I was hospitalized voluntarily for anxiety almost a year ago as I was going through a lot of life challenges. I have a secret clearance but want to apply for a ts/sci. How many years should I wait before doing so, so that the mental health issue is mitigated. It was serious, and I do not want to go into too much detail but it only happened once, I did do therapy and take meds but there was a brief period for a few months that I was not doing therapy and taking the meds, no excuse I know.
I was advised waiting at least a year but I want to err on the side of caution and wait perhaps 3-5 years and just work in a secret or public trust position until then.
Not sure where you got that waiting period stuff from. Mental health hospitalizations are not automatically disqualifying. Like @backgdinvestigator said, you should be fine if you reported it in a timely manner and haven’t had any other bigger issues since.
My mental health hospitalization was quite serious. I do not want to go into detail but while it wasnt due to a diagnosis of something serious, I was in a very depressive state and was feeling low and said something to the psych that will definitely have a negative effect on my ts/sci eligibility. I also had a period where I wasnt on meds or therapy because I lost insurance and moved-not an excuse I know.
Lastly, this did cause me some employment and financial issues which I addressed now.
If I did have to wait, what is the definition of “enough time to mitigate the issue” is the timeframe. I am thinking at least 3-4 years.
To have a clearance, some agency sponsors you. You might be in an inactive status which is not the same as having a clearance.
As for the mental health, there is no “enough time to mitigate”. Talk to your provider, if you can. Following/completing the treatment plan and any referral is the best mitigation.
I realize you do not want to go into detail here about your prior health situation (I get it, totally understandable). Please know that if/when you move forward this will be discussed, in detail, with an investigator. I suggest getting comfortable with discussing it, in detail. Most BIs are compassionate people, heck we’ve been on the other side of the table discussing our own issues.
While it can be painful to discuss, it needs to be done.
I am comfortable discussing and sharing with a BI as I openly discussed it with a lawyer but not on a public forum. Thanks for your advice and words of encouragement.
I am going to continue following the treatment plan and wait 5 years before I go for my TS.
Can you advise of any mental health issues that the government would never clear for even if mitigated by time and following treatment plan? What do you mean by referral?
Honestly I’ve seen mental health hold applicants up for 2 yrs but they did receive it. It’s a combination of humans deciding to work the easier cases first while you’d get push further down the line. And a backlog in DCSA due to some training issues. Hang in there, don’t check in every week as to not be deemed a pest and some human deciding to make you wait just because.
Unless you were advised by an expert to wait 3-5 years, I think it’s completely unnecessary to wait that long to apply for TS. They aren’t nearly as concerned with common mental health issues like anxiety as they are with for ex: foreign travel/contacts. If your mental issues aren’t related to antisocial, paranoid or violent behavior or probably cause consistent poor judgement, and you have documentation supporting that, then they are not likely to disqualify you for it.