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Comment by retiredcoder | Hacker News Reader

Regarding about mental illness entry.

I have ADHD and it is flagged in the system. How do I know? When I tried to exchange my driver license, it was flagged and the “local DMV” forwarded the application to the police department. I then had to present evidence to the police I was capable of driving, thankfully I’ve never been fined and my psychiatrist didn’t have a problem signing a document stating I am capable of driving (even though he himself never measured that skill specifically). At the end of one year long back and forth with the police dept, I got a 2 year provisional DL. Not sure if they will ever grant me a regular DL though.

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Thank you for sharing. That makes sense from a regulatory point of view - on the other hand, it is deeply concerning from the point of view of society (especially when it comes to other diseases that may have an influence on driving ability e.g. phychosis).

As always, there is a trade-off in technology application.

They may connect potential medication (stimulants, my bad) with the ability to drive.

Needless to say that this connection (if you even are prescribed such meds) is complete and utter bullshit.

It also doesn't help to de-stigmatize mental illness in society.

Thanks for sharing.

It isn't used entirely for bad purposes. I know that the most frequent use of medical info in the SIS is that police officers who arrested someone can check if they need a doctor to administer or prescribe medication or if they need to keep something in mind when handling the person. (ie is this person aggressive because of a mental illness or due to being an ass? do they require heart medication, etc.)

No problem.

I sort of understand their view but the lack of medication or proper diagnose can also be linked to accidents, we just don’t have any data either way.

This is one of those issues that always stands out to me when people discuss "mental illness" and the government. Usually its in the context of firearms, but clearly thats not always the case. It makes it difficult to trust any system of flagging "mental illness" won't be full of false positives, and limit the liberty of perfectly healthy people. Regardless, thank you for sharing.

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