I'm on three different psychiatric medications...

[Deep13]

...and have never had any trouble legally buying a gun.

Never been in trouble with the law. Never faced a lunacy proceeding (a.k.a. guardianship, incompetence etc.) But still, I get really depressed sometimes and need medication to control it. It also controls an anxiety disorder that untreated can cause fits of temper. Still, no trouble getting a gun. That's actually an understatement. It's about 15 guns that I possess and a few more that I sold because I did not like them for whatever reason.

Of course, the state has no trouble letting me drive a car either and statistically we know which is more dangerous. Still, if I was suddenly in a violent mood to the point where I had trouble controlling it, I doubt it would be the car keys I would reach for. While it would NEVER happen (Sweetie, I'm just being hypothetical) I doubt if I was feeling really depressed I would use the car exhaust to end it all. For one thing, there is so much crap in the garage that the car would not fit.

Not really advocating any position. It just struck me as curious as I was getting a RX filled today.

[EC]

1. What happens when you don't take your meds?

Obviously you trust yourself while on them, can you trust yourself without?

[Deep13]

4. I get very anxious, antisocial and get easily frustrated.

Also, I get depressed and have trouble with the idea that I might have to endure for another 30 or 40 years.

Frustration and intrusive memories about the past (PTSD) can cause me to have a fit of temper.

[Bobbieo]

2. WoW! What a testimonial.

[Euromutt]

3. Thanks for the reminder!

I almost forgot I needed to get my own prescription refilled. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder around two years ago, and though even at the worst of times, I'm a threat at most to myself and not to anybody else, I do have a safe containing a variety of firearms.

It does seem rather incongruous that having a psychological disorder doesn't creates hurdles for acquiring a firearm, though as long as you're accepting treatment and taking your meds, it really shouldn't be a major issue. I think the incongruity stems to a large extent from the fact that, when the current gun laws outlining prohibited persons were written, involuntary commitment was way more common than it is now. In fact, according to Harriet Hall, MD, these days it is "next to impossible to get a patient involuntarily committed" (http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=410), as a result of which, unfortunately, it is difficult to mount a meaningful intervention before someone gets hurt.

[Deep13]

5. My worry, of course, is being in a position where I can't afford medication.

If that happens, at least I would have a lot of guns I could sell to finance it. I'm pretty well insured and so is my wife, so that is a "what if" worry, not an immediate one.

As far as any kind of commitment goes, that's what I would do if I ever felt suicidal for more than a few minutes. Just walk into the hospital, hand them my insurance card and say, "I have chronic depression and am thinking of killing myself."

[Warpy]

6. HIPAA prevents databases from flagging mentally ill people

Personally, I don't find people who are compliant with their psychiatric drugs to be a problem, at all. It's the people who go off the drugs and go batty very quickly who are, and I count quite a few relatives in this.

A well known local paranoid schizophrenic here murdered 5 people on a spree, two of them cops who were checking on his welfare. He was tolerable on his drugs. Off them he was scary as hell. He'd bought his gun legally.

As long as you can keep getting those prescriptions refilled and as long as they're keeping you on an even keel, there is no problem with your being a gun owner. If you suddenly can't afford your drugs or if you get a wild hair and decide to stop taking them, please park the gun with someone who won't give it back to you until and unless you're yourself again.

Even stopping an SSRI suddenly can make you wacko.

[Deep13]

7. Well, I'd "park" them with a dealer...

...for sale so I could raise money for the medication. I'll never go back to the way I was.

[Warpy]

10. I'm glad you're that much better on them.

A lot of people, the murderer I cited among them, find the side effects as maddening as the illness they treat is.

[Deep13]

8. I guess this is an unwelcomed message to some.

+4 recs down to zero. Weird. If I were talking about cars, chainsaws or lawn darts I doubt it would have been a problem.

[east texas lib]

9. Just blow off the phantom unrecers like you would behind the back gossipers...

They're cut from the same cloth.;)

[X_Digger]

11. Glad to see that you're getting help.

Having had close friends suffer with mental illness, I can empathize.