Hey guys,
I was diagnosed with depression a while ago (2-3 years ago) and took medication for a little bit (6 months). Am I entirely SOL when it comes to becoming a merchant mariner? I don’t have any medical conditions that I believe would hurt me in any way. I’ve never self harmed, just went through a rough period during high school.
While I don’t have a personal experience with this it would seem that you are just fine. I know guys who have seizures that are medically cleared to sail. Depression is treatable while seizures are manageable but do not go away.
If the medical portion of a Coast Guard license or endorsement were all that complicated most sailors would be on the beach.
If you are concerned about it apply for your MMC. You need a physical to get one and there are pages of conditions to mark yes / no to. I doubt it would come to a no, but for a couple hundred bucks you get the answer long before you shell out money for classes.
Here is the rules for a medical certificate.
You’ll fit right in, except most people you’ll meet will be undiagnosed, untreated and unmedicated. USCG loves to keep it that way. It certainly makes it super fun!
As far as I mentioned, the stigma around mental health is decreasing, and there’s more awareness of its impact on individuals.
Being at sea away from your family and friends is hard enough. Do you really want to go out there knowing you have this condition? I have sailed with folks who had this issue going through a family crisis while at sea. Sorry to say but we hid all the fire axes and locked the doors to our staterooms.
I wish you the best of luck but seriously consider some other career.
apparantly 80 million people in the usa have a mental problem !!
You will fit right in sir. Tugdriver is not alone in his experiences. Once had a very respected engineer academy grad (not Kp) that went bonko when his family problems overwhelmed him. Never had to protect the crew from him…had to protect him from himself. I, and the company gave a shit and got him better help than what he was getting.
“a. Antidepressants (Medicines for Treatment of Depression).
Examples include, but are not limited to, citalopram (Celexa), duloxetine (Cymbalta),
paroxetine (Paxil), trazodone (Desyrel), amitriptyline (Elavil) and venlafaxine
(Effexor). In many cases, use of antidepressant medications may be approved without
need for a waiver. The medication and the underlying condition will be reviewed to
determine whether the mariner applicant requires and/or qualifies for a waiver under
46 CFR 10.303.”