Medical loss of NEC due to depression.

[joshbot]

  Hi everyone, i'm new to the forums but I have read and been a fan of them for the last 4 years.
So here's my story, I enlisted in 06 went through the pipeline just fine, the whole time though I had a hard time dealing with being away, the stress, you know how it goes, you were all there. The whole time i'm there I keep thinking the next stage is going to be better, and always thinking the fleet was going to be the best. Well come to find out each stage was a huge let down, including the fleet.
   I made it here, CVN 74, and hated it from the get go, everything was a contradiction. I had to lie to keep from getting in trouble; I had to put up with being up for days and days. It was really not a good experience. Anyway, I kept my chin up though, I qualified at an extremely fast pace, faster than anyone had in the last 2 years, in fact I am still more qualified than the people who showed up here with me and I have been out of quals since march.
  One day in march, while being on deployment, after being up for a couple of days when I was finally able to get a quick nap before watch I got racked out because someone in 2 plant had broken a sound powered phone and the lcpo wanted to know who it was. I am a 1 planter and had not been down there for days so I was extremely upset about this. After that whole ordeal was over, on my way back to my rack, I got yelled at by my lpo for my haircut. AT this point of time I had already started to consider suicide and this seemed like the final straw. It seemed like I could never be happy here. I wrote my suicide letter, planned it out for after my 10-2 so no one would be awake and started to go to sleep but I couldn't. The thought of my parents and family and even my shipmates consumed me, I knew I had to get help.
  Seeing as how I knew no one in my chain of command would help me I went to the psycho, mistake number 1. I talked to her as I really had scared myself and just wanted help. Her idea of help was to take away my tld and give me absolutely no counseling. So of course my division started to hate me.
  I am currently tad and my job is extremely easy but I feel like this is a waste of my time. Once my NEC was removed I put in cross rate paperwork, about a month ago I then found a message sent to my ship from naval personnel that says this among other things:
1.  SNM WAS REVIEWED AND REGRETTABLY DISAPPROVED FOR CONVERSION.
2.  REASON:  NEEDS OF THE NAVY DOES NOT SUPPORT RETENTION.
3.  COMMENCE ADSEP PROCESSING IAW TIMELINE PROVIDED IN MPM 1910-010 PARAGRAPH 4.

So now I am wondering what happens from here? The CCC had me put in a 1306/7 for early separation but I haven't heard anything back form them yet. Should I have had to put in a 1306 or should they have just separated me once they got this message? I apologize for the length of this post, I just really wanted to have my full story out there so if anyone had a similar experience they could help me out. I really just want to go home now and start my life. I can't advance here and I am currently the LPO of a division where I do nothing all day. Thank you guys in advance for any help you can give me.

[sovbob]

MPM-1910 refers to the Military Personnel Manual (MILPERSMAN) Article 1910.  Paragraph 4 specifically states:

4. Processing Time Goals. Every effort should be made to adhere to the following time goals for processing separations. Failure to meet these goals is not a bar to separation or type of characterization.

WHEN the member is not entitled to, or waives an Administrative Board,
THEN the member should be separated within 15 working days of notification.

WHEN the member elects an Administrative Board,
THEN the member should be separated within 50 working days of notification.

What was the 1306 for?  Was it requesting an administrative board?

joshbot, as much as I hate to say it, many many sailors have taken the path you are on now.  I would argue that in most cases these individuals were not truly suicidal.  It sounds to me like you are a legitimate case, but you're probably in the minority.

Consider the case of Sailor X.  Sailor X shows up to his new command, fresh out of school and eager to get started.  He's not particularly bright, but he's managed to get this far.  Well, after about 3 months, he decides that he doesn't really like working at his command.  It's too stressful, he never has any free time, he's tired of the BS, and his LPO yells at him daily.

He's looking for a way out.

Now, Sailor X knows that desertion is a crime, so that's not really a viable option.  He could also injure himself and get medically discharged, but he doesn't want to deal with a disability for the rest of his life.  He could go to Captain's Mast, and hope that he gets ADSEP'd.

As Sailor X is weighing his options, he learns of another method, and it seems like the perfect answer.  He can say that he's contemplating suicide.  Now, the Navy has decided that all cases of suicidal ideation should be taken seriously. 

So as soon as he says the magic words, "Chief, I'm thinking of committing suicide," he is instantly whisked away from this horrible stressful place, and given a nice cushy TAD billet working half-days doing nothing more than moving boxes and cleaning sidewalks.  What a great deal!  After a few months of psych evaluations, he is given a medical discharge and he leaves the navy behind, unscathed.

Sadly, I saw far too many sailors take the route of Sailor X.  Maybe some of them were legitimate cases, but I'm convinced that many of them were cases where the guy "just wanted to quit."  It was particularly popular with those who had a pending NJP.

Now, I'm not saying that you're one of those cases.  It sounds to me (and this is based solely on your posting) that you do have a legitimate case.  Still, you might have been fine with counseling rather than separation.

[JustinHEMI05]

Where do you go from here? Get help, fix yourself up, go to TAPs and write a resume. Your work thus far is enough to get you a job. But be warned, the world outside the Navy is no less stressful or unforgiving.

[ruth13]

Don't know you - but please know I am praying for you. It's never as bad as it seems - you will be fine.

[joshbot]

In response to what was the 1306 for. They made me fill one out not to request a board but to request to be separated.

As far as the legitimacy of my case, I really just wanted help but now that I have no chance of going any further in my Navy "career" I just want out of here as I have a huge problem with our government wasting tax dollars.

Thank you for praying for me, I feel like I am doing much better when I'm not in that situation.

I  understand the outside world can be just as stressful, that's why I will choose to do something I love even if the money isn't perfect, I can deal with stress if its not put on to me for some completely B.S. reason.

But yeah, my question of what's going to happen to me next really refers to, I get this message, there is a folder on outlook called message traffic and that's where all the emails that come to the boat's cc form Naval Personnel go, that's how I found it, and it sounds to me like it says they should just straight separate me, but these guys here don't seem to know what to do and are making me fill out 1306's and stuff.

Thank you all for your help

[cincinnatinuke]

Heed what Marssim just said there.  Consider the LCPO likely had his backside handed to him by one of his superiors, so he racked you and others in your division out, the LPO likely caught some flack, and you likely had an un-sat haircut.  However, given all the other stressors going on in your life right there, it was likely the symbolic "straw" on your back.

Sovbob, guys and gals who "faked" it were typically seperated pretty quickly.  In fact given the amount of time I and others had to wait for medical boards and appointments, they were gone in a relative blink of an eye.  Never did any of them come back and say they got the good deal or were walking away unscathed.  The next group of people I encountered were the ones whose issues were not service related.  They typically stuck around a little longer for diagnosis and were seperated.  This was typically understood by both parties as being in everyone's best interests.  Lastly were those who were med-boarded.  I would have to say >90% of all the guys and gals involved were of the last two groups.

I guess my point is that I find it hard to imagine the USN acquiescing to a liar's desires.  I also find it hard to imagine a sailor lying to so many interested parties (doctors, corpsman, CO/XO, CoC) and getting away with it.  However, I am seeing a pretty common theme in many of these mental health/separation posts.  It seems the Navy doesnt even treat many of them or even provide a diagnosis.  Yet they have taken the time to ensure he doesnt request a board and proceeds directly to admin seperation.  Its a troubling re-occurence in my mind.  Folks getting out, real or not but I'll give the benefit of the doubt, and no doctor to see, no meds to take, no one to talk to.

To the OP, make sure you get help/treatment.  And make sure you keep all the benefits you are entitled to.  Its a shame you couldnt change rates.  You may have found out it was all you needed to be both happy and productive at work.

[baronbrady]

Speaking from experience, the nuclear community can seem to be stressful just for the sake of being stressful at times.  On our ship, nuke sailors with legitimate problems would be turned away from any form of counseling or given perhaps one session a week.  A corpsman confided to a peer:  "If you weren't a nuke, you would have Generalized Anxiety Disorder.  Hands down.  But you're a nuke."

The hours, days, months, and years of irregular sleep patterns, thankless labor, and general nose-to-the-grindstone mentality aren't for everybody.  I tip my hat to those who can do the job and not be a changed person.

It's entirely possible to move on from here, and I wish you luck in doing so.  Have you given thought to what you will do now, school- or career-wise?