- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 10
I've begun the application process for army officer. I've dreamed of being in the army since I was a teenager watching Desert Storm. Guns, tanks, and hand to hand combat. I can't believe they might pay me to learn what I love.
Unfortunately I have a skeleton in my closet. For much of my 20s I was severely depressed. I was hospitalized several times in 1997, and then again in 2002 and briefly in 2006. I wasn't able to work for much of this time, much less pursue my dream of combat arms. Fortunately I did find solutions. In 2001 I did extensive counselling. I worked through my family of origin issues. I was able to discontinue the antidepressants and tranquilizers. By 2002, my specialist said I no longer qualified as clinically depressed. However I still suffered from an old family tradition: insomnia. Eventually though I found a solution to that as well. Fish oil and exercise, either alone or together, provided a gradual but very dramatic response. Since mid -2006 I have successfully completed two semesters at university, and have worked full-time in between. In spring of this year, I told my long-time specialist that I was gung-ho for the military. She had no hesitation in writing a letter declaring me fit for service.
Nonetheless, I am concerned that past medical history may disqualify me from my dream. I would appreciate any insight or experience you may have on this matter.
Is the specialist's letter sufficient? Or will past illness result in rejection?
-Pete
Unfortunately I have a skeleton in my closet. For much of my 20s I was severely depressed. I was hospitalized several times in 1997, and then again in 2002 and briefly in 2006. I wasn't able to work for much of this time, much less pursue my dream of combat arms. Fortunately I did find solutions. In 2001 I did extensive counselling. I worked through my family of origin issues. I was able to discontinue the antidepressants and tranquilizers. By 2002, my specialist said I no longer qualified as clinically depressed. However I still suffered from an old family tradition: insomnia. Eventually though I found a solution to that as well. Fish oil and exercise, either alone or together, provided a gradual but very dramatic response. Since mid -2006 I have successfully completed two semesters at university, and have worked full-time in between. In spring of this year, I told my long-time specialist that I was gung-ho for the military. She had no hesitation in writing a letter declaring me fit for service.
Nonetheless, I am concerned that past medical history may disqualify me from my dream. I would appreciate any insight or experience you may have on this matter.
Is the specialist's letter sufficient? Or will past illness result in rejection?
-Pete