Driving medical - depression

[Wonderfulday]

My son applied for his provisional driving license and had to go for a medical as he was on anti-depressants. His own GP and his CAMHS counsellor gave their statement to say he was stable and his condition nor his medication would have any impact on his ability to drive. HOWEVER he was still subjected to a medical by the driving agency which asked questions about my marriage, where we happy couple, what relationship did he have with siblings, they asked about the reason he self harmed, how deep the cuts were, where on his body he cut, why he had depression, what does he talk to his counsellor about, how was his school life, they didn't accept generic answers, they pushed and pushed. What relevance does any of that have on his ability to drive! I was expecting questions like, does your medication make you drowsy, have you thoughts of harming others etc AIBU to take this further as in a complaint?? Surely if the people treating him for years say he is stable they should accept that without making him divulge personal issues to a complete stranger about things that happened when he was about 15!!! I am so furious that he was put through this!

This seems odd. I have been on ADs in various forms for most of my life and never had a medical about it when I applied for any license.

My point is what happened when he was 15 is irrelevant to his ability to learn to drive at 17 which is the age he is now

I agree, this didn't happen because he's on ADs. there must be more.

Or

He's fibbing.

Were you there?

If I could post his letter from DVA that said his referral I would, I can assure you no lies, why would I lie, I am here looking help??? He applied for his provisional, he ticked the box to say he had depression and was on medication, they initially denied his application because he had only started his medication and stated he needed to be on the medication and stable for 3 months. We appealed this based along with support from his GP and counselor and this was the reason he was then referred for their own medical

I have the letter from DVA, and have spoken directly with the GP and his counsellor, what could he be lying about?

Well he has asked for the transcript of all that was said, I was there for that and he has asked that I be put done that I can speak on his behalf, he is very honest with me, he has no reason to lie to me. I'm a tad lost here, I came looking for advice as to whether these questions seemed relevant and now I am defending my son

He self harmed when he was 15 and had suicidal thoughts, which now he doesn't thanks to CAMHS, why is that relevant to him being able to learn to drive

Ok so to rephrase, IF my son is telling the truth AND the transcript confirm what he says, would you complain?

A friend of mine was married to a man who had a history of depression and was on anti depressants. One day he attempted to end his own life by driving his car off a bridge, onto a busy road below. Luckily he survived and nobody else was involved in the incident.

The DVLA have a duty to your son and to other road users to try and prevent foreseeable accidents from happening. You know your son well, you may be of the view that it’s incredibly unlikely that he would do something to hurt himself and others. The DVLA doesn’t know that. It has to take steps to mitigate against the possibility of something horrific happening. In many cases that will result in an overreaction which feels unwarranted and intrusive. In many other cases it might prevent serious harm.

I hope your son is ok. I have spent many years on anti depressants at various points in my life and I know how hard it can be to deal with the stigma attached. That said, I can see the actions of the DVLA as an attempt to keep people, including your son, safe from harm.

Without sounding like I want to start an argument, I will gladly post it with his answers covered so that I can show you my son is not a liar, like I said he has no reason to lie to me

I think the potential of suicidality IS relevant when issuing driving licenses, and don’t begrudge them attempting to be thorough.

It's in case he uses his car to kill himself and takes others with him

They should be just as proactive when people say my parent is showing signs of dementia but the only thing I've ever heard them do is say...just take their keys off them until a Dr gets involved of course

I fully appreciate it but my point is his GP and his psychiatrist in CAMHS have both said this is not a risk and not a suicide risk, why isn't that sufficient?