Drivers may need to declare health conditions like anxiety to the DVLA or face a fine of up to £1,000. The DVLA states: "You must tell DVLA if you’re diagnosed with anxiety and it affects your ability to drive safely. If your driving is not affected by anxiety, you do not need to tell DVLA. Ask your doctor if you’re unsure."
You can be fined up to £1,000 if you don’t tell the DVLA about anxiety if it affects your ability to drive safely. If you’re involved in an accident because of it, you could also face prosecution.
Depression and other conditions
The same rules apply to people with depression. The DVLA notes: "You only need to tell DVLA if your depression affects your ability to drive safely." The DVLA adds: "You may be prosecuted if you’re involved in an accident as a result. Ask your doctor if you’re not sure if your depression will affect your driving."
Anxiety and depression are not the only health issues drivers may need to declare. The DVLA has a list of notifiable conditions that could potentially compromise a person's ability to drive safely. These include sleep apnoea, fainting (syncope), heart conditions such as atrial fibrillation or having a pacemaker, epilepsy, and strokes.
Full list of medical conditions
Medical conditions drivers may need to tell the DVLA about:
- Absence seizures
- Acoustic neuroma
- Agoraphobia
- Alcohol problems
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amaurosis fugax
- Amputations
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Angina
- Angioplasty
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Anorexia nervosa
- Anxiety
- Aortic aneurysm
- Aortic stenosis
- Arachnoid cyst
- Arrhythmia
- Atrial defibrillator
- Arteriovenous malformation
- Arthritis
- Asperger syndrome
- Ataxia
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Autistic spectrum condition
- Balloon angioplasty (leg)
- Bipolar disorder
- Blackouts
- Blepharospasm
- Blood clots
- Blood pressure
- Brachial plexus injury
- Brain abscess, cyst or encephalitis
- Brain aneurysm
- Brain angioma
- Brain haemorrhage
- Brain injury (traumatic)
- Brain tumours
- Broken limbs
- Brugada syndrome
- Burr hole surgery
- Caesarean section
- Cancer
- Cataracts
- Catheter ablation
- Cardiac problems
- Carotid artery stenosis
- Cataplexy
- Cavernoma
- Central venous thrombosis
- Cerebral palsy
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
- Chiari malformation
- Chronic aortic dissection
- Cognitive problems
- Congenital heart disease
- Convulsions
- Coronary artery bypass or disease
- Coronary angioplasty
- Cranial nerve palsy (with double vision)
- Cystic fibrosis
- Deafness
- Defibrillator
- Déjà vu
- Dementia
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Dilated cardiomyopathy
- Diplopia (double vision)
- Dizziness
- Drug misuse
- Eating disorders
- Empyema (brain)
- Epilepsy
- Essential tremor
- Eye conditions
- Fainting
- Fits
- Fractured skull
- Friedreich’s ataxia
- Glaucoma
- Global amnesia
- Grand mal seizures
- Guillain-Barré syndrome
- Head injury
- Heart attack
- Heart arrhythmia
- Heart failure
- Heart murmurs
- Heart palpitations
- Heart valve disease or replacement valve
- High blood pressure
- HIV or AIDS
- Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Huntington’s disease
- Hydrocephalus
- Hypertension
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Hypoglycaemia
- Hypoxic brain damage
- Hysterectomy
- Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD)
- Intracerebral haemorrhage
- Ischaemic heart disease
- Kidney dialysis
- Kidney problems
- Korsakoff’s syndrome
- Labyrinthitis
- Learning difficulties
- Left bundle branch block
- Leukaemia
- Lewy body dementia
- Limb disability
- Long QT syndrome
- Loss of an eye
- Low blood glucose (sugar)
- Lumboperitoneal shunt
- Lung cancer
- Lymphoma
- Macular degeneration
- Malignant brain tumours
- Malignant melanoma
- Manic depressive psychosis
- Marfan’s syndrome
- Medulloblastoma
- Memory problems (severe)
- Meningioma
- Mini-stroke
- Monocular vision (sight in one eye only)
- Motor neurone disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Myasthenia gravis
- Myocardial infarction
- Myoclonus
- Narcolepsy
- Night blindness
- Obsessive compulsive disorder
- Obstructive sleep apnoea
- Ocular myasthenia gravis (with double vision)
- Ophthalmoplegia (with double vision)
- Pacemakers
- Palpitations
- Paranoia
- Paranoid schizophrenia
- Paraplegia
- Parkinson’s disease
- Peripheral arterial disease
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Personality disorder
- Petit mal seizures
- Pituitary tumour
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Psychosis
- Psychotic depression
- Pulmonary arterial hypertension
- Renal dialysis
- Retinal artery fugax
- Retinitis pigmentosa
- Retinopathy (with laser treatment)
- Schizo-affective disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Scotoma
- Seizures
- Severe communication disorders
- Severe depression
- Sight in one eye only
- Sleep apnoea
- Sleepiness (excessive)
- Spinal problems and injuries
- Stroke
- Subarachnoid haemorrhage
- Surgery
- Syncope
- Tachycardia
- Temporal lobe epilepsy
- Tonic clonic fits
- Tourette’s syndrome
- Transient global amnesia
- Transient ischaemic attack
- Tunnel vision
- Usher syndrome
- Valve disease or replacement valve
- Ventricular defibrillator
- Vertigo
- Vision in one eye only
- Visual acuity (reduced)
- Visual field defect
- VP shunts
- Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
Voluntary surrender of licence
Drivers can be fined up to £1,000 if they do not tell DVLA about a medical condition that affects their driving. Motorists may voluntarily give up their licence if, for example, their doctor tells them to stop driving for three months or more, their medical condition affects their ability to drive safely and lasts for three months or more, or they do not meet the required standards for driving because of their medical condition.
The DVLA concludes: "You’ll need to tell DVLA and send them your licence. If you have a medical condition that affects your driving and do not voluntarily give up your licence, you must inform DVLA. They will decide if you can continue holding a driving licence."
