Insurance company: Smiling in a photo means you don't have depression, so get back to work!

[ck4829]

Facebook can be a double-edged sword, a Canadian woman learned when an insurance company cut her health benefits, claiming she was healthy after seeing pictures of her smiling in bikini at the beach.

Nathalie Blanchard, 29, took long-term sick leave from her job at IBM in Bromont, Quebec, more than a year ago for severe depression. She was receiving monthly benefits from her insurance company, Manulife.

When Blanchard called Manulife to inquire why the payments dried up, the insurance company said that "I'm available to work, because of Facebook," she told CBC television.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/lifestylecanadahealthinternetfacebook

[vadawg]

1. rofl you gotta laugh even though it sucks

facebook though a freat thing for keeping in touch really is the devils curse sometimes, i use it extensively in my line of work, amazing the shit that people will post on it...

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. +1

[pipi_k]

2. Let someone try that with my FB photo

It's from 1994.

[Louisiana1976]

3. Yet another reason to hate Facebook....

[conspirator]

38. I thought it was another reason to hate the crooks (insurance companies) n/t

[Chemisse]

4. It's creepy that they used Facebook

But I can see their point. Someone with severe depression has trouble just getting out of bed in the morning.

[Go2Peace]

11. Folks here need to get better educated. People with Depression don't necessarily

always spend all day in bed. They have "good days" and "bad days" like the rest of us. They also may have depression that is triggered or more severe in stressful work environments.

It would be better for society to start dealing better with mental illness, because for some people disability may be the only way to survive. Some people prone to severe depression are able to work and cope, but they need low stress environments.

Chronic Depression is not an "on" or "off" thing, it is lack of capability for the brain to deal with life events that others can deal without getting depressed.

Please learn a little more about it.

[imdjh]

16. Well, if she wasn't sufficiently depressed before, then she is now.

[Naturyl]

35. Indeed, and for some people, work environments can be a trigger.

Some people are able to function reasonably well outside employment situations, but go down the toilet in them. That's a legitimate aspect of some psychological conditions, not an "excuse" or "faking."

[Skittles]

19. wrong

my dad suffered from severe depression and never missed a day of work. He did, however, end his life with a gun at age 50.

[Go2Peace]

30. Yep, amazing the stereotypes of mental illness even on a "progressive" board. man, we are way

behind Europe in how we approach and understand health and social issues.

[pipi_k]

40. I've been chronically depressed for years...

some days I really have trouble finding the motivation to get out of bed, but I do it. Usually the depression slacks off somewhat as the day goes on, then it's back to that awful "I'm too tired to breathe...I feel too shitty to live" crap again the next day. But I will, and have, smiled for a photo.

Sometimes people will put on a forced smile for a photo. Someone who doesn't pay much attention might not notice that the smile doesn't quite reach the eyes.

How many times have we seen family photos of a mom, dad, and children, all looking normal and happy and we're horrified to find out that the kids, even though they're smiling in the photo, are/were being horribly abused by one or both parents... Photos aren't always what they seem...

[Barack_America]

5. Who friends their insurance company?

[imdjh]

18. These insurance companies are sneaky, and some people will friend anyone.

[dysfunctional press]

23. not everybody keeps their stuff private or for friends only...

they want the whole world to see how fucking goofy they are.

[vadawg]

25. and these people are idiots, putting every facet of their life online..

[Naturyl]

36. A picture got her dropped.

I agree that it is foolish to put too much online, but is a picture really too much?

[pipi_k]

41. You don't necessarily have to friend someone

in order for them to see your profile picture, if you have one.

You can do a search for someone and see their page and only the profile picture but no other information unless someone has chosen for all to see it.

I haven't come across anyone yet who is choosing to make all of their information available to everyone. I mean, that's just stupid.

[UndertheOcean]

6. wait , you can get sick leave for depression ?

All the progress lost due to the sick leave and the catching up that needs to be done when she comes is sure to increase the depression. I don't think that is a good idea.

[Dangerously Amused]

7. Here comes a long, complicated and interesting legal battle.

I'd love to see it go to trial and see some precedent set in favor of mental health issues; alas I will bet the farm that it settles.

[vadawg]

9. i dont see the difference from when the company hires someone to follow you and take pics

of the guy saying he is disabled and in a wheelchair dancing the night away with 3 strippers called candy, brandy and mike.

[Occulus]

22. Yes you do, you know you do, and you're being deliberately obtuse.

Stop it.

[vadawg]

24. no there is no difference between the company following you or checking out your facebook

as i said i use facebook all the time to check on people, its a tool that yields tonnes of info, as people put their whole life up there..

[Occulus]

26. There is a WORLD of difference and you know it.

A smiling facebook photo does not equal any sort of sign that she isn't suffering from depression, nor is it the equal of claiming you're physically disabled and bound to a wheelchair while you're at the same time dancing at a bar.

But you already knew that.

[vadawg]

27. and your missing the point that facebook is the new way of companies checking on you

ive not judged her case either way, all im saying is that in the same way i find facebook a good way to get into a persons life the companies who are trying to catch scofflaws are doing the same, and i see no difference legally between them looking at your facebook for proof than if they have some guy following you.

[Go2Peace]

31. There is an expoit that was likely used that allows folks to see private photos

Do a search, it's all over google.

If her lawyers are smart they will find out if it was used. If so they will likely lose the case.

[Dangerously Amused]

39. Well, I think an argument can be made for context.

I don't think one is able to make an accurate psychiatric assessment of another's mental health based on a one second snapshot in time when that person happens to be smiling. You know, after a lot of suicides the family is shocked and says that the deceased "seemed normal," or "just a little down" in the days leading up to the death. People who are depressed -- even severely depressed -- are oftentimes very skilled at hiding their distress from others, and feel compelled to do so for a variety of reasons, and that is part of their pathology. Saying that this woman is "not depressed because she smiled on a few occasions" is like Senator Frist diagnosing Terry Schaivo as cognizant based on a snippet from a family video (taken out of context) that purportedly demonstrated a measure of self awareness when, in fact, Terri Schiavo had no brain whatsoever.

This is nothing at all like your example of someone claiming to be wheelchair bound, and then observed "dancing the night away."

Let me add that I am in no way excusing the behavior of someone who would defraud an insurance company. I would especially villify someone who did so in the name of "mental health," because those who actually have disabling mental health issues have had to fight so long and so hard to be taken seriously.

[treestar]

8. Canadian? I thought they had single payer.

Severe depression - doesn't sound like someone who'd go to the beach. She's better - go back to work.

[dsc]

10. wrong kind of insurance

This was a person getting disability insurance from her job, not health insurance.

[pnwmom]

13. Right. And it's not uncommon for disability insurers to try to prove

that there really isn't a disability. I've heard of them even sending P.I.'s after people to take pictures.

[LeftyFingerPop]

12. Doesn't sound like you have any idea what you are talking about. n/t

[SoCalDem]

15. Unfortunately, when you are on disability you HAVE to be very careful

There are "loss-prevention" people whose entire job is busting people who are collecting aid, when they should not be. The internet is making their job a LOT easier these days.

When my son had back surgery, and was at home convalescing, he noticed a guy hanging around the neighborhood..just wandering around..One afternoon on the way to the mailbox, using his cane, the guy engaged him in conversation..asking him what happened to such a young healthy-looking guy such as himself.. My son lifted his shirt and showed him the angry 10" scar down his back, and asked if he needed him to wait , so he could get his camera out of the car.. the guy never came back..
the guy was waiting to see our son lugging a trashcan down to the curb, or doing anything that might disqualify him..

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. Your son was sharp to figure out he was being shadowed. n/t

[SoCalDem]

21. He once called me to come over & help him.. He had dropped his cane

and could not bend over to get it.. I found him leaning against the refrigerator, panicked because he knew he could not make it to his bedroom..

We asked him to move home for a while, but he refused..

His owwwie:

[Liberal_in_LA]

28. OUCH!

[lpbk2713]

20. They found proof that she is bipolar.

She needs to get back in to treatment for manic depressive disorder now that they have evidence. :eyes:

[spoony]

29. I guess this lets the Army off the hook

I mean, he's smiling, everything must be fine in his mind.

[Go2Peace]

34. +100, excellent point made

[Naturyl]

32. Yeah, because a depressed person can never smile.

Any excuse to offload somebody into a pool of sharks... any excuse.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[LeftyFingerPop]

37. Here is some truth from the horse's mouth...

First of all...your OP is excellent because it gives us a chance to expose some truths. Thank you for posting this. Some of the responses, however, are blowing me away. Here's the way it actually is:

1) Depressed people are sometimes able to go to the beach.

2) Depressed people are usually able to smile.

3) Major depression can affect your cognitive abilities and concentration to the point where you are unable to read or understand a newspaper article.

4) Major depression can rob you of all reasoning. A person who is depressed can be laughing and joking one second, and then throw themselves out a window the next.

5) Depression is an illness of the brain that pretty much robs you of everything. It is painful. It can cause a physic pain that your brain translates into physical pain. It can hurt worse than any other illness or injury.

6) Depressed people may "seem" fine.

7) Only a doctor can determine if a person is able to work because of depression...not people on a message board. Not an insurance company with a camera.