Air Force Will I be disqualified before starting active duty?

[afpsych]

Hi all,

So I'm finishing up my civilian deferred residency in June and still awaiting my PCS orders (because of COVID and the stop order) for starting active duty in August. I was having somewhat bad anxiety for the first few years of residency but late last year (last few months of 2019) it got to the point where I was just having extremely bad anxiety and could barely function many days. I was able to not miss work (because I didn't want to put out my co-residents), but I was having tons of trouble at home, could barely take care of my baby daughter, etc. I finally saw my PCP in January and was put on Lexapro. I'm doing a bit better but I don't think I'm anywhere near as controlled as I need to be, and it's making work quite difficult. I've been trying to contact like...anyone right now (credentialing office, physician placement guy, etc.) but nobody is answering e-mails or phones. Is this anxiety going to keep me from going active duty?

I don't want to leave the Air Force or god forbid pay back all the money I borrowed. Will they separate me from Air Force because of this? Or could they potentially let me stay in but just keep me stateside? I just want to get it under control. Will they at least give me time to get my anxiety under better control?

Thanks,
afpsych

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[deleted480308]

No idea, but the priority is to handleyourhealth and appropriately disclose

good luck

 

[mudderMD]

Residency sucks the life out of you. I’m sorry.

please know that attending life is generally better? If that helps?

 

[armytrainingsir]

Take care of yourself and seek the medical care you need.
Plan on being active duty.
Answer all the health questions appropriately and truthfully as you transition.
Don't worry about paying back the money. I have never heard of folks having to pay it back because they were later found to be physically unfit for service through no negligence or fault of their own.

 

[TheEarDoc]

Hi all,

So I'm finishing up my civilian deferred residency in June and still awaiting my PCS orders (because of COVID and the stop order) for starting active duty in August. I was having somewhat bad anxiety for the first few years of residency but late last year (last few months of 2019) it got to the point where I was just having extremely bad anxiety and could barely function many days. I was able to not miss work (because I didn't want to put out my co-residents), but I was having tons of trouble at home, could barely take care of my baby daughter, etc. I finally saw my PCP in January and was put on Lexapro. I'm doing a bit better but I don't think I'm anywhere near as controlled as I need to be, and it's making work quite difficult. I've been trying to contact like...anyone right now (credentialing office, physician placement guy, etc.) but nobody is answering e-mails or phones. Is this anxiety going to keep me from going active duty?

I don't want to leave the Air Force or god forbid pay back all the money I borrowed. Will they separate me from Air Force because of this? Or could they potentially let me stay in but just keep me stateside? I just want to get it under control. Will they at least give me time to get my anxiety under better control?

Thanks,
afpsych

Take care of your health first. Could be being a parent of a younger child and residency (many people crack or have some type of mental issues going through residency without the added life stress of small children) has made some normal anxiety balloon into something larger. You have to take care of you first and foremost.

My guess is the military will carve its pound of flesh from you. You have to be very bad off for them to separate you from service after investing so much money and time into you.

Report everything truthfully and let them decide what to do.

My guess is you won't have to pay anything back because I doubt they separate you from service. They will probably monitor you and still deploy you and most likely not just stateside. There are plenty of places OCONUS that are not war zones they can send you to and still manage your anxiety.

 

[HighPriest]

I doubt they will separate you. Even if they did, you didn't have this as a preexisting condition. You developed it training to do the job they picked you up to do. Take care of yourself, and FFS don't let this add to your anxiety. I promise you're going to be fine with or without the Air Force.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Anecdotally, I know quite a few people who are in with anxiety meds, including some folks who got on them in med school. So while it is definitely possible that they’ll separate you, it is also very likely you’ll stay in. You certainly won’t have to pay anything back.