Post psychosis and driving license

[blackcandle]

Just wondered if someone who has a history of psychotic episode/s will s/he lose their driving license or their right to learn to drive indefinitely?

There is some guidance here. It looks like the person can drive if certain conditions are met.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/psychiatric-disorders-assessing-fitness-to-drive#psychotic-disorder--including-acute-episode

"Licensing may be considered if all of these conditions are met:

■ remained well and stable for at least 3 months
■ adheres to any agreed treatment plan
■ free from any medication effects that would impair driving
■ subject to a suitable specialist report being favourable"

Who would know? I was supposedly psychotic but never had my license taken away.

Well,
My cpn applied for a bus pass for a year whilst I was psychotic and I was not "allowed" to drive under the instruction of my psychiatrist

I have bipolar and have had episodes of mania and psychosis both of which need to be declared to the DVLA.

There was one occasion where my team recommended I didn't drive as my mood could go higher which would make me a risk driving although it currently wouldn't stop me. So stopping voluntarily prior to being ill enough to declare to the DVLA and being forced to stop. This didn't escalate to the point of being a risk driving and once the episode was managed better I could drive again.

I have a medical driving license and it gets renewed either every year or every 3 years. If I have had a recent episode it's a 1 year licence and if I have been stable it is a 3 year licence.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Just that my 18 yo had a couple of psychotic episodes. It is very much under control now. I don’t expect dc to learn to drive just yet but may be in a few years times if dc can maintain very stable. Just that not being able to drive can sometimes limit career options. Of course we will always have to live in places that have reasonable public transport connections.

I had my licence revoked on medical grounds years ago due to psychosis. I think also the medication i was on at the time impacted the decision.

Its not forever, once you are managing/recovered you just reapply with a form from the post office.

They write to the doctor and you have a medical (blood test and questions ect) providing all satisfied they give it back. It takes a few months.

I'm in the process of renewing my medical licence. A lot of the questions concerning misuse of drugs and alcohol then there are questions about any admissions to hospital and medications and whether there are side effects. Certain medications will be triggers for further investigations. You are asked to give permission to contact doctors and get medical reports. I have had licences approved on various antipsychotic, mood stabilisers and antidepressants. They always write to my consultant but I don't think they get a full report from my GP. They ask about last contact with consultant, cpn and gp. The more questions you can answer No too the more likely you will get a licence approved. The slowest bit for me is getting the consultant to fill in their bit in a timely fashion!

I believe the insurance much be quite a lot higher the most people?

Actually insurance companies are not allowed to add a premium for medical licences. It's disability discrimination and also if the DVLA says that you are fit to drive you are as fit to drive as any one else on the road you aren't allowed to penalise against.

I found it hard to find life insurance and I pay more from travel insurance but car insurance is on par with my partner without issues

Thanks @Superscientist . I just miss the good old days in terms of travelling within the EU.

I took travel insurance even with an EHIC card. I now have the GHIC.

Also the car insurance companies don't know the reason for a medical licence. You just have to declare if you have a declarable condition, if the DVLA are aware of this condition and whether you have a 1,2, 3 or indefinite licence. You could have diabetes or epilepsy or narcolepsy or any of the other declarable conditions as well as psychosis or mania

Life insurance if/when that comes up go through a specialist broker. Mine found me a company that would give me a decent rate and cover everything.

Travel insurance isn't too bad really I've booked a trip to France for a a family of 3, 2 adults and a toddler with conditions for 10days and it was double the price for me compared with my partner but the whole policy was £100ish. No admission in the last 2y and no forced admissions in what ever time frame which will have brought the premium down a bit. I can't remember what I paid last year when I hsd had an admission within 2 years

Not in your question but if you are querying what your son's future might be. I have a first class degree and a PhD. I work in a highly skilled field. Throughout my courses there were times when I had to take time out due to my mental health of have extra support. It was broadly positive but I did have issues with one supervisor during my PhD. My current employer is very supportive. I find the GPs and hospitals are very generic when it comes to sicknotes so it's is up to you what you disclose. When I was in hospital with severe depression and psychosis they put mental health as the reason. I have had similar when having time off for bipolar disorder they put depression. They don't want to introduce the chances of sigma and discrimination.

Thanks @Superscientist , it s good to hear from someone who has such positive attitudes despite having to live with the disadvantages. My dc was a decent averaged kid before the illness. But the illness really has setback dc’s academic ability and confidence to learn and concentrate. Dc still has a very long way to catch up with recovery and qualification. Dc is often preoccupied with the uncertain future. At least I can say to dc that learn to drive is possible provides he looks after and monitor his health.

It might be a slower journey but it is possible to attain close to natural ability. It gets easier to manage as you get older too. People that knew me aged 16-21 wouldn't recognise me aged 36. My mental health consumed so much more of me then. Around 25 all the support I had previously had started to click into place and things have been more stable provided I do the boring stuff like consistent bed times, a good diet, low alcohol (a drink a week and not every week), knowing when to drop caffeine and stimulants. If I'm stressed all of this is more important.
Day to day no one would notice I have mental health condition. I drive, have a close to full time job (4days a week, 32h) and have a child and have been in a relationship since I was 18. He's stuck by my side through the whole of this journey. I know this isn't the case for everyone but must have some of this

Fortunately my dc doesn’t like alcoholic and energy drinks or vaping etc. still the illness really affects dc s confidence and social life. Dc had first episode at 14 and it had taken almost three years before being able to go out with friends again and now dc s ability is still not as good as it used to be, I don’t think.

It does take time to reintegrate with life. Especially at a young age when your peers haven't gone through anything relatable. It's easier as I have gotten older and more people have experience poor mental health even if it doesn't quite fit my experience.
I had a severe episode when I had my daughter. I was very unwell for a year. Quite unwell for a year and I have spent another year and a half rebuilding my life.
In previous episodes I have really struggled to relate to people around me. I would get so irrationally angry when people would whinge on our lunch break about their other halves doing something petty and my head was screaming "this isn't important the world is ending and I'm responsible for fixing it and you are wasting energy talking about how to load a dishwasher"
It has taken time for my memory and ability to make conversation to come back. I get complete blanks on some words or names I just lose the word completely. I am getting better at telling people I struggle with word recall so I'm less self conscious during small talk which makes the small talk easier.

You are not the same person after a severe mental health episode. It takes time to figure out where the old you and new you fit together but there can be mourning for what you have lost but it's important to see what you have gained too.

Sorry sidetrack away from your original post. I hope you don't mind.

Thanks so much for this post, @Superscientist . As someone with a family member who was ill with psychosis I find it so so very helpful to have these sorts of first-person descriptions of the experience of living with , recovering from and/or managing this illness.

@Superscientist I guess you had your first psychosis when you were very young. My dc had his first episode at 14 he will be 18 this summer but I believe he still struggles with his working memory and process speed academically. He s a lot better now comparing to 3 years ago despite his recent relapse. It s good to hear from someone like you being so motivated and positive. Thanks

I have a friend whose son had a psychotic episode last year. He was still allowed to drive (or rather, he was not told he wasn't able to). He even drove during his ECT treatment (had it twice a week).

Thank you to all of you for your reassurance.

My mental health problems started at a young age but the psychosis came later.

I started with low mood and anxiety at 8. Around 14 these turned into depressive episodes. At 18 I was diagnosed with anorexia and depression. I experienced psychosis for the first time at 21 when I had an episode of mania. I was diagnosed with bipolar 1 around 25. For me the psychosis comes with the severe mood episodes. I think there has probably been 3 or 4 times I have had episodes with psychosis. I'm now 36.

@Superscientist , you are amazing for what you have accomplished with the disadvantages that you have to manage. You and your family should be very proud. Has your mental health in particular your psychosis affect your cognitive ability and processing speed even after you become stable for while.
You don’t have to continue this conversation with me if you don’t want. I always want to understand what my dc is going through and try to help my dc to keep up his hope and faith. It always helps to have a chance to talk people who have similar experience yet manage a fulfilling life.

I had mine revoked 5 years ago due to psychosis.
I've only just been able to apply for it back. Conditions I have are to retake my practical and theory. Though I think that's more because of how close it was to having just passed.

@sunshineandrain82 thanks for sharing.

@blackcandle I'm always happy to talk about my life with mental illness.

Thank you, I think mostly just very stubborn but I have found my degrees and job something positive to focus on. The purpose and a reason to keep engaging with help makes a difference too me. I would say finding a purpose to your week and then a purpose in life helps to keep you anchored when things start to go off.

Actually most of my family, including my parents, don't know about my mental illness. They knew when I was in treatment at 18 but they were so unhelpful and my mum especially made it all about her. I still hear frequently how hard it was for her when I was suicidal with no comment or questions about how I may have found that time. I find they are more supportive not knowing.

I developed treatment resistant severe depression and pyschosis after having my daughter. Definitely in severe depression my cognition reduces massively. Questions like "would you like tea or coffee?" I just can't compute. I don't have the cognitive power to even answer that level of question never mind the "what so you think would help" big picture questions that get asked. Small talk is impossible, I can only really focus on programs that have no plot or that I have seen before. The same for books I often reread harry potter or Jacqueline Wilson books. My brain needs something that isn't my mental health to focus on and it doesn't have a lot of spare capacity to do anything. Jigsaws and colouring can help me too. It is really easy for me to spiral into despair and that just amplifies all of my experiences. Anchors to the real world help me also keeping my hands busy keeps my mind quiet so things like fidget toys helpful too. We have neurodiversity training at work and a lot of the devices to help those with neurodiversity do help me too. Talking helps too so answering things here and making use of my experiences