Somehow I think a doctor is a better judge of illness than facebook.

Some day individuals will learn not to post information to Facebook, etc that they don't want the world to see. If you are sick or claiming to be sick, don't do anything that can be used against you. By all means stay from social networks.

@Rachacha: were the pictures old? and it doesnt say she's on leave for depression, so she could be on leave for something else and BE depressed

@detoth67: Oh, another pinko, communist comment.

@liquidnumb: It isn't helping me if you are using my tax dollars...even if they are Canadian dollars.

@vangogh71: Blah, blah, blah. Yes, a doctor-ordered vacation. Really. Really?

@Jon Mason: Here, here.

If this woman in the article is still depressed enough to be on sick leave, a second opinion should clear things up for her. If she isn't, then she needs to get back to work.

Next time I have a doctor's appointment email my Facebook photo and he can use that to diagnose me.

what is wrong with people insisting on such? gah!

rent or ltd/ltc? rent.

braces or ltd/ltc? braces.

etc.

glad you have found things that work for you :) i hope we will find things for him someday.

DING DING DING.

What, a Consumerist headline focusing on drama ans sensationalism? NEVER.

It still seems like a hasty judgement to make from vacation photos, though. She's essentially making a psychological diagnosis by photograph. They could at least have someone check her out or consult with a psychologist first. This could be a manifestation of a manic phase for all we know.

It is no better being under the thumb of corporations. However, if there are options from both, then we can actually have some choices in the matter. As it is, we are much less free to explore our careers since health insurance is usually tied to employment. Having a public *option* would allow those that want that freedom to have it. There is no need for you to drop your insurance if you don't want to.

@Brontide: From the linked article, it sounds like the photos aren't the only grounds for yanking the benefits:

Manulife wouldn't comment on Blanchard's case, but in a written statement sent to CBC News, the insurer said: "We would not deny or terminate a valid claim solely based on information published on websites such as Facebook."

It sounds like they had other evidence that led to the cancellation, but everyone's focusing on the Facebook photos because that adds more drama and sensationalism to the story.

One of the things I noticed is that not too many are complaining that the insurance company went into a private facebook account for the pictures .

I am also wondering if her employer (IBM) asked the insurance company to investigate her claim . Apparently she has been out a while .

One last thing she said she notified the insurance company BEFORE she went on a trip ? Is this disability claim that conditional ?

She is already getting free depression health-care in Canada. Manulife is simply an employer's insurance company that PAYS a part of her salary, while she's unemployed.

She is already getting free depression health-care in Canada. Manulife is simply an employer's insurance company that PAYS a part of her salary, while she's unemployed.

If she is too depressed to work and is collecting benefits, then why is she well enough for all that other stuff? I agree that a person who can get out and about and have all that fun shouldn't be collevting disability b/c they can't work.

1.) People aren't depressed 24/7.
2.) Depression can certainly interfere with one's job performance if they're required to be "on" all the time at work, as opposed to being able to enjoy themselves on a night out or on a vacation.
3.) Depression doesn't heal with rest, like a sprained ankle.
4.) Bite me.

They staff the death panels that say that I'm too risky for coverage, even though *my* depression is controlled by $8-a-month generic Celexa (citalopram).

@venomroses: That's the thing with this . It's not about treament it's about working or not/a disability claim .

Now this was private insurance but in Canada is there anything like government subsidized social security ?

I've had jobs where the stressed out or depressed got transferred to more regular office work . But the key word was tranferred ; they got away from what might have been part of their problem .

The thing I'm puzzle with here is that they apparently had to hack into her facebook account ? Or someone esle turned her in ? She ticked someone off .

Depression does not mean that you're supposed to be in bed all day - it can affect you so that you cannot hold down a job, but are able to function in daily life to some degree.

Also take pictures of you eating from pints of ice cream, captioned thusly: " i cant go 2 work i dred evrything ben and jerry wil make everything alright "

Work usually requires people to be functional at all times - the claimant can quite easily be unable to work some of the time due to depression, and at other times functioning well.

@waltja26: The base functions of her job might be pretty demanding. A depressed hotel desk clerk might be able to get through the day all right; a depressed corporate litigator probably would not.

When and if it's shown that she is permanently disabled in certain functions, and the percentage disability she has is assessed, she may have to retrain for a different field.

@rondalescott: This lady sounds like she might be in that nasty middle ground where she doesn't need long-term hospitalization, but whatever outpatient therapy she needs to kind of function takes up so much time she can't work. I've known people to do therapy four hours a day five days a week for months just to get up the courage to start washing their hair again. Everyone's depression is different.

Also, whether you're well enough to go on vacation or not, trying to "pass for normal" at a high-pressure job often doesn't turn out well (not that I have any experience with that...) If she can't do the job (or any similar job at the same pay level at the company) because of her condition, and the company can't make accommodations, she ought to be on disability. If she doesn't recover, she may have to retrain for some other field, but I'm going off topic here. Point is, I think disability for depression is legit. Yes, it would be easy to game the system, but pics of you having occasional fun are not proof you can work.

I'm wondering were these benefits being paid by Manu were workmens comp or social security type disability benefits . I don't think these were actual medical treatment benefits . That would explain how someone under Canadien Health Care could loose their benefits .

This is one reason I refuse to buy those ' if you are unable to work insurance ' that many credit cards offer . I knew someone who was elidgable to collect and the amount of paper and letters he had to produce was insane .

I agree.

I have suffered from severe depression and also have a severe generalized anxiety disorder. They should be encouraging her to go out and try to enjoy herself. Doing so can help her.
Having chronic depression does not mean that you can't smile or laugh. You would think intelligent people would know this.

most people who are doing long term disability for depression are in some kind of halfway program where you go to therapy for 4-8 hours a day. It is usually the step down after being committed.

Oh and I'll tell you what, coming off your meds cold turkey is even worse than before you had them. You crash like a ton of bricks.

Not that the absence of truth in that statement makes any difference.

On a side note, I didn't know you could get long term disability for depression.

It's a hard thing to judge, and only a psychologist and psychiatrist are qualified to do so. While I am pretty quick to judge people who seem to always have an excuse for not working like the rest of us, I'd leave this alone. Depression affects everyone differently.

And may she rot in hell if she is fact milking/gaming the system. It's an insult to people who actually are too depressed to function, and particularly those who force themselves to work everyday, even though it might not be the healthiest thing for them.

However it does suck being an American because I'm paying for all my own treatment out of pocket from my meager unemployment. Man it'd be great to have a real furlough from work to try and get sane.

I don't think you grasp what functional illness means. Like a functional alcoholic. Just because they show up to work doesn't mean a) they're not an alcoholic or b) actually functional, they just appear so. Maybe you should talk to that immediate family member again and see if they can give you actual insight to the condition as opposed to what they're telling you to probably make you feel better as a lot of depressed people do.

Depression isn't always that obvious.
And being depressed doesn't mean you lose your ability to smile now and then.

A doctor should make the decision if she's cured or not. Not some paper pusher that knows jack about mental health.

Also, remember that, to the extent that they may form a legally enforceable contract, Facebook (and pretty much any other social networking site's) terms of service prohibit you from sharing your login or password information.

[en.wikipedia.org]

Now, I'm actually in a pretty good place right now - we finally, after six years of pharmaceutical roulette, found meds that work great for me, and brought me out of a profoundly suicidal funk within days. Does that mean that, if I hadn't started those drugs that I wouldn't have had fun at Disney World? That there would have been no photos of me smiling and laughing? No.

Profound depression isn't every minute of every day. It's just most of them.

@Roclawzi: No YOUR missing the point and have a bad analogy. One of the first steps in recovery wouldn't be going out and having a good time on the company's dime, it would be to slowly transition into work, wouldn't it be easier to slowy work yourself into a routine or thrusted into a early 20something party scene?

And if work is cause of her "depression" i got a couple million others that would love to sign up!

If I were out with a back injury from my work, and after 4 weeks of rehab and exercises, I was recovered enough to carry a 10 pound bag of bird seed from the car to the back yard, that doesn't mean I'm recovered enough to go back to work and install the 40 pound safety valves on top of the boiler. But it's improvement and that should be hopeful (especially since none of the lazy bastards I work with ever put those valves on quite right)

That is, of course, just an example, I'm never injury. Roclawzi strong like mule and worked like one for it!

The main problem is that some idiot at the insurance company is clueless and thinks depression is like having the flu or something.

@SkuldChan: Just like all that medicare fraud they regularly find and prevent from happening again. Oh wait!

Why should they care? They have an infinite supply of funding, the pocketbooks of productive citizens.

@hillsrovey: Im pretty sure the next step in her "treatment" is not "ok, go out and have a good time with friends while still collecting a paycheck" and more like "ok lets try and go to work on tuesday and thurday".

@katstermonster:

And even if its private doesn't mean its not subject to discovery in civil litigation, this is a standard question, request these days.

Most of all, I'm amazed that an insurance company would allow disability claims for depression.

I'd imagine the potential for fraud would be tremendous since there is no reliable medical test to validate cases, simply a short group of questions to answer.

@bhr:

Hello people, if you apply for a job, if you seek disability benefits, if you are involved in litigation, etc., etc., etc. and you have a social networking site any information on said site will be used against you.

This is now standard and even if its on private it is still subjet to discovery.

Facebook investigation is a lot cheaper than sending out an investigator to video tape you playing soccer when you claim you have a back injury that keeps you from working.

I passed Go, but they took $200 from me. ;~;

@mon0zuki: Thats all I'm saying. Not that she should have to go back. Simply that this calls in to question her ailment and she should have to submit to an examination

@mon0zuki: You know what depressed people are? beaten, given up, can't take it anymore, quitters. Get the hell up and making something for yourself, quit blaming the system(s) and make your own way. You know all those 1,000s of movies where the bum builds his way to a million dollar partner? he/she was depressed, got the fuck up and did something.

Sure, she shouldn't be sitting around feeling bad for herself, but milking work money while going out and socializing isn't helping either and only reenforces her so called "depression". I for one, believe she is/was milking the system and wants to be a dreamer where she has a income flow for "free" and gets to do whatever she wants during her life. She needs to man the fuck up and do work, win the lottery or marry a rich sucker like those lazy ass blonds in pasadena that go out to lunch and drink shit loads of wine everyday with other lazy ass "housewifes". She doesn't need help, she needs a rich man or start living in the real world.

Now that I'm on meds my bad days/times are pretty good.

@amberlink: Some places are allowed, even encouraged to use Facebook as a part of KYC (Know Your Customer) policies - to prevent fraud and money laundering.

Depression is an illness diagnosed by doctors, not by desk jerks conducting amateur "photographic analysis."

So is a sprained ankle. As adults, we still have to work for a living. A lot of people will hate me for this, but I think all these people with "debilitating" depression need to grow the fuck up; get off their asses; take responsibility for your life. I say if she was capable of leaving the house to go to a strip club, she's capable of going to work.

@katstermonster: The woman does not contest that the photos were from the time when she was off on medical leave (she indicates that she alerted the insurer that whe was taking a vacation).

I agree that basing a decision exclusively on the photographs is not a wise move, but the insurer indicates that they use FB as a tool, but it is not the only means that they collect information.

The article is unfortunately scant on details, but I see nothing wrong with using FB and other social media as a means for investigating people who were on medical leave and assesing whether they are able to return to work, provided that a medical professional is also consulted.

But I'm not sure a lot of you folk understand the scope of depression, and what it really entails.

Just because someone's depressed doesn't mean they can't smile - but the key is how far down that smile reaches, and how long they can hold it. A depressed person might be able to be ok one day, but the next, they literally can't pull themselves out of bed.

A lot of it is about CONSISTENT functionality.

Plus, who's to say she wasn't on the long road to recovery? She may have been towards the end of her leave, or might have been trying to reach some normalcy to get herself back on track.

And who said someone who's depressed HAS to be effing upset ALL THE TIME? Wouldn't that just make you MORE depressed?

Not to mention that people are not thinking about the possibility that her friends pulled her out of her house to try and cheer her up. 'Cause, you know, friends do try and do that.

I have friends at my appointments because I'm spending much of my life living with sudden onsets of blurred vision, extreme dizziness, altered consciousness, etc. The medications also have made me do things like forget where I am and where I am going, so its not a good idea for me to drive, or to not have somebody with me when getting medical advice- I don't remember anything.

Then again, I'll have a few hours in a day where things will lighten up a bit and I may be able to go out and do things, which my doctor wants me to do. Heaven forbid somebody sees me do this and assumes this is my level of functionality, not unlike the person this article is about.

Of course, this is assuming that the person in the article IS still incapacitated, and not just milking disability.

@Dyscord: I don't think that the issue is saying that she is not depressed, they are saying that someone who was apparently so depressed that she needed to take an extended leave of absence (and receive payment for a year and a half) to deal with her depression is not well enough to work, but is well enough to party.

Kind of like when you were a kid, and you told your mom you were "sick" (because you did not want to go to school). I don't know about your mom, but when I stayed home "sick" I was on teh couch doing nothing but resting and sleeping. If I got up and was playing with my toys, I would be in the car and on my way to school because I was not really "sick" (or at least not sick enough to stay home).

The circumstances suggest that if she is well enough to go on vacation, and to a strip club etc. she is well enough to go back to work.

Blanchard said that on her doctor's advice, she tried to have fun, including nights out at her local bar with friends and short getaways to sun destinations, as a way to forget her problems.

I suppose Manulife thinks that the best treatment is to lay in bed eating the KFC sadness pile in a failure bowl while listening to "This Will All End In Tears".

She also doesn't understand how Manulife accessed her photos because her Facebook profile is locked and only people she approves can look at what she posts.

She also doesn't understand how Manulife accessed her photos because her Facebook profile is locked and only people she approves can look at what she posts.

@smartmuffin: Diagnosing depression is a bit more complicated than picking one symptom that applies to the patient.

Generally patients have more than one symptom, have symptoms severe enough to interfere with their day to day life, and have been experiencing the symptoms for an extended period of time.

Not saying the insurance company doesn't have the right to investigate I just disagree that depression can't be a long term disability.

There are many careers out there that depression could have a major impact. But I'm glad your condition is manageable.

@Ruiner: Aside from your attitude, if I'm reading your post right you're comparing apples and oranges. This woman lives in Canada, which has a generally stronger government safety net. Depending on where you live in the US, I'm not the least bit surprised that you're having trouble getting needed medical care covered.

The fact that things are not perfect here, though, doesn't mean people living in countries that have chosen the "more government intervention" route shouldn't be able to take advantage of their government's programs.

@pdj79: You know, it's possible that this woman wasn't happy for the entire night out - people usually post photos of everyone having fun.

You can't identify her condition on the basis of Facebook photos. That's the doctor's job. And contrary to your opinion, they do a lot more than rubber stamp whatever the patient says is wrong.

These idiots are trying to say that because she's been shown in pictures having a good time, then she must not be depressed. They're assuming that if you're depressed then you must not EVER be able to have fun.

Thanks, doc.

Having dealt with an immediate family member's clinical depression, I'll just throw out there that I find it rather suspect that the subject of this story could have fun at all. People with severe forms of this illness, so severe that they're less than functional, really can't have fun. At all. Even in "fun" situations, they usually look indifferent and isolated from everyone else-- they can no more function in what should be a fun environment as anywhere else.

And Facebook, really? How have people not yet learned that it's not private and anything you post on it can and will be used against you for any reason? It's a DIRECTORY. Its whole point is NETWORKING. It's only prudent to assume everyone who interacts with you in any way knows everything about you that you reveal there.

@grimdeath9740: what about crabs? Herpes?

I kid, I kid.

@Anachronism: why is your doctor talking to your friends? seriously, I'm not being a dick here.

@Brontide: +1 for that option.

@Cyberxion101: that question may never be answered by her though.

I'm not going with either side here since I've seen terrible things from both the insurer and the insured in these situations, but if you are on disability/claiming injury....don't take photos of you doing stuff that people would wonder about and then put them online. I'm not saying she's fine to work if she can go to strip club (vacationing on the beach is a bit questionable) but I am saying that she should think before advertising it.

We also don't know if they maybe found anything else out about her.

a yes, the good ole workman's comp insurance scam

The phenomenon you're talking about happens when someone locks an album so that only their friends can see it. For example, my ex's sister did this. She tagged me in photos that were included in the count on my main page, but when you clicked on my pictures, they weren't included in the count and you couldn't see them unless you were her friend as well.

@bohemian: to be fair, the person they were calling about may have also been slimy.

Insurance companies are slimy, but sometimes people are cheating them too. if they catch these people they spend less and the hope is that what they save gets passed on to us. it won't get passed on to us, but I like to hope.

I'm not saying you're right, but really...your comment is just one big logical fallacy.

@pdj79: nobody is ever too depressed for that.

"Disabled" worker - "Oh woe is me, doc. I am so depressed. Everyone made me go to the strip club last night. I tried to put on a happy face, but in the end, I just wanted to kill myself more."

Doctor - "Yep, you still sound chronically depressed. Back to bed and 66 2/3% compensation for you."

Sad to say but this is totally typical of the employer sponsored disability and work comp insurance companies. Anything is a good excuse to deny someone's claim anywhere in the process and it doesn't have to make sense.

The criteria is that your ailment renders you unable to fulfill your work duties. If you are somewhat still able, (for instance, a broken leg to someone on their feet all day) your employer can reassign you to light duty behind a desk while you recover. With depression, it's more than "I'm sad." While symptoms and their effects are diverse, it would have to be crippling to the point where getting up each day is too much, or you're generally unable to control your emotions, or your work reliability and performance suffers/is non-existent.

Your doctor is provided a list of your duties and provides enough information why you're unable to do them. Your benefits last not until you have fully recovered, but until you are well enough to return to those duties. Again, for depression, if the treatment makes them capable of being productive on a regular basis, they may be returned to work. In some cases, a limited, part-time return to work could be beneficial to restoring self-esteem to a depression patient, so they can feel productive and useful again.

The Canadian system has private coverage, typically through your employer, as well as each province's own healthcare program. (Coverage varies in each province, but I believe all have their own disability programs.) If you don't have private insurance or it doesn't cover something, and the provincial one does, you can go that route. In either situation, the decision for benefits comes from your doctor convincing whichever insurance claims rep that you're unable to work.

Manulife is a large insurance company operating worldwide. It does not offer health insurance in Canada. It does offer various forms of long-term disability insurance, often through work sponsored programs.

It truly begs the question : If this person is able to vacation and entertain themselves in the manner described, surely they are also able to function in a work environment.

Insurance fraud is a criminal offense punishable by incarceration. It sounds to me like this "victim" got lucky.

@foofur: I think the question needs to be raised about when these pictures were taken. If they were taken while she was on leave, it might be a fair point. If not, then I can't see how the fact that she's capable of having fun can really be used against her.

@parad0x360: I don't think that it is a matter of depressed people not being able to have good days, I think the issue here is that she was granted an extended leave of absence because of her "condition". If she were so depressed that she could not go to work, most people would not expect to see her on vacation (having fun) and at a strip club (presumably having fun). Presumably they had other information that would support their claim that she were committing insurance fraud.

I empathize with the depression, but getting long term sick leave for it and then going out and partying and on vacations seems to indicate probably she's ready to come back to work.

To me, she's milking the system and it's like people who go out on stress leave. After a while, you just need to get over that sh*t!!!!

@ubermex: My thoughts exactly. I struggle with depression, but that doesn't mean that I can't have a good time every once in awhile.

@JohnQPublic: Do you know *anyone* who doesn't occasionally suffer from one or more of those symptoms?

I'm pretty irritable right now. I guess that means someone should pay me a bunch of money to not work.

@bhr: Could not agree more. If she is on extended leave from work for depression because she is apparently so depressed (or so jacked up on anti-depressants) that she can not work, I would not expect to see her on extended vacations, strip clubs etc. If she were well enough to do those things, I would expect that she were well enough to go back to work at least in some capacity.

Locking your Facebook profile means NOTHING unless you have no Facebook friends.

@JiminyChristmas: You are correct.

It's Friday and I'm just thankful my brain is working at all. :-/

But, the younger you are, the better the chances for affording long term care insurance.

Man! I hate it when I use the wrong word.

As others have mentioned, it is her Long Term Sick leave (disability) that was rebuked, not her treatment of depression. If you can point out where it says she is no longer receiving medication, I will bow out, but I didn't see it anywhere. (Did only skim though) Don't know about Canada, but in the US, you typically need to prove that you are unable to perform the base functions of your job to qualify for the benefit. So if she is too sick to work, should not she also be too sick to go clubbing? To reiterate, her treatment seems to be ongoing, she just needs to find a job.

I hope to god you are not a medical professional of any sort. That kind of generalization and ignorance is absolutely disgusting.

That said, photos on facebook alone should be grounds for a medical professional to sign off on the disability, not yanking it. Heck the "sun holiday" could be considered treatment by some dr's.

Now if you REALLY want rainbows, all you need is a baby a blender and some nacho-chips.

This woman is claiming that she is *too depressed to work* she is so incapacitated that she can not get through a 40 hour work week like the rest of us depressed sheep. She has been collecting long term disability because she is unable to work. In the past year she has shown herself doing a larger number of activities that would contradict her long term disability.

Having fun on occasion is possible for depressed people and sunning oneself is probably great therapy for those up north.

This is grounds for a medical reappraisal of her condition, not a one-sided termination. Personally the story kinds stinks and I would love to hear about any follow ups.

@Lez Lemon: HA! Is that still around???

@Lez Lemon: She can do whatever she wants. But if she is being paid to not go to work then she has to understand that there may well be restrictions on her activities.

I see this as being similar to a guy who I waited tables with in college. He was on extended leave/workers comp because he hurt his leg at work. In the meantime he won a local golf club tournament. Our employer noticed and reported him. The truth was he was hurt enough that he could no longer stay working on his feet 8hrs/day but could ride a golf cart from hole to hole and stand up a couple minutes at a time. He was forced to go to a company-selected doctor to certify he was still injured.

That, good sir, is funny. Seriously though, Obama's "plan" doesn't exist.

* persistently sad, anxious, or empty moods
* loss of pleasure in usual activities (anhedonia)
* feelings of helplessness, guilt, or worthlessness
* crying, hopelessness, or persistent pessimism
* fatigue or decreased energy
* loss of memory, concentration, or decision-making capability
* restlessness, irritability
* sleep disturbances
* change in appetite or weight
* physical symptoms that defy diagnosis and do not respond to treatment (especially pain and gastrointestinal complaints)
* thoughts of suicide or death, or suicide attempts
* poor self-image or self-esteem (as illustrated, for example, by verbal self-reproach)

Even if you assume that this woman did not suffer from "loss of pleasure in usual activities (anhedonia)", there are tons of other symptoms that wouldn't show up in a photograph that could be behind her diagnosis of depression.

@GitEmSteveDave_CanCommentz: this is true, very true. Anything going against your diagnosis (or in the flour example, doctor's orders) will count against you.

Is it right? no, but they do it.

As you said, to an insurance company, "the fact she was smiling means her meds and treatment (are) working" means that she may also be functional in a workplace setting thanks to the treatment. They're not canceling all her benefits, they just believe she should be capable of returning to work.

I'm not getting onto one side or the other here. It should be her doctor that decides if she can perform her work duties. But as SteveDave already pointed out, if you're out for a back injury and they have photos of you lugging stuff around your front yard, you're probably going to have to start filing some appeal papers.

Now it is fine to feel sorry for your self and your situation but you are going to lead a miserable life until you die with your attitude. Just because you aren't getting the medical care you need for your conditions that are very serious doesn't give you the right to judge others as unfit for help and care.

Someone is always worse off then you. That doesn't mean that you don't need or deserve care. The same goes for others.

I highly recommend that you visit or spend more time with support groups for the chronically ill. If you have the opportunity visit a mental health professional do so. The mental and emotional aspects of chronic illness can be crippling even when the disease is not.

Anyway, am I not allowed to laugh if I'm sick? Today I feel like crap, and I laughed several times.

@Mr_Human: yes but she could be manic depressive

@foofur: That's totally reasonable. Cancer patients getting chemo are typically in the chemo lab only one day per week. They should work the other four days of the week. If their immune systems are too compromised to come to the office, they could telecommute from their sterile room in the cancer ward!

People with end stage renal disease usually only need dialysis three days a week. There's no reason they couldn't hold down a part-time job, or even schedule one dialysis round for Saturday so they can work three days instead of two.

@hotdogsunrise: Actually, you are talking about different insurance policies. Long Term Disability Insurance is to replace a portion of your income if you become unable to work. Long Term Care insurance is to pay for assisted living or nursing home care. In the latter case, people buy these policies so they don't have to deplete their assets in order to get Medicaid (not Medicare) to pay for their nursing home care.

I have a friends that has a series of bad medical conditions that I took on a once in a lifetime vacation. Did all of the prep-work, wheelchairs, medicines checked through customs, accessible hotels, frequent rests, etc to make sure that it could be a good time for them. It was and is a huge battle with social security that she MUST be okay to work if they could go away for 5 days.

People are only allowed to be sick as long as they are always miserable. I hate this attitude towards the ill.

@Ruiner: Please clarify, regardless of their particular ailment, what are acceptable activities for people with disabilities? Are they allowed to travel? Go out with friends? Or to be properly disabled, should they just stay home and die?

I'm sorry you have MS but that doesn't empower you to judge whether or not other people's illnesses are minimal or severe. What if you went on disability due to your ailment but then, for example, wanted to try a wilderness hike in Yosemite Park before your mobility was too weak? Would you be comfortable suffering people's judgment as to how sick or not you were?

There is no such thing as online privacy. Anything that is posted is fair game to be found. Facebook is no exception to this. To the right people everything is a click away. Never post your embarrassing or private moments to the web.

This one will be interesting when it hits the courts. meanwhile, i'll continue to stay off twitter, facebook, myspace, and any other online forum wherein random people can try to find reasons to destroy my life

Government healthcare in Canadian provinces covers a schedule of services and procedures. Employers can provide additional employee benefits on top of that schedule - including long term disability benefits.

It is much MORE like the case where a person sues for being unable to walk, and then out comes video of them dancing at their cousin's wedding.

And if this long-term disability benefit is a private insurance benefit, would the long-term disability have to have been a result of the job, like worker's comp? Does the specific job make her depressed? (And if that's the case, has she tried to find different work? If it's all work, should one employer be on the hook?)

I guess I just am curious about a lot more of the specifics behind the system and how one qualifies for it, and who's making that decision, and so on. (And some of my interest is purely academic, since I've recently become more professionally involved in worker's comp-type issues, so I'm interested in learning about it generally.)

Which does remain an entirely separate question from getting into someone's private, protected photos online, which is skeezy regardless.

@ubermex: maybe, but if she is well enough to party and go for vacation she could probably be working. As someone who has battled depression his whole life, the antisocial aspects apply in every facet.

She may well be fighting depression, but at the very least she should have to recertify (see a new shrink) to keep off of work.

@dgruzew: In most jurisdictions, it would never stand up to any sort of investigation. However, getting that investigation moving can be a time-consuming prospect, and certainly an arduous one for someone suddenly cut off from mood stabilizers.

Also, this is in the crazy backward world of Quebec, where you wear hats on your feet and hamburgers eat you. Normal rules simply do not begin to apply.

So much for free Canadian healthcare. What a joke.

@aen: Virtual Panty Sniffer

@delphi_ote: Is that better or worse than "Well, the chemo left 10% of the cancer there, so it's obviously not working"?

Also if her photo security was only set to "My friends and networks" who is to say that Manulife isn't on the Montreal network and so is she, so they could see her photos.

It is not like doctors are telling her "While you are depressed, you can do nothing else but sit on your couch watching the end of Old Yeller."

I'm running into a similar thing. I'm currently on short term disability and hating my life because I've essentially had a nonstop migraine headache for 5 weeks. While trying to get everything in line to get this debilitating headache to stop, doctors are also telling me and telling my friends to get me out of the house, telling me to go to the gym, telling friends to drag me out and take me shopping, go to a movie, anything to keep me active and prevent depression.

The doctors are right, it is in my best interest to do this, but I am also on disability, and heaven forbid somebody gets a picture of me in public with a smile on my face, PER DOCTORS ORDERS... (sigh).

@Brain.wav: Of course! Also, one look at a thermometer will tell you that global warming is a myth... they call 37 degrees Fahrenheit warm?

Depression is to happiness approximately as a telephone is to Tuesday.

@CompyPaq: This.

And by the way, long term disability is something that all thirty and forty year olds should be looking into and purchasing. Get it while it's cheap! You don't want to have to mess around with Medicare when you need a nursing home.

Given the additional workloads many of us are under with hiring freezes or layoffs, it wouldn't be shocking to find someone out there pretty miffed to see someone out on disability leave partying it up and posting for all to see.

Am I the only one who is impressed by this? Pretty clever stuff from a heartless faceless corporation!

Seems like the classic "call in sick to work only to run into your boss at the ballgame" updated for the 21st century.

Also, if she is showing marked improvement, that means the therapy is working. Now you're going to cut funding for it? Isn't that a bit like, "The chemo got 90% of the cancer. We're going to stop covering you now, because you're clearly better."

Point 2: I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, depression is a very serious and often misunderstood biological condition. I suffer from it myself and can verify that, yes, you can go to someone's birthday party, or Disney World, or whatever, and either put on a fake (convincing) happy face, or actually experience real happiness. This in no way means that you are suddenly "cured" of your biochemical problems. You can still go home and hang yourself with a garden hose the next day.

On the other hand, even as a sufferer of severe, profound, permanent depression, I kind of take issue with it being a condition covered by long-term disability insurance. Everyone's situation is different, of course, but I kind of think that you either a) get meds and counseling and try to pass for normal, including being a contributing member of society, or b) Get yourself committed until you are better.

I don't see this "go on permanent disability insurance and live your life work-free forever" as being valid.

@ubermex: Maybe her photos showed up as advertisements for anti-depressent medicines.

You might think so, but everything associated with Obama is left-leaning.

It's stuff like this that keeps me grounded, and FAR AWAY from putting myself on Facebook, MySpace, etc.

Isn't the fact she was smiling mean her meds and treatment was working? And I've yet to see ANY human that is depressed 24/7, every day of the year.

@aen: Investigator in the Loss Prevention or Risk Management or Compliance departments. Not unlike taking photos of someone doing a physical activity when they are on disability leave for a back injury that would prevent said physical activity from occurring without extreme pain.

Sorry, I know I'm not perpetuating the humor.

I would think there has to be some kind of law or policy in canada that this would break. Even if the photos acceptable evidence - how can they determine with certainty when they were taken

On the other side - she is not losing benefits for depression therapy (at least thats not stated) but she is losing long term disablity. Basically she is saying that she is too sick to go to work and getting paid by an insurer instead. So the rules in this case are differnt that with health care I am sure.

A Quebec woman on long-term sick leave is fighting to have her benefits reinstated after her employer's insurance company cut them.

Its not public healthcare, its disability insurance paid for by her employer.

So she should have posted a photo of her with a razor blade against her wrist and her head in an oven?

Since depression is biologically based- I would think they couldn't deny her benefits based on the "unscientific" Facebook Methodology.

Long Term Disability coverage is not the same thing as health care.

Settings --> Privacy Settings --> Profile --> Edit Photo Album Privacy. Set it all to Friends only.

But seriously, if you claim depression, and there is a variety of photos from various times(photo date and time are sometimes stored even when uploaded) in which you don't look depressed, that will work against you.

I thought Canada had a magical health care system where a unicorn wearing a blue pocketed shirt shows up at your door and your benefits stream out its mouth in a care bear rainbow.

No, that's Obama's proposal you were thinking of.