Hello all, hell of a first post here, but I need some guidance on my chances of being approved given my (what I believe to be) unique scenario.
To start off, I discovered just this year that I absolutely love flying. I've always loved flying, but this year was the first time I got to do so at the wheel. It was beyond exhilarating. The very first time I flew (discovery flight), I got airsick because of the amount of adrenaline going through me... mixed with a poor choice in both what my breakfast was and when I ate it (~20 minutes before flight). Thankfully, subsequent times I was just fine, but overall this was an eye-opening experience for me, like it was something that I was meant to do. But before I get too far ahead of myself....
I was on SSRIs for about half a year due to a pretty painful series of life events and stopped taking them before going to get my very first medical (which was going to be a first class medical). After all this time they were not doing much for me, and I felt it was best to just stop them altogether - I wasn't keen on taking any medicine that would "mess with your head." Although I was no longer on them, I reported that I had taken them in the past like you're instructed to do. After speaking with the AME, I learned that I was still being deferred due to having taken them at all.
Months later, I've taken (and apparently "aced") the CogScreenAE, I've been evaluated by a HIMS Doctor/Psychiatrist (I always get Doctor/Psychologist/Psychiatrist mixed up), and I've provided all of my known medical history (regarding therapy/counseling and taking the SSRIs) to the HIMS AME. I say known because there are things I can't find the records for anymore (shot record from birth, stitches I got from when I was 2-ish, etc). On the counseling records provided, there were revisions that needed to be made to the documents (system error) and I had about 18ish extra diagnoses, some of which were wildly incorrect. I also noticed that on the initial take-in report for counseling, there was a "suicide almost-attempt" on my record after the first set of revisions came back. This was present on the initial documents before revisions, as well.
To explain this, several years prior there was an event earlier in my life that was a gross miscommunication on my part with another party (a college), that actually was misconstrued as a threat of suicide - and I had to go and clear that up with the other party. It was a short meeting, I reassured that there was no intention to take my own or anyone else's life, apologized for the poor wording, and I continued taking classes there without issue. All in all it was pretty embarrassing, but it was fixed.
How this falls into my medical record...
During my in-take with the therapist/counselor, naturally the question of suicide attempts pops up - because this event had come to mind, and my tendency to overshare - I talked about this situation. Although I had explained it as one big misunderstanding, this somehow populated my medical record as a very real thing, and to me, even an almost-attempt (from a complete miscommunication) would bar me from ever becoming a commercial pilot, which has been my recent focus for my future. After communicating the error with the counselor, the most they were willing to do was write a letter stating there was no intention or never was. It seems like it's enough, but the counselor still reported in a letter that there still was an "almost attempt."
I'm sorry this is so long, and I'll be more than happy to answer any questions on this, but can I mention in my personal statement that this "suicide almost-attempt" is completely incorrect? Will my personal statement on this even be considered with that on my record? Is this considered a genuine form of medical malpractice, and do I have any options to get this truly fixed and help get my medical approved?
EDIT: Found the edit title button! Revised title to hopefully be more accurate.
To start off, I discovered just this year that I absolutely love flying. I've always loved flying, but this year was the first time I got to do so at the wheel. It was beyond exhilarating. The very first time I flew (discovery flight), I got airsick because of the amount of adrenaline going through me... mixed with a poor choice in both what my breakfast was and when I ate it (~20 minutes before flight). Thankfully, subsequent times I was just fine, but overall this was an eye-opening experience for me, like it was something that I was meant to do. But before I get too far ahead of myself....
I was on SSRIs for about half a year due to a pretty painful series of life events and stopped taking them before going to get my very first medical (which was going to be a first class medical). After all this time they were not doing much for me, and I felt it was best to just stop them altogether - I wasn't keen on taking any medicine that would "mess with your head." Although I was no longer on them, I reported that I had taken them in the past like you're instructed to do. After speaking with the AME, I learned that I was still being deferred due to having taken them at all.
Months later, I've taken (and apparently "aced") the CogScreenAE, I've been evaluated by a HIMS Doctor/Psychiatrist (I always get Doctor/Psychologist/Psychiatrist mixed up), and I've provided all of my known medical history (regarding therapy/counseling and taking the SSRIs) to the HIMS AME. I say known because there are things I can't find the records for anymore (shot record from birth, stitches I got from when I was 2-ish, etc). On the counseling records provided, there were revisions that needed to be made to the documents (system error) and I had about 18ish extra diagnoses, some of which were wildly incorrect. I also noticed that on the initial take-in report for counseling, there was a "suicide almost-attempt" on my record after the first set of revisions came back. This was present on the initial documents before revisions, as well.
To explain this, several years prior there was an event earlier in my life that was a gross miscommunication on my part with another party (a college), that actually was misconstrued as a threat of suicide - and I had to go and clear that up with the other party. It was a short meeting, I reassured that there was no intention to take my own or anyone else's life, apologized for the poor wording, and I continued taking classes there without issue. All in all it was pretty embarrassing, but it was fixed.
How this falls into my medical record...
During my in-take with the therapist/counselor, naturally the question of suicide attempts pops up - because this event had come to mind, and my tendency to overshare - I talked about this situation. Although I had explained it as one big misunderstanding, this somehow populated my medical record as a very real thing, and to me, even an almost-attempt (from a complete miscommunication) would bar me from ever becoming a commercial pilot, which has been my recent focus for my future. After communicating the error with the counselor, the most they were willing to do was write a letter stating there was no intention or never was. It seems like it's enough, but the counselor still reported in a letter that there still was an "almost attempt."
I'm sorry this is so long, and I'll be more than happy to answer any questions on this, but can I mention in my personal statement that this "suicide almost-attempt" is completely incorrect? Will my personal statement on this even be considered with that on my record? Is this considered a genuine form of medical malpractice, and do I have any options to get this truly fixed and help get my medical approved?
EDIT: Found the edit title button! Revised title to hopefully be more accurate.
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