Bringing medical / sight history records

[woki1986 1]

I'm looking into getting copies of my medical records, optician's records and dental records to bring with me so that if I have to go somewhere for any reason they can see what's been going on with me in these areas.

I have a few concerns on this, however.

You may/may not remember from previous questions that I had an issue with self harming. Back in 2004 I self harmed on two occasions. I brought this up at my Knightsbridge Medical, I got a letter from a doctor at my surgery, everything was ok.

Now, I've thought about bringing records with me, however there's not been anything added to my record about my self harming since I first raised it with my GP. (And no one even asked me how I was, for god's sake.)

What's worrying me is that if I bring my records with me and a doctor sees that I have a history of self harming I'll be put away somewhere, regardless of what proof that I give that it was a one off, never to be repeated incident.

I've got the letter my doctor wrote for me and I'm writing to my surgery to get it hopefully put on there that this has taken place. (Or else all that they will see if they look hard enough is that I self harmed in 2004 with no apparent resolution.)

I'm worried that if I don't do anything about it now, it'll ####### me over later on in life. I might not be able to get a job and so on.

What if I get copies of my medical history and there's been no change? I can add the letter that I got, but... meh.

I was honest about it with my fiancé, with the Knightsbridge Doctors and my own doctor, but I'm worried it's still going to follow me around.

[woki1986 1]

Bit worried my post will be 'lost' in the back pages...

[K and L 27]

How would it affect your ability to get a job? Employers cannot access your medical files - the most the majority can do is require that you take a full physical, pass a drug screening, and are up to date on your vaccinations. Most only do the drug screening.

Also, going into mental facilities tend to be on a voluntary basis and I believe they actually need a court order if it's against your will (once you're over 18) or your shrink has a strong feeling that you're presently going to be a danger to yourself or others (and then, the court order may still be necessary). I've not had psychiatric issues, but a few of my friends have been temporarily committed, and only one was against his will (after a suicide attempt). One of my friends does have a history of self harm, but has never been institutionalized for it. Anyway, given you haven't self harmed in years, it is not likely to be a problem here.

Edited March 31, 2010 by K and L

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

You don't have to take your records to anybody. When you go to a new doctor, they will have a sheet for you to fill out similar to the Knightsbridge form you filled in. Have you had high blood pressure, cancer, allergies, etc, etc. You will cover anything important on that information sheet as far as surgeries, hospitalizations, allergies...whatever. Having your records could be something you might want to help you remember dates of when you had any major illness or surgeries but I seriously doubt a doctor would even read them if you insisted his office file them.

Your first appointment with a dentist will normally include a bunch of x-rays where they will chart what's been done in your mouth by their own exam and diagnostic tools. And you will fill out a medical history form for them too.

So my opinion is take your medical records for your own reference, but don't go present them to your new doc.

[TheBears 9]

Working in the medical field, I'd say bring them. Just in case. You don't have to disclose them right away (or ever, if you don't want to), but it's useful to have things like labwork and x-ray/MRI reports to compare for any changes or trends. Ultimately, it's probably a good idea to have them for your own records, too.

[woki1986 1]

Thank you everyone for your comments. After it was revealed at my first job (supermarket worker) that I self-harmed (partly because of stress, a friend dying and also partly because I was being bullied at work) my manager indicated that I should have informed them because I might have been a danger to other people and that I might not be suitable for continued employment there. The manager however also said to my face that I was slow (meaning a slow thinker), in not a very nice way. Lovely man, he was.

It's for that reason that I'm worried, because who would employ someone who self harmed? Even once? If you knew you employed a self harmer, would it affect the way you thought of that person? No matter what they looked like, how they acted, what other work they had done or even your impression of that person, would the fact that they had deliberately self harmed change your opinion of that person? It worries me that people would look down on me or think I'm dangerous or mental.

What if you have a 35 year old person who's had a few jobs, is moody, rude and generally not nice, and a 24 year old who says he's good with people, has had work in a pay office, experience with dealing with the military, very patient, appears well mannered and polite, oh but he self harmed. He might flip out and kill himself. Who do they give the job to?

Would I need to declare it? It was so long ago - or seems that way to me. I'm a completely different person now to who I was back then, but then people wouldn't know that.

People see in stereotypes. (Not everyone of course, just... some people. Hence my 'oh he might kill himself' line. Some people see self harming as an attempt of suicide, or just a cry for help or attention or as a more pronounced way of getting attention. For me it wasn't that at all. I went somewhere away from people and kept it a secret. I didn't want anyone to know but at the same time I felt that I needed to tell someone to get how I was actually feeling - not the fact I was self harming - out in the open.)

I basically, how can I describe it... It's almost like I cured myself? I realised that I was onto a bad thing, that what I was doing was self-destructive, so I stopped. I changed the way that I thought. That's the closest I can get to describing what I did. I've effectively given myself a longer mental fuse and I don't feel the need to self harm. I haven't felt that particular urge for a very long time.

I went to a college councellor and went to my doctor, but I never went for psychiatric care or anything like that.

I react differently to situations, I have seemingly endless patience and if I do get wound up, as everyone does, I just let it go. When I self harmed, it took hardly anything to make me angry. I have let things go now that I would have got really worked up about before. (The immigration process is very stressful and worrying, however I don't get any reaction like that from it. That's one example.)

I've never tried to take my own life, that's a plus. I don't think I was ever a danger to anyone else and the frustrations that I had were never directed at anyone else either. I directed them at myself because of my inability to deal with the problems that I faced. And even then, the actions that I took weren't life threatening.

I actually think that my experiences have strengthened me as a person. (I wouldn't recommend doing it for that effect yourself, however.) Recovering from it and dealing with things that have happened in the way that I do now has made me a stronger person and more thankful for everything that I have.

Anyway, I'm sorry, I rambled on there. I just want to make sure everything goes ok and that I've done everything 'right'. I want to be able to have some income to support me and my wife-to-be and back up her income (once we get all of the relevant paperwork filed of course) and I don't want things going wrong.

I think I'll try and get hold of everything just so I know what surgery I had and when.

As for the self harming... I want to get the fact that I had a letter written by a doctor (as part of the Knightsbridge Doctors Visa Medical) added to my history, then if anyone did see my record they'd be able to see that in a medical person's perspective I'm better. Then if it does come up, they'll see that.

Thank you everyone for your understanding. Or at least for answering my post.

Edited April 3, 2010 by MattHeartCass

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

When you go to a new US doctor, share with them anything you think is important to your health. He will never see your DOS/USCIS files, nor will anybody else. You can see it as a chance to start over with a clean slate if that's what you think is best for you. An employer can not see your (new) medical files unless you give permission. A company can require you to have a physical or a drug test as a condition of employment, but they can't go through your USCIS files or your US medicals files.

[woki1986 1]

When you go to a new US doctor, share with them anything you think is important to your health. He will never see your DOS/USCIS files, nor will anybody else. You can see it as a chance to start over with a clean slate if that's what you think is best for you. An employer can not see your (new) medical files unless you give permission. A company can require you to have a physical or a drug test as a condition of employment, but they can't go through your USCIS files or your US medicals files.

Well. I think it's been long enough that I can let it go. I'm just worried something will come up. If a prospective employer asks me, well, then I'd have to tell them and everything. I think that's worrying me more than anything else. If an employer asks me straight and they'll refuse to employ me because of a month of my life that was basically the worst month of my life, all that time ago.

I've let it go. It's been... hmm. I think it's been 6 years since it happened and I've gotten over it.

I'll start over with a clean slate. I'll not mention it to my new doctor, but I'll bring the letters with me as a back up. Operations and things like that I'll let him or her know about as they will be important to my overall health, now and on into the future.

Thanks, Nich and Nick