder, currently in remission for 6 years. There is no mention of bipolar in the final diagnosis, but he does state in the main body of the report that he probably never had it. He recommended a special issuance of an aeromedical certificate and the FAA granted it. He’s supposed to follow up with his AME and this psychiatrist in a few months. I’m hopeful at that time that the FAA will remove the special issuance as my son’s AME said that they probably would and then would leave him alone.
I feel partially responsible for my son’s medical history because I was a busy, single working mom who let him stay on these meds for far too long because I didn’t want to “rock” the boat. Therefore, I’m doing all I can to help him now. I’m looking for advice on the best way to present all of this information to the Navy for a waiver. I’ve read about people being permanently disqualified for just the mention of this kind of stuff in their past and I want to do everything “right” the first time around. My son was just a kid who got caught up in the land of misdiagnosis because he had a “Type A” personality at an early age and would become “down” easily when his expectations weren’t met. He obviously excelled in college, lived abroad for a year on his own (which can be a very stressful endeavor), has had the same part-time job for 6 years though high-school and college, has no criminal record whatsoever, and has excellent credit. What do you believe his chances are for a waiver and what can I do to improve the odds so that the Navy won’t immediately and permanently disqualify him? I will pay for however many assessments or tests are needed. I just want him to have a fair chance based on his true person, rather than this crap attached to his childhood. It may also be worth noting that he would consider Navy Supply or the Air Force too. He just really wants to serve his country.
