There's definitely more to this than just depression.
this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2025
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Mental Health
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Yeah I've been diagnosed depression long before I was even able to drive. In the many years since, I was an alcoholic, meaning my right to drive was under scrutiny many times. Depression never entered into any discussion.
I think this is b8
This is likely b8, or missing a ton of info, but I’d say a 1/100,000 chance “get a second opinion and never see that provider again.” You’d need a phenomenally abysmal doctor to go to the DMV and assert, in writing, that your depression is bad enough to impair driving. But such doctors do exist, and I think if a doctor was enough of an asshole to do the legwork, it would be taken seriously.
I would think it would require some kind of court action.
That said, depending on the state, the DMV can and does operate independent of the courts, and doesn't have to wait for, or even abide, court orders, being an independent agency.
It's fucked up, I've been through it with a records mix up (yea, crazy this stuff does happen).
I've been professionally diagnosed depression and sleep disorder for well over a decade and never had any issues with my license or had it come up. I agree, this smells.
For this to be true in the US (which is where I would guess you're talking about, since you've used the initilization "DMV"), a court would have suspended or revoked your license for some reason, and you would already know about that.
I don't think there's anywhere that would have said "This person is too mentally ill to be driving a car, but we'll just let them find out when they go to renew their license."
Is depression enough alone for a mental health hold? Feels like that should require more criteria.
If you are taking prescription medication or have declared a mental health condition, you usually have to fill out an additional form that your healthcare provider needs to complete and then the DMV goes from there.
If you don't declare you have a mental health condition and/or that you are taking medication, you are lying to the government and they don't like that.
So your options are fucking yourself or maybe really get fucked by the government.
Source?
Probably depends on the state and how the DMV runs.
Any source will do.
You'd think so!
There is exactly one mention of mental health in Utah law for a drivers license. You're better off telling your story instead of acting like this was a surprise. You wouldn't have gotten 99% of the comments doubting you.
41-6a-502
Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol/Drugs
see: 41-6a-509(8)
41-6a-517(11)
Driving with any Measurable Controlled
Substance in the body.
Court may shorten suspension period if the person: [there are seven different options, below is the relevant one]
Completes educational series approved by the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (if treatment is not ordered);
The Utah DLD has easily found information on their website regarding mental health and driving privileges. On dld.utah.gov/drivers, under the section "Medical Standards for Drivers" you can find a list of medical categories pertaining to drivers. Specifically, Category G relates directly to mental health, and seems to entrust health care providers with broad discretionary power per my reading.
If you have more trouble navigating their site than I did, the direct link to the .pdf detailing the safety levels associated with Category G is https://dld.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2024/08/Category-G-2024.pdf.
It's definitely not a substance thing, I'm a teetotaler with a possibly unreasonable fear of addiction/dependency and a nearly spotless driving record
I'll have to wait for the form to arrive to see their criteria, so I might update in "7-10 business days" when that happens
I'm calling BS. There has to be another reason. I know that myself and many others have/had depression and the DMV never gave a singular fuck.
Tell the truth OP. What is the real reason you can't have your license?
I can, I just need to do some bs paperwork that needs to be signed by my doctor
But it's going to take 2 weeks for the paperwork to arrive via mail, and I can't drive to my doctor's office to get it signed or to the DMV to submit it
Meanwhile, I can't drive to school or work
What state?
depression
North or South?
sigh
West
Utah
Well, that explains the depression
It suddenly makes a little more sense
Thanks. I'm curious if other states do this.
No states do this. Utah doesn't even do it.
I didn't get a hold of anything. Just paperwork I had to have my doctor and therapist say I'm able to drive. I get it every 6 months usually and it's fucking annoying.
I get two separate ones too. One for mental health and one for my diabetes.
If I don't they will suspend my license.
Yeah, I think this might be similar paperwork. Except they never sent it to me, so I just got blindsided with it when I went to renew
Suddenly I find out that not only can I not renew it, but I'd been driving on a suspended license for a few months and nobody bothered to inform me
Probably didn't get to you for some reason. Which is exactly why I believe they should have paperless options but hey government is always 20 behind in tech.
Shame for them.
Do you have prescribed medications? Could one of them affect your driving?
Depends on a law, if there are no negative symptoms, you can drive.
I hadn't thought of that
My medication can cause drowsiness, but they specifically said it was a mental health hold
So... are you going to elaborate?
I'll update when the paperwork arrives in 7-10 business days
Much as this is bad, and probably was handled wrong, the idea is sound. there are a lot of people out there who shouldn't be driving and governments are not doing enough to find them.
The real problem here is you live someplace where public transit is so bad you feel like you have to drive to live a normal life. You sometimes need a truck drivers (for your trash...) and so someone needs to drive, but this should be a minority of people in any city.
So much for de-stigmatization, that'll teach me not to tell people about my problems
Yeaaaa, you can talk about it just not to the government who likes to fuck with people.