im going to go to the doctors and sort out what injections me and kids are goin to be needing and wasnt sure if i also need to ask for a letter regarding my past depression.

at the age of 13 i made a suicide attempt, and as a result saw a psychiatrist for bout 6 months. from then to the age of bout 18 i was on and off anti depressants. only ever took for bout 2/3 months at a time and had attended a few councelling sessions until i knew i was feelin better then would be fine for bout a year or so.

i havent taken any anti depressants or needed any counselling tho for the past 9/10 years.

Question is what will i need my doctor to write in the letter? will the doctor need to explain all the ins and outs of what happened? would i also need anything from a psychiatrist as it was 15 years ago?

any help is greatly appreciated,
thankyou xxx

Hello. I have read some similar threads, and it seems the recommendation is to get a letter from the doctor and the psychiatrist as well if possible. It shouldn't be a problem, but you should be totally up front and prepared.

If you are asked if you are suffering from depression, I'd answer no, but if it's the "history" question, you'd have to answer yes. I'd ask your family doctor, or even the psychiatrist who treated you, to just briefly type up a letter explaining that you were seen approximately 10 years ago for depression and that treatment was by way of medication and counselling. I'd also have them put a "discharge" date, or the last counselling session, or medication prescription expiry date on it as well.

Just my opinion!

Carla

At my medical (yesterday) the doctor asked if I'd had depression or anxiety in the past. I said yes I had but it was short-lived and was 10 years ago. She said as it was short-lived and hadn't reoccured since then she wouldn't ask for more information, which I assume would've been from my GP otherwise. So I'd say if you're going to declare it then you should go armed with a doctor's letter explaining it all.

I agree; get a letter from your GP before you go to the medical. I wish we'd known about this before going to my husband's medical; he's still on antidepressants but he's completely fine on them; it's when he comes off them that he gets a little wiggy. They approved him no problem.

would they really expect me to get a letter from a psychiatrist i was treated by 15 years ago? or would it be more sense to try and get something from the counsellor i saw 10 years ago? just seems so long ago that im worried wont be able to retireve info they want.

will try and get to doctors as soon as possible though to try and make sure i can get all the info i can get.

thanks everyone xxx

One of the questions on the medical form you complete on the day of the medical "have you ever taken action to end your own life?"

Since you will have to put "yes" and "yes" to depression, you should get a letter of some kind from at least your GP.

A letter from your GP you along the lines of "when you were depressed, how you were treated including the therapy and any medicene, and the fact in the last ten years you have had no referrals or recurrance" would be a good start. Without this, you will find that either they ask you to get one and fax it over or possibly, IIRC, even have to go to a US approved psychologist for an examination/evaluation.

If you look at the criteria for a medical exam, they want to know there is very little chance you are likely to repeat such behaviour and be a potential danger to yourself our others.

Cheers

Teddy

I had the same things happen to me as you. I went to the medical and i was called on the telephone by my doctor about a week later stating i needed a letter from a psyc... mine was 15 years ago.

So ..

If you were never officially diagnosed depression by any doctor, nurse etc, then you did not have it?

Also what if you don't have GP or any other doctor? Are GP notes supposed to be fore some background info in any case? I have lived around the world and I have never had any specific doctor taking care of me, so I won't be able to get that .. also my records are in way too many countries to even try to make a puzzle about them. :-/

I went to a private psychologist for my letter.

For some major surgeries you need psych clearance, and you can go to any psychologist, they interview you shortly, and type up a letter stating you are currently sane, free of depression, etc - I would think you could have something like that done and it should suffice even if you are unable to get to your GP or psychologist who previously treated you.

bit of an update,

i went to the docs and she had a quick look through my file and we discovered that even though i had a suicide attempt and prescribed anti depressants at 13, i was never actually diagnosed as depressed!! Not until 1998 for a total of 2 months.

rather strange i think but hey they should know what they are on about!! lol
doctor and i discussed it all and decided that we dont think i will need any letter from her to take and for me to tell them that the suicide attempt was all put down to adolescence and the depression in 1998 was down to being low from being burgled.

she has however agreed to write a letter immediately if they do request one though.
but then of course she will as the letter will cost me £60-£87!!

Anyhow fingers crossed they will be satisfied with my explanations at the medical.
Now im just goin to docs for my lovely injections!!

oh how the fun never ends lol
sam xxx

This process is enought to make anyone "nuts".

It should be noted there are many different degrees of depression some may result in instant denial, others won't even come on radar, having a letter stating periods of it, the treatment you have had or are having, the circumstances involved in any harm you may have caused yourself and any other relevant information you can think of, I think ultimately it is better to bring it out in the open than let it bite you in the ### later on.

Holy crap...I can't remember if our GP charged my husband at all for the letter.

I think i got a dodgy doc!!

She said should cost bout £87+ but she said she would do it for me for £60!!! seems to me she is doing it on the sly, not sure i wana risk asking for a diff doc and getting stung for the £87+ tho lol

Not an NHS doctor then? I think my doctor charges a flat rate on all letters etc, thats around 15 quid, 60 seems crazy high.

Some practices do charge for that sort of thing, but even 60 quid sounds like extortion. Maybe we just have a really generous GP.

Think im gona ask on reception at the docs and see if they say the same kind of price, it is NHS and personally i thought it was just a tad bit high. But just thought it what they charge, now i have heard different i shall definatley ask!!

Thanks for the responses guys

Having worked in Doctor's surgeries most of my adult life I can tell you it doesn't matter f the Doctor is NHS or not - a letter such as this is classed as a private service as it is outwith the standard items they have to provide as a service on the NHS. If it is going to have to be a very detailed letter requiring a lot of preparation and research then this is actually pretty good value. All GP's can basically charge whatever they want to any private service, that's why it vaies so much from practice to practice.

If you can get the Doctor to come down on price that's a bonus but I would be very surprised! Hope it goes well.

I had my medical today and like eveyone else, about 6 years ago, I suffered depression and made two suicide attempts. Since then, I've been fine, not seen a psychiatrist for 6 years and am not on medication. I looked at the posts on VJ and got a letter from my GP confirming all this and saying there had been no problems since.

Now, they want another letter, stating the possibility of causing harm to myself, others or of needing psychiatric help in the future. Sorry, but I don't have a crystal ball and neither does my GP, who's refused to amend the letter in case he gets sued in the future! Luckily, I can obtain a report through my occupational health department as I work in the NHS - but anyone not lucky enough for this may struggle - unless you get a report from a clairvoyant!

I have a question...My SO has OCD, not a severe case and mainly the obsessive part of it (obsessive thoughts and worries, etc.) He has been on various antidepressants before and has seen a private therapist for it. Will he need a letter from his therapist? I'm not sure it's on his record, I think he asked to see a psychologist through NHS, but never received an appointment after 1.5 years. He has never attempted suicide or tried to harm himself or anything. Should he even disclose this? Or will it just be a case that they will ask for him to fax over a letter after the medical if they need it? His medical is next Tuesday, but his interview won't be for a while yet.

I don't recall the content or detail of the medical form people fill out and I wasn't there for the exam, of course, but I think you should only disclose what you are asked to disclose. That certainly doesn't mean lie or hide facts purposefully, but if there comes a point where you just think they *might* want to know, don't offer stuff that wasn't asked about. Especially if you're dealing with older problems or things that are long under control and leave you in working order.


If someone's currently on medication, if that needs to be disclosed, disclose it. If it's a medication that might catch someone's eye and lead to questions, then perhaps having a back up letter from the doc is good, in case you need to whip it out. But there's a few people lately who've faced unexpected problems due to this issue. I don't know if they could've been avoided or not. Check out linababe's posts about her med/interview experience.