Have you notified the DVLA of your mental illness?

[dontrunwithscissors]

I'm not sure how many people realise that various mental illnesses have to be reported to the DVLA?

It's not just conditions such as schizophrenia, it also includes depression where your memory or concentration are badly affected, or you are agitated, or have suidical thoughts. This page on the Mind website is good:

www.mind.org.uk/information-support/legal-rights/driving/my-right-to-drive/#.Vd7647SJndl

This is something that has never been told to me by any MH professional. I think that depression involving agitation/suicidal thoughts/poor concentration is really quite common. Has anyone on here been through the process?

Yes I have and did. I have a one year license that I have to reapply for each year.

I had no idea about this, thanks for the link

Yes of course, it would be irresponsible not to. I've had my licence withdrawn as I have quite severe suicidal tendencies including recent attempts, and I get agitated and anxious when driving. My psych has signed me off for a Freedom Pass and public transport around here is excellent, so luckily I have no problems getting around, and I prefer it to driving tbh.

My psychiatrist did, years and years and years ago. A decision that still causes problems for me today but he said he was under a medico-legal obligation to inform them.

I did when I first went on my psych meds about 7 or 8 years ago. They took away my license for a year, then gave me a one-year provisional that had to be renewed every year, and then finally I graduated back to a full license.

I was under the impression that mine was linked to the medication I am on and not or not only to my illness (bipolar). My meds made me very very sleepy and a bit loopy for the first while so even though it was a pain in the arse I couldn't argue with it. My body (and my lifestyle) have gotten used to the meds now so apart from sleeping really deeply they don't really affect my normal daily life.

Yes I had a Freedom Pass too at the time.

It's also about being compliant with your meds so, bizarrely, they are happier about me driving in a doped kind of drugged up state than off meds. And because mania, risk taking and loss of inhibitions and scary judgment and the need for speed and so on! (Also bipolar.)

I always thought it was if you suffered from some form of psychosis so guess I was partly right. The link is very helpful.

My doc did warn me that you do have to be careful when taking meds with a sedative effect like quetiapine (for me was take at night) and also any strong doses of diazepam.

Yes, DH told me I needed to declare my bipolar (it hadn't occurred to me ). They took away my license for 4 months whilst they investigated (I was very pissed off at the time!)
It's all fine now, I just have to renew more often than other people.

My physciatrist keeps mentioning it. You only need to tell them if it affects your driving and luckily mine isn't but she keeps reminding me.

Although some conditions requite you to notify the DVLA, regardless of whether it affects your driving.

God really? My Fil is on antidepressants, well when he can be bothered to take them. The doctor told him he was perfectly safe to drive on them. He just doesn't want to, he has paranoid delusions that the police are after him (narcissistic personality) but nobody has told him that he should report it to the DVLA. I don't think he'd be capable of the phone call.

No buy my psychiatrist said she has a duty to notify them on my behalf if I show any inclination of taking my suicide plans seriously and that would lead to removal of my licence.

I had no idea, I have Bipolar, this is why my brother refuses medication for his Bipolar. I take meds but would never drive after taking them at night.

I missed out: I wonder if this is the reason my brother....

you can be disqualified from driving for NOT taking your meds

Really, mad. Well I am driving illegally

have you been disqualified?

No, but not taking my meds.

that's not quite the same thing!

Oh

I only know about mania/hypomania, it's definitely a requirement (compliance with treatment) but is possibly different with other conditions?

^Group 1 entitlement ODL – car, motorcycle
Driving must cease during the acute illness. Following an isolated episode, re-licensing can be reconsidered when all the following conditions can be satisfied:
has remained well and stable for at least three months
is compliant with treatment
has regained insight
is free from adverse effects of medication which would impair driving
subject to a favourable specialist report
Repeated changes of mood: Hypomania or mania are particularly dangerous to driving when there are repeated changes of mood. Therefore, when there have been 4 or more episodes of mood swing within the previous 12 months, at least 6 months stability will be required under condition (a), in addition to satisfying conditions (b) to (e)^.

Basically, it's like this. If you drive and your GP/psych thinks your MH is affecting your driving then they have a duty to inform the DVLA. The DVLA suspends your license while they investigate your "fitness to drive". They send your GP/psych a form where they get to detail your diagnosis, any symptoms relevant to driving, your level of insight and whether or not you're compliant with treatment. Depending on their answers you could either lose your license on a longer term basis, have a medical license where you have to renew it every so often so they can keep an eye on your MH or just leave you with an ordinary license. Not taking your meds is "none compliance with treatment" so if you were on a medical license then that could cause you problems with renewing in the future (my dh has experienced this!), but is not illegal by itself per se.

Of course you can inform the dvla yourself and surrender your license voluntarily. If you're driving with a notifiable medical condition and you don't inform the dvla then things can get very messy with insurance and so on (i think that you're technically driving uninsured).

What counts as a notifiable medical condition?