Depression meds

[DontGoToNPTU]

A friend of mine just got an offer from a company and is going to do his physical. He is worried about how his depression medications will affect this. Is he going to be disqualified for having depression? Are they going to say he can't take his anti depressant and work at the nuc plant?

I tried a search and all I found where things related to the Navy and how they would handle it. Any one have some experience with this that I can relay to him?

[100centsquare]

They do not test for SSRI's which is the prevalent type dispensed for depression.{zoloft,cymbalta,etc) I have had a couple of randoms and have passed. Depression drugs are not narcotics. They just regulate the amount of serotonin in the blood. No more of a narcotic as insulin or penicillin is.

[storm13]

100centsquare's answer is not entirely correct.  It depends on what type of job your friend was offered.  I am fairly certain that if I were being medicated for depression, I would not have a job.

[triti-yum]

depends what the rules are where you live. in some areas denying him a job for taking anti depressants would be seen as discrimination. nuclear is a special case though, so it might raise some questions. i personally work with an operator who is bipolar. the company doesn't care and he is not an issue because of his medication. it would be a little like denying you a job for having diabetes on the grounds of safety even though you control it well with diet and insulin. doesn't make sense. in fact, the company i work for encourages employees who may have mental health issues to get treated so that they are not an issue in the future!

there is no easy answer here...if he's worried i would speak with the doctor and the company. i can't pretend to know how they do things in the US with this, only share my experience.

[DontGoToNPTU]

I was able to talk with him, he's on an SNRI but same thing, it's not a narcotic.

As far as being treated for depression and not having a job, most people at some point in their life will need treatment for depression and I don't think the nuclear industry is exempt from this. He's only been on it for a few months and the doctor is going to start tapering him off it soon. He's always been a normal guy, very happy. Just work stress got to him and he just felt the world caving in on him. He didn't get all crazy and suicidal, still went to work and all that, just was really down a lot.

The job he's in is a huge part of why he got depressed in the first place so I feel for the guy.

Anyway, I was able to find some stuff for him about it in CFR 10. Looks like he can get evaluated by a psychiatrist and be allowed to work anyway. Still don't have a warm fuzzy that I can tell him to go ahead and disclose it.