DMV Question-Medical Condition

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hawksnest23

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Hello! Ok so this question might be more legal than moral but important nonetheless. I have pretty bad OCD/scrupulosity and it can get bad enough that, although I think I’m generally a safe driver, it can distract me while I’m driving, especially when it’s at its worst. I had to get a copy of my Driver’s License this week and one of the questions on the DMV form I had to fill out was “Do you have a medical condition that affects your driving?” Now, technically, I suppose I do because my OCD can and does affect my driving, although, again, I don’t think bad enough to where I shouldn’t be driving. It particularly bothered me because you have to sign the form under penalty of perjury. I debated it in my head and even asked the employee, who said that if I wrote yes, they may suspend my license. So ultimately, I wrote no and received my license no problem. But it has bothered me, and I wonder if I need to go back to the DMV and fix that.

What do you all think? All responses appreciated, but most especially if you have experience working in the DMV/Related Field!
 
Seeking counseling and taking medication should remedy the issue. I believe they’re more concerned with conditions that’ll cause you to become incapacitated at the wheel rather than distracted. Plenty of us are addicted to our cell phones but we’re not putting that on our drivers license.
 
If you have self-diagnosed OCD, you may or may not have OCD.

If you have medically diagnosed OCD then you need to be working with your doctor. He or she will help you determine if it affects your driving.
 
If you have OCD that bad, you need to be talking to your physician and a professional counselor about it, not the DMV.
 
It’s probably fine. You don’t have medical diagnosis or anything, you just think you have ocd, but you probably don’t have full blown ocd
 
Only a psychiatrist can give you a proper diagnosis. Without that, we can’t add anything.
 
Their intent when asking that question is whether or not you have a medical condition like epilepsy, or a heart rhythm problem that causes fainting, or something that affects your vision like cateracts (that may not be bad enough to fail the vision test at the time, but progressing rapidly), severe and frequent episodes of vertigo etc. That question is not typically intended to screen for mental health issues.

However, if your doctor that diagnosed and treats you thinks you should not be driving, then he or she will report you to the DMV and they will suspend your license. So you can take comfort in the fact that he/she has not reported you and therefore, in their medical opinion, which you trust, you are no more impaired than people who believe they are so important that they refuse to put their cell phone away when driving - distracted but not illegal. That does not mean mean, however that if you are at fault in an accident, you won’t be charged and suffer legal consequences like anyone else - an OCD diagnosis does not excuse you from poor driving, so keep that in mind when you decide to get behind the wheel of a car each day. If it’s a “bad day”, take the bus or call for an über.
 
I hope you have a physician and are receiving treatment for your condition. If so, please consult him as to whether it is safe for you to drive, and what precautions you should take.

If you do not currently have a doctor, please consider getting treatment.
 
Thanks guys for all the responses. I’ve never been formally diagnosed, but I have reason to believe that I’m OCD, and when it first starting affecting me several years back, I did see a psychiatrist, although only once or twice. I do believe I’m safe enough to drive, but it can affect my driving in small ways some days, and, as Anesis suggests, there are “bad days” where maybe at least I should pull over for a minute and settle down. That being said, I think my main issue is just in the question.

The answer to “Do you have a medical condition that affects your driving?” is technically yes, right? I think I’m safe enough to drive, but should I be the one making that determination, or should I simply answer the question the way that it is asked?
 
You have no medical diagnosis.

You are extremely negligent for not getting one, if things are indeed as bad as you claim.
 
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