serendipity97

Hi there everyone.

My medical exam is coming up, and I have some concerns regarding past mental health issues. I have read some posts here already but am wanting some support and reassurance I suppose.

Zero criminal record. But I do have some minor self harm (two occasions only) from 8-9 years ago as a teen, along with some depression from the same time. I've never attempted suicide or harmed anyone else, or been hospitalized for anything mental health related. I attended counselling between 2011-2012.

I'm bringing with me; 2 GP letters stating my depression is in the past, that I haven't been on medication for 5 years, and one says I am not a danger to myself or others.

I stopped taking the antidepressants in 2013 after moving somewhere new and have been fine ever since. Can anyone with a similar background chime in, do you think it's likely they'd need to request more info and delay anything? I want to be sure I bring everything with me I can to assist them in their decision.

Many thanks.

Pulaski

Ideally that should add "... nor are you likely to be in future."

Rete

Just wanted to add that you have read

http://britishexpats.com/forum/marri...2017-a-896358/

I know it is point #7 in the instructions for Knightsbridge.

There have many members over the years, and several current ones, who have dealt with depression, anxiety, etc. and have feared the medical. They have all passed and obtained their visas. Seek out their threads to see what they needed to do.

KK85

Hi, serendipity97.

Your circumstances sound almost entirely exactly like mine. I am a UK citizen, now living in the US with permanent resident status, having just been through the CR-1 process to move to be with my husband in PA. So, first things first, know you have hope! If I can get here, likely so can you.

My case for the medical, in a nutshell, was this:

- Treated for anxiety/depression for over a decade
- Lots of comments in my medical history about potential personality disorder (this theory eventually discarded)
- SSRIs for 10 years; various forms of therapy for approx. seven years, on and off
- No overnight/inpatient hospitalisations due to mental health
- Episodes of self-harm during teens; one severe episode resulting in hospital visit
- Brief and sporadic moments of substance misuse throughout twenties
- Fit and well and treatment-free since 2012

It was not easy - the medical elements alone in my immigration journey cost slightly more than £1,000 (mostly in fees to my GP to obtain records and supporting letters - though some on this forum have obtained the same from their GPs free of charge) and with each hurdle jumped there often seemed to be a new one, but my case was a success. I had no time delays. The only burdens were the extra stress and the financial surprises.

This is rich advice to give and I don't know if I'd have been able to take it on board myself at the time, but I do want to give it - try to remember that you are one of (probably) many hundreds of people who emigrate to the US, from the UK, each year, with mental health issues in their past (or even in their present). To you, this feels like an enormous deal (because it is), but to USCIS, your case will likely be nothing out of the ordinary and just another heap of papers on the pile. Mental health stuff is so commonplace these days, tis but a scratch! Try to see it from that perspective as best as you can - it would have calmed me down far sooner had I try to think of it this way.

I have two threads on this forum that go into lots of detail on my medical journey with relation to immigration, which might be of interest and reassurance to you:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/marri...ug-use-894242/ <--- mostly neurosis, but lots of notes on the processes I had to go through and the documents I had to obtain, so might be useful for you to read..

http://britishexpats.com/forum/marri...bridge-904191/ <--- self-explanatory, and hopefully mostly reassuring!

Very best of luck to you - I know it is so stressful. I bet you will be just fine.