As an air cadet with a mood disorder, what am I limited too?

Cadets Ask the Staff
1

So I have a mood/thought disorder which means I have elated, high moods aswell as low moods. I sadly also experience hallucinations and delusional beliefs at times but I now take medication to prevent these from worsening.

I understand about flying, but what else am I possibly limited too?

2

How old are you, and what is the disorder?

3

It’s bipolar disorder, and I am 17.

4

What sort of impact does it have on your day to day activities? If you’re content to say?

5

When I was very poorly it disabled me fully to the point I was in hospital for nearly 5 months.

Now I can volunteer and work with children, go into the community with sja cadets for first aid coverage. I can function as a human now.

It’s just I cannot rely without my medication anymore so yeah.

6

Are you actually a cadet already? It’s not clear if you’re asking because you’re thinking about joining, or because you’re already a cadet and have just had a diagnosis.

7

I’m already a cadet, I was sectioned last year but was discharged in January, I was in a squadron, left and transferred, got sectioned two weeks later and the old squadron kicked me out. Thankfully my old squadron have took me back and they have supported me fully.

8

by old squadron the 1st squadron allowed me to return :grin:

9

This is one of those things that just needs to be discussed between you and your OC. Other than flying, there’s no set rules on ‘if you have X you can’t do Y’. And your OC may well not know the answer either, but we have a HQAC medical advisor of sorts who your OC might be able to reach out to.

It sounds like your doctor has got your medication perfected, which is fantastic to hear! From my point of view, if your medication removes all your symptoms, then there’s no problem. Other than flying anyway.

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10

Ok, it is very hard to give specific advice without having access to all of the details. I have had a cadet turned staff member with bipolar disorder before and with the right support it can be managed, but you should be prepared for people who don’t understand it to not be as supportive and for some activities (usually those with a risk to life element) not being available to you I would suspect.

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11

That’s probably the hardest (& most unusual) question on this site for as long as I can remember.

We aren’t medical experts & I can’t (off the top of my head) think of any references that might help - although there might be some hidden away.

I also wouldn’t discuss your condition / circumstances here as it could make you easily identifiable.

All your medical aspects should have been listed by your parents / guardians on your joining paperwork with any necessary discussion with squadron staff. This would include (if relevant) any SEN details & report(s). If the condition has materialised since you joined, then this needs to be formally notified to your squadron staff. Notification is for the protection of everyone.

Stressing that I am certainly not a medical expert, it’s likely that your squadron OC has to be guided by you & your parents / guardians / medical team. We try to be all-inclusive but dependant of the severity of your condition / control by medication, there could be a wide range of activities where I might see potential difficulties, such as shooting, adventure training or even Duke of Edinburgh’s scheme. On the other hand, your medical specialist(s) might say that you should be able to participate across all activities without restriction.

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12

The only issue that affects me severely is just sleeping issues, I have other problems that aren’t to be discussed online that impact me severely. I’m very fortunate that I have access to the correct medications, I used to be in sea cadets but had to leave due to discrimination (when my mental health went ass backwards :smiling_face_with_tear:)

14

I know of instances where the organisation has asked for a fit note of sorts from a doctor. To the effect of “Mr Bloggs has X disorder and is currently on Y medication. So long as Mr Bloggs takes Y medication as described, they are symptom free and will not have any problems taking part in an activity that anyone else their age would.”

The real question would be if your doctor would be happy writing such a note.

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16

This can indeed be true. But you said:

There’s obviously a scale here. And it would be for your doctor to decide where you are on that scale. Possibly in discussion with the HQAC medical person too.

This won’t be, or shouldn’t be a blanker yes or no either way.

For some people with bipolar, meds can make them completely symptom free and like a “normal life”. (I hate using the term normal, but you know what I mean!)

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