Psychological History

[CaptRon]

My son is now in his first year of college majoring in criminal justice with a long standing goal of becoming a police officer. He had some anxiety problems in early years of high school, was put on some Rx. Treatment stopped after 3 years as he no longer had the problem.

If this history is going to be a problem with him getting into a police force, it is better for him to know now rather than later. He has never done drugs, no criminal history of any kind, clean driving record, and will have no problem whatsoever passing any of the other requirements. Would his history of anxiety disqualify him from joining the police force or really hurt his chances of getting in?

[Roger Dat]

Its something that will be closely scrutinized. Anxiety in the field for a police officer could result in a danger to himself and others. This is something each department will look into and tackle through the background as well as psychological portions of the hiring process. Not necessarily a DQ.

[DeltaV]

My son is now in his first year of college majoring in criminal justice with a long standing goal of becoming a police officer. He had some anxiety problems in early years of high school, was put on some Rx. Treatment stopped after 3 years as he no longer had the problem.

He's in his first year of college, and he took prescription drugs for anxiety during three years of high school. That means that the longest he's been off of those drugs is about a year. While it won't be an automatic DQ, it will be something he'll have to disclose and may be an issue because of its recency. This is especially true if he has to go back on the medication for any reason.

During the hiring process, he'll be subjected to an in-depth psychological evaluation both through written tests and interviews with a psychologist. These tests aren't necessarily designed to weed out people who are "crazy," they're designed to weed out people who do not have the psychological profile that the agency is looking for and who may not be suitable for law enforcement.

Nobody but a psychologist can say how your son will do during psychological testing based upon his past history, but know that any prior psychological problems can be an issue and just because he isn't taking medication for something doesn't mean his test results will be in the parameters of what the agency is looking for.

[AmarulaCream]

what kind of medication... Benzo's for "as-needed" or a long term SSRI or SNRI?

[CaptRon]

He was taking some type of daily med.

[AmarulaCream]

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[mcsap]

We would want our shrink to pay special attention to him.

Will a shrink today state in writing that your son is psychologically competent to perform the duties of a police officer ?

[Mike Romeo]

Since I'm not a psychologist, I can't say if your son's past problems with anxiety are a show shopper or not. However, it could be a speed bump. If his past problems will hamper his ability to get hired, it will certainly be uncovered during his psychological screening, testing and interview.

[CaptRon]

First of all, thanks for all that replied, very much appreciated. My son will be coming home in 3 weeks from college and I will share your comments / advices with him. He is not going to take it very well but, as I said in my initial thread, he needs to know about this now rather than later. Perhaps he should take criminal justice as a minor rather than a major so he has something to fall back on if he runs into alot of problems with getting into a police force. He has 3 years left in college and perhaps he can make it in since by then he would be 6 years post treatment. I always thought this was some type of adolescence thing he was going through.............

It would be a shame in my mind that he refused entry into a police department, physically fit, good head on his shoulders, wants a job that contributes to society; alot of you police officers would like him and love to show him the ropes.. But I do understand the importance of this screening.


As to the drug type he was taking, I am pretty sure it was a SNRI.

[noelchabanel]

what kind of medication... Benzo's for "as-needed" or a long term SSRI or SNRI?

Since I'm thinking about enrolling in a Master of Social Work program as "plan B" for the fall, these types of mental health questions interest me. I wonder: is it seen as more risky from the LE perspective to have applicants or officers who take a scheduled drug like Xanax prescribed as needed to help calm down a crippling sudden panic, or a daily maintenance medication like Zoloft for a year to hopefully prevent or lessen those attacks? Might the perspective be different for different anxiety related disorders like say PtSD as opposed to Panic disorder (what most people think of as "anxiety")? Would there be negative consequences after getting hired? Obviously it would depend on the patient's specific circumstances, but my gut reaction is that the former drug would be more concerning, even though it is taken less often, since doctors are usually pretty reluctant to prescribe them--given the potential for abuse and side effects--unless the problem is interfering with daily life on a regular basis--and people who take Xanax often also take SSRI's, but not vice-versa. Anyway, this may be a topic for another thread--I think it might make a good research project .

Good luck to your son, assuming he stays well it sounds like at the least he will have time on his side at his age.

[AmarulaCream]

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[AmarulaCream]

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[ruby0711]

Since I'm thinking about enrolling in a Master of Social Work program as "plan B" for the fall, these types of mental health questions interest me. I wonder: is it seen as more risky from the LE perspective to have applicants or officers who take a scheduled drug like Xanax prescribed as needed to help calm down a crippling sudden panic, or a daily maintenance medication like Zoloft for a year to hopefully prevent or lessen those attacks? Might the perspective be different for different anxiety related disorders like say PtSD as opposed to Panic disorder (what most people think of as "anxiety")?

The psych. tests administered are designed to mark people who have a supposed 'predisposition' for mental illness. This is the reason why some people are weeded out in this process. There are certain, 'markers' that psychologists use during the tests (even the MMPI) that MAY point to a predisposed pattern, or a familiar one.

Through research, it has been determined that people who suffer from psych. disorders have certain signs PRIOR to suffering the disorder. Long Term PTSD (NOT sub-threshold..or PTSD that is NOT deabilitating) is one that comes to mind; it has come to light that certain people who chronically suffer from that disorder followed a 'profile' prior to the trauma that brought the long term PTSD on.

The most common prescribed of those then is Venlafaxine (Effexor, Effexor ER), and more recently Duloxetine (Cymbalta).

Both are only administered if the patient has a confirmed diagnosis for GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) or a variant.

Nope.

I think I can possibly shed some light on this subject; this is one of my area’s of expertise:

Nope. Sorry, I mean no disrespect; but I will tell you now, and I hope you take this advice, unless you are an MD, DO, MAYBE a PH.D or a major researcher in the field of medicine and-or psychology, you are NOT an expert. Judging by your answers about meds....you have a lot to learn.

Down the line, when you get into a Grad. program and tell people that you are an 'expert'...you WILL be called to the table.

In the psych world, an undergrad degree is the equivalant to a middle-school education. If you have a Masters and give out advice about meds to your patients, you are opening yourself to law-suits. I have seen it happen, time and time again.

With good reason.

[AmarulaCream]

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[BurnzyJKD]

Ok, since you seem to know everything, where did I go wrong... "nope" is not a very intelligent counter to my statements. My education is in Pharmacology, not psychology (thank god for that)... wait a sec though... I did not know they teach pharmacology in middle school????

slow down cowboy! This is good advice especially in a litigious society like the one we live in now:D