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Will I have to show my complete medical history at the flight physical?

CoolArrows69

New Member
27 year old applying for SNA/SNFO
Here's my situation - I was (mis)diagnosed with ADD when I was 12, graduated college with a mediocre GPA, and stopped taking meds when I was 25.
I am planning on getting a waiver so it's one less headache to worry about.

When it comes to the flight physical, what will I have to bring?:

A. Bring my entire life's medical history spanning back to 1993.

B. More relevant medical history spanning back 7 years.

C. Nothing unless I say I had ADD.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
27 year old applying for SNA/SNFO
Here's my situation - I was (mis)diagnosed with ADD when I was 12, graduated college with a mediocre GPA, and stopped taking meds when I was 25.
I am planning on getting a waiver so it's one less headache to worry about.

When it comes to the flight physical, what will I have to bring?:

A. Bring my entire life's medical history spanning back to 1993.

B. More relevant medical history spanning back 7 years.

C. Nothing unless I say I had ADD.
I am guessing you have not talked to a recruiter yet, if you do not disclose you had ADD and they find out that is fraudulent enlistment, if you do tell them you will probably be DQ'd. If you have to supply any med docs at all any if any part of those med docs say "ADD" or any prescription for something that could be used to treat ADD the cat is out of the bag.

The other thing is the security investigation, are you sure no one they interview will mention ADD?

The fact you were on meds up until 2 years ago may be the biggest issue, they have often wanted people off ADD meds for many years before they would look at them, it used to be 7 years.
 

CoolArrows69

New Member
How do you know you were misdiagnosed?

I haven't officially been misdiagnosed by a doctor (I should get that done ASAP).
But other than that, my performance at work and quality of life has gotten tremendously better since getting off the meds.

I really don't see it as an issue anymore, and I see I'm not the only one on AW who had a similar experience. Hopefully they can chime in too.
 

CoolArrows69

New Member
I am guessing you have not talked to a recruiter yet, if you do not disclose you had ADD and they find out that is fraudulent enlistment, if you do tell them you will probably be DQ'd. If you have to supply any med docs at all any if any part of those med docs say "ADD" or any prescription for something that could be used to treat ADD the cat is out of the bag.

The other thing is the security investigation, are you sure no one they interview will mention ADD?

The fact you were on meds up until 2 years ago may be the biggest issue, they have often wanted people off ADD meds for many years before they would look at them, it used to be 7 years.

I have talked to a recruiter once and the subject was not brought up at all... yet.

The SF-86 doesn't say anything about ADD. They only care about those diagnosed with bipolar, schizophrenia, or some kind of drug addiction.

Isn't the minimum amount of time for a waiver 12 months?
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
ADD = Good Instrument Scan ?
Not really. As someone who's on a NAMI waiver for childhood ADD, the term is a misnomer. What you actually get is best described as "channelized attention." It's easy to laser focus on one thing at a time in depth, but difficult to keep that laser focus on one thing if your subconscious brain gets bored with it. I can lose myself in software code, for example, up to the point when something's frustrating and not working right, and then it's a struggle to keep my brain from going "eh, let's surf AWs or Reddit and take a break." Because I know that if I'm not careful, I'll deep-dive on something else irrelevant and poof, there goes an hour and a half.

It's actually a recipe for scan breakdown unless you know yourself and develop coping skills. Not necessarily incompatible with flying, but you just have to understand that you're wired differently and adjust.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
I have talked to a recruiter once and the subject was not brought up at all... yet.

The SF-86 doesn't say anything about ADD. They only care about those diagnosed with bipolar, schizophrenia, or some kind of drug addiction.

Isn't the minimum amount of time for a waiver 12 months?

It is the medical forms where it will be seen, on the 2807 and 2808.

12 months is the starting point, there have been people here that have been turned away after being off for many years, you never know what a doc will put in the notes.

Trying to get a doctor to say you were misdiagnosed when it comes to anything psychological will be difficult, docs to want to call out other docs for being wrong.
 

AllAmerican75

FUBIJAR
None
Contributor
27 year old applying for SNA/SNFO
Here's my situation - I was (mis)diagnosed with ADD when I was 12, graduated college with a mediocre GPA, and stopped taking meds when I was 25.
I am planning on getting a waiver so it's one less headache to worry about.

When it comes to the flight physical, what will I have to bring?:

A. Bring my entire life's medical history spanning back to 1993.

B. More relevant medical history spanning back 7 years.

C. Nothing unless I say I had ADD.

You MUST disclose that you were on medication and any diagnoses you have that resulted in you being on the medication. Here's the CAVEAT: Before you disclose this to the Navy during your MEPS physical (I'm not sure you have to disclose it during the security investigation anymore), go see a doctor who specializes in these sorts of things (Psychologist/Psychiatrist) and have them DOCUMENT the fact that you no longer need medication, that you were likely misdiagnosed, and that you NO LONGER show any signs/symptoms/evidence/etcetera of having ADD or ADHD.

IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS: You will be subjected to testing during the MEPS process and will need to get a waiver from BUMED to enlist. Then you will be subjected to testing AT OCS to determine whether you still have ADD/ADHD. This testing is not ideal when you are subjected to a lack of sleep and high stress environment. Furthermore, the Navy and NAMI specifically use this as an attrition tool and will likely NPQ you in order to be safe. NAMI is a very conservative organization when it comes to accessing new aviation candidates so they will often times deny people who do are not 100% aeronautically adaptable. If you have medical issues in your past, especially ADD, then you MUST have ALL of your documentation ready to go to prove to NAMI that you NO LONGER show any signs of ADD nor require medication.

Good luck.
 

CoolArrows69

New Member
You MUST disclose that you were on medication and any diagnoses you have that resulted in you being on the medication. Here's the CAVEAT: Before you disclose this to the Navy during your MEPS physical (I'm not sure you have to disclose it during the security investigation anymore), go see a doctor who specializes in these sorts of things (Psychologist/Psychiatrist) and have them DOCUMENT the fact that you no longer need medication, that you were likely misdiagnosed, and that you NO LONGER show any signs/symptoms/evidence/etcetera of having ADD or ADHD.

IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS: You will be subjected to testing during the MEPS process and will need to get a waiver from BUMED to enlist. Then you will be subjected to testing AT OCS to determine whether you still have ADD/ADHD. This testing is not ideal when you are subjected to a lack of sleep and high stress environment. Furthermore, the Navy and NAMI specifically use this as an attrition tool and will likely NPQ you in order to be safe. NAMI is a very conservative organization when it comes to accessing new aviation candidates so they will often times deny people who do are not 100% aeronautically adaptable. If you have medical issues in your past, especially ADD, then you MUST have ALL of your documentation ready to go to prove to NAMI that you NO LONGER show any signs of ADD nor require medication.

Good luck.

Thank you very much!! This is extremely helpful.
I haven't seen my psychiatrist in over 8 years. I tried calling him today and I found out he died. Would any psych professional be able to document this? Regardless of if I know him/her or not?
 

AllAmerican75

FUBIJAR
None
Contributor
Thank you very much!! This is extremely helpful.
I haven't seen my psychiatrist in over 8 years. I tried calling him today and I found out he died. Would any psych professional be able to document this? Regardless of if I know him/her or not?

Probably. Like many services, psych services are best when you've built a rapport and the doctor can more accurately diagnose you. I would find a good shrink and then go in and discuss your issues openly and honestly. They will know what to do. The big takeaway is that they provide a letter or proof that you DO NOT have ADD, DO NOT require medication, and DO NOT show any deficits in attention outside of what is normal. This is what NAMI is looking for and what they will test for at OCS if you do not bring it with you.
 

CoolArrows69

New Member
Probably. Like many services, psych services are best when you've built a rapport and the doctor can more accurately diagnose you. I would find a good shrink and then go in and discuss your issues openly and honestly. They will know what to do. The big takeaway is that they provide a letter or proof that you DO NOT have ADD, DO NOT require medication, and DO NOT show any deficits in attention outside of what is normal. This is what NAMI is looking for and what they will test for at OCS if you do not bring it with you.

I will absolutely do this. Hopefully you saved me from getting the NAMI whammy. You are the man!
 
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