# Does taking antidepressants prevent you from going into the military? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-taking-antidepressants-prevent-you-from-going-into-the-military/319545 "2005-09-01T03:38:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-taking-antidepressants-prevent-you-from-going-into-the-military/319545/21 "2005-09-02T15:32:46Z")
> [@groman](#): > > I’m well aware of that, they’re still antidepressants, i.e. psychoactive substances. Caffeine doesn’t get you high or give you a buzz, but it’s still a “fun drug”. Apparently you don’t know how antidepressents work. There is simply nothing “fun” about them. Caffeine, which does indeed cause a mild buzz, has fairly immediate effects, and is a stimulant with a noticeable effect on mood. If you think that this is somehow similar to antidepressants, you are quite wrong. I also suspect that you have not conducted a thorough process of gathering and analyzing data from a random sample, which makes your observations about people you know nothing but anecdotes, with very little value when it comes to determining something useful and accurate about medical treatment. And my doctor’s given me a number of mental health drugs without a workup by a psychiatrist. Of course, in my case, it’s probably clear that I had good reason to think I needed them. But I suspect a lot of doctors will give drugs like these out fairly freely. Whether that’s bad or not is something that deserves study. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-taking-antidepressants-prevent-you-from-going-into-the-military/319545/22 "2005-09-02T15:42:37Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > I have been diagnosed as having “severe clinical depression without psychotic episodes.” Am I mentally ill? Yes. You have severe clinical depression without psychotic episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-taking-antidepressants-prevent-you-from-going-into-the-military/319545/23 "2005-09-02T15:55:56Z")
In a previous life, I worked a job that required a high level security clearance. Due to the nature of the questions on the clearance application, it was obvious that ANY treatment for mental or emotional problems including just therapy sessions, had the potential to disqualify a person. The questions were phrased as “Have you ever been treated for XXXX” NOT “Have you ever suffered from XXXX” This had the obvious effect of discouraging myself and coworkers from seeking treatment. A number of us (note inclusive pronoun) could certainly have benifitted from such. It was without a doubt THE most disfunctional organization I’ve ever been associated with. Pretty much the antithesis of who you want looking after national security and how you want your tax dollars spent. Sorry for slipping toward GD content. Not all military jobs require a security clearance. For those that do, use of antidepressant drugs would be considered in a negative light. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-taking-antidepressants-prevent-you-from-going-into-the-military/319545/24 "2005-09-03T04:18:34Z")
Goodness. My girlfriend was just prescribed an anti-depressant (Wellbutrin) to help her quit smoking. Granted, she’s not interested in joining the military but disallowing all anti-depressant use appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to a fairly common problem. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-taking-antidepressants-prevent-you-from-going-into-the-military/319545/25 "2005-09-03T04:35:56Z")
I’ve been perscribed anti-depressents by a general practicioner within five minutes of walking in to the office. Since most anti-depressents have manageable side effects and can’t hurt things, most doctors will prescribe them immediately and with little research just to see if that clears up the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Donovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-taking-antidepressants-prevent-you-from-going-into-the-military/319545/26 "2005-09-03T14:05:19Z")
I know someone who made finished college with a very GPA, was extremely physically fit, a leader-type person both in high school and college and was generally the type of person I figured would be in demand for an officer (oh, yeah, she was in air force ROTC throughout college too). When she finished college she did not get commisioned as an officer due to a history of mental illness in the family, at least that’s the way I understood it - is that common (or even possible)? ---
**Author:** ![Donovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-taking-antidepressants-prevent-you-from-going-into-the-military/319545/27 "2005-09-03T14:19:52Z")
I made finished college too, and actually got decent grades for my english requirements. the first sentence should read: “I know someone who finished college with a **high** GPA, as extremely physically fit, was a leader-type person both in high school and college, and was generally the type of person I figured would be in demand for an officer (oh, yeah, she was in air force ROTC throughout college too).” come to think of it, it may have not been Air Force ROTC, either. ---
**Author:** ![Donovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-taking-antidepressants-prevent-you-from-going-into-the-military/319545/28 "2005-09-03T14:21:36Z")
…make that **was** extremenly physically fit… oh forget it. I’m going back to bed. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-taking-antidepressants-prevent-you-from-going-into-the-military/319545/29 "2005-09-03T14:25:33Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > Goodness. My girlfriend was just prescribed an anti-depressant (Wellbutrin) to help her quit smoking. Granted, she’s not interested in joining the military but disallowing all anti-depressant use appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to a fairly common problem. That’s where the subtlety of the questioning comes in. According to **Kevbo** , he was asked, “Have you ever been treated for XXX?” Your girlfriend was not treated for a mental illness. (Wellbutrin is commonly used to aid in smoking cessation, BTW). Of course, they _might_ ask if she’d taken specific drugs. Or they might start classifying nicotine addiction in the same category as heroin and cocaine addiction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-taking-antidepressants-prevent-you-from-going-into-the-military/319545.md?page=1)