Damn DVLA
Just had a chat with them about getting my licence back and was effectively told "If you ever want to drive with any sort of regularity don't tell your doctor or us about any sort of episode unless it's a major one"

/is angry again and really fucking hot in the office

*grumble*
( Captain V, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 13:48, 19 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

It's okay.
If your shrink provides a supportive report then you'll probably get a one-year restricted licence. That's what I have. I have to tell them each year that I'm doing okay and my meds are working, and then each year they take about 3 months to send me out a new licence. It's a hassle, but I'm allowed to drive and my insurance company don't mind.

(I didn't have an option about telling the DVLA in the first place - my shrink did it. I have a friend who is more manic than me who somehow slipped through the DVLA's system and has his full licence, the git.)
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 13:53, Reply)

Woo
Thanks CHCB - Reassurance ftw!

Just another 2 months of bus travel before I should get it back. That's very unfun.

:edit: I'm resentful of my shrink for telling them. I wasn't really that unfit to drive (certainly no worse than some of the useless twunts that I share the roads with) and within 2 days of getting on meds was 100% fine to drive but because he told me I *had* to surrender my licence or face having it revoked I now have to spend another 2months off the roads causing me undue stress because of the friggin awful buses never running on time and costing about 3 times as much as petrol.

:edit again: Damn that sentence was long!
( Captain V, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 13:55, Reply)

You've both got brain-AIDs
I feel for you... though mostly because the anti-depressants have probably stopped you feeling for yourself :C
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 13:58, Reply)

Aw
That's supportive in a tough love way. Brain-AIDs is not teh Bad AIDS though, so we ain't as fucked as, say, you.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:00, Reply)

*holds up cross to ward off anti-depressants*
No thank you. They did me no end of bad when I was put on them.

*noms anti-psychotics and mood stabilisers*
( Captain V, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:00, Reply)

^
snap. Mmmm, psych-med cocktail. But none of your anti-ds. They're for those unipolar types.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:01, Reply)

It's not bad AIDs
if you got it from a Stoat driving a boat, pulling a water ski-ing goat around a moat.

I like my AIDs, it keeps me company through the cold winter nights.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:01, Reply)

*whispers*
I've still got my driving licence...

The "don't tell anyone anything" approach works.
( Cawl, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:02, Reply)

that's not your AIDs, Bert -
that's your mum.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:02, Reply)

I don't like my Mum
She gave my Stoat the AIDs.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:03, Reply)

^
that's cos she fucked a monkey, right?
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:03, Reply)

To be fair, it was the monkey that fucked her
and it was dark, so she could easily have been mistaken for an actual woman.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:04, Reply)

Two points
1) Kaol you git

2) Office Lol @ Berts watersports

3) Kaol you git

I realise that's 3 points but the first need reiterating!
( Captain V, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:05, Reply)

*shrugs*
I'll stick with the theory that if you lie to yourself enough, you'll believe it, and be totally convincing when you talk to people.
( Cawl, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:18, Reply)

Ah a man familiar with espionage
*puts disguise back on*
( Captain V, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 14:19, Reply)

Dunno..
..I've not read the replies but I've recently got my license back after being disqualified for drink driving, and as my medical notes say "Paranoid Schizophrenic" and I have to see a psychiatrist four times a year I thought I'd reply.

When I first reapplied for my license I filled it the form honestly and mentioned illness and medication. A few weeks later I got a form asking for details of doctor/psychiatrist. Filled that out with the name of my usual psych and then about 2 months later my new license appeared.. no different to anyone else's - I wont have to worry about it for the next ten years. I know other people with the same diagnosis who have regular licenses too.

Sounds like you got an asshole in the DVLA office. Why would you tell them about any episode anyway? All you need tell them is your diagnosis, meds and doctor's contact details (can be GP if you want). And I reackon most doctors will be on your side with this.
(lost, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 15:51, Reply)

^ dude, that's why ye gotta read the replies!
The psychiatrist tells the DVLA. We don't get a choice. The psychiatrist has to write a report evaluating your fitness to drive. The DVLA pass this on to their medical types.

Anyway, that's the manic depressive route. Everyone else's mileage may vary (heh - see what I did there?).
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 15:55, Reply)

Sounds like I'm getting crappy advice from the hospital
Sad times. Seeing as I'm entitled to apply 2 months before I'd have been stable for 3 months I can reapply pretty much now. I think I'll be filling out forms when I get home *sighs*

:edit: @CHCB I like what you did there!
( Captain V, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 16:05, Reply)

Hmmm..
..I feel lucky now.

I don't get on with psychiatrists but I guess I've done a good job of stringing mine along for the last 8 years since I got out of hospital. I tell them I'm pretty much fine and extoll the "virtues" of the meds and they leave me alone. I don't talk about being suicidal everyday or my frequent freak-outs that happen in many forms.. so I guess no-one in the medical system really knows what's going on in my head, and I try and keep it together enough so that no-one tells them. The only good I feel could come out of being honest is scoring some benzos.. but I'd rather be seen as a success story than a liability.. anything to keep from being sectioned again.

So I guess my psych put in a good word for me. Perhaps I'm just lucky. But then I know a guy who hallucinates all the time who has a full license. Perhaps it's just the one area where doctors in this county give mental patients some leeway.. middle England must drive! (I'm about 20 miles south of Birmingham)
(lost, Mon 3 Nov 2008, 23:20, Reply)