November 23, 2009
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Facebook and Depression
A woman from Quebec was on long-term sick leave because she was experiencing depression.
But the insurance company saw photos of her on Facebook where she was on the beach, “having fun at a Chippendale’s show” and was at a birthday party.
The woman is claiming the insurance company stop paying the benefits for her depression because they saw the photos on her Facebook.
The woman said, “In the moment I’m happy, but before and after I have the same problems.” Here is the link: Link
Are photos of the woman having fun proof that she is not depressed?
Comments (123)
Yeah. I bet she’s real sad now.
What, too soon?
Uhhh…no. Let me put it to you this way: I may seem happy sometimes, and I may enjoy stuff, but clinical depression is something I live with every waking moment.
Just another story of insurance companies screwing people over.
no.
that’s why you keep your page private.
she’ll feel much better when she joins my mafia.
@mathematicalbagpiper - You said it best.
Eh, who am I to judge. I’ve only ever fallen into depression once, and that was only for a couple of months, but I could laugh and smile sometimes too.
@TheBigShowAtUD - Do you still have your list? O.o
I think you get many of your questions from yahoo news.
insurance companies can kiss my ass
Just because a person is depressed doesn’t mean they’re depressed literally 24/7.
And gawd, maybe she went to the beach to relieve some of her depression? What is she supposed to do, lay in her bed all day, moping? Come on.
@UnrevealedTruth_xo - Sounds like you have experience with clinical depression. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder when I was 10 years old. I’m 22 now, and it’s just gotten progressively worse. I know what I speak of.
no
Wang is a cure-all!!
@FallenReign - of course i do! do youuuu?
No, they are not proof she is not clinically depressed.
No.
She might be up to tomfoolery. But clinical depression does not mean someone can’t have fun for a moment or two.
Nah, those photos could have been months old and merely just recently uploaded.
I think they are making assumptions about something they may not know anything about so they don’t have to pay for her care. Just because she ‘appears’ happy doesn’t mean she is. Insurance companies trolling Facebook, I gotta make my page more protected.
@mathematicalbagpiper - Same with me, although I was only diagnosed two years ago after letting it go untreated since I was even younger than that.
Many people go by the stereotype that because you are clinically depressed, all you do is ‘lay in bed all day with the shades drawn’ so to speak. While that may be the case most days, you’re not on a low 100% of the time. You are still able to enjoy things and have good days – just not to the extent or regularity as most people.
Of course not. It’s just another selfish employer taking advantage anyway they can. Anything to screw over a challenged individual who needs all the support they can get so that they’re happier. What they just did is cause serious damage. I hope she will be ok.
People, watch what you put in your Facebook albums.
I don’t think so, and I think that her work overreacted. What was she supposed to do, sit in a dark room all day and cry?
No. I mean, I have a bunch of pictures of me looking happy and having fun on facebook, but I still struggle with severe depression the majority of the time. Besides, it’s not like people upload pictures of themselves crying or looking terribly sad… I mean, most people don’t anyway. The pictures people upload are biased. Most people don’t upload every photo taken of them, but just a few, the ones in which they look best. And people with depression can still enjoy some things, have happy moments, but that doesn’t mean they’re not depressed.
Those Photo’s could of been from months or years ago… a lot of people can feel good in photo’s and smile real pretty and look like they are having a GREAT time.. but inside they are miserable. So no, photo’s don’t do anything justice.
@TheBigShowAtUD - Word. I keep mine private, but still, people can sometimes view photos OF you through your friends’ accounts.
Facebook shouldn’t be used against her… people who suffer from depression are NOT down every moment of every day…
someone can go out and have an active life and try to do fun and interesting things and still be depressed.
Evidence of three happy moments in your life do not constitute a lack of clinical depression. They might be a sign of progress – in which case the woman should be congratulated and encouraged, not punished.
They don’t prove that she’s not depressed because, like she said, she could feel depressed before and after.
They do prove that she’s stupid. Seriously? Claiming benefits for depression and posting happy pictures of yourself on the internet?
@SecretNeverTold - yeah, true. i’m being facetious. i think if this is true, it’s a cheap thing for the insurance company to do. of course, she’s claiming that’s why they stopped the benefits. who knows.
i dunno.
one of my sister’s friends claimed disability because she claims to have dibilitating migraines constantly. However, she has taken her daughters to disney world/ disney land/ six flags and other huge resorts and parks like that 3 or 4 times a year for the past 10 years, atleast.
i just. As a normal functioning adult i struggle with handling those theme parks without getting a headache or stressing myself into an anxiety attack, and she’s claiming to have life altering migraines that happen all day everyday yet can take her two young daughters to these places alone. with no help or supervision.
i just. *shrug* i know this has nothing to do with depression. but i can see where the insurance company is coming from.
even as a child i couldn’t buy the idea that she could take her children around like that two weeks at a time every 4 months or so but couldn’t work 32 hours a week at a gas station or something.
look at her body language———looks as tho she is /has a certain control in her life –i.e. suckering the canadian gov outta money—– if people in the u.s. acted like wusses –’oh i cant work—i’m depressed’—-4 people would show up to work tomorrow————————————————————
And we want government health care here because? Honestly, long term sick leave?
@mathematicalbagpiper - Exactly.
hmm, she’s pretty hot
Of course not.
the comments are another example of how dim americans are—–when you make such a claim in canada—-90% of your claim is payed by the tax payers..bacause health care is run by the government in canada—-their boo hoo for the woman answers maybe correct in the u.s. but not for canada————– there are plenty of canadians who see that system as one to take advantage of ..just like all the privatised companies that get screwed by crooked idiots down here———
No, external appearance and actions are poor indicators of a person’s interior state. If you’re depressed, in the sense that you’re suffering from that poorly understood yet very common condition called climical depression, then it matters little whether you’re lying in a bed or running on a beach: you’re depressed. Things that are labelled “fun” have little impact on depression in reality.
And what I wonder, were the medical qualification of this insurance company’s facebook snoop, that he could from a piccy diagnose depression, or lack of it?
My BFF is severely depressed, but there times when she is able to forget about everything that is depressing her. Those times are when her sister or myself can get out of the house for a girls night. Dancing is the only chance I have of getting her out of her depressed state for at least a couple of hours.
In other words, just b/c someone found away to get out of their depression for a few minutes, doesn’t mean the person isn’t depressed anymore.
As everyone else has said, the photos are not proof that she isn’t depressed.
Incidentally, this case IS proof that “watch what you post” is not the solution to all internet problems. If insurance companies are going to be scouring our Facebook profiles, looking for reasons to cut us off, then it doesn’t matter what we post- anything we submit can and will be used against us.
Sometimes people bring out “happier times” pictures to remind themselves to be happier. Or they may do things to feel happier, but still feel depressed. People have emotions, you know
long term sick leave for depression? wtf o.O
wow. people need to learn to suck it up and take responsibility. there’s no reason she should be exempt from work, but not from a birthday party.
yes, FB photos should be used as evidence in this scenario.
No. You can’t tell who is and who isn’t depressed from a photo. Pictures don’t speak louder than what you do and how you feel when you are alone at home.
Depression is a mental illnez…it’s a kind of temporary feeling..u can feel the happinez n sadnez in the same time or can also concluded as sudden fickle feeling without specific reason………….
no how can they judge her because of two sentences?
She could be super depressed WHILE having fun at the same time. You’d be surprised. I mean, you never know…
No, I was clinically depressed for almost year but during that year there were moments where I was normal and smiling but they were just moments. And moments pass away.
No, she could be trying to fight the depression by trying to enjoy herself, but I can understand how others would see it.
Her doctor probably recommended that she go out, to the beach, with her friends, to a party. Keeping up life as normally as possible helps you get better, or at least stops you getting worse.
Whoever this insurance company is, it seems like they don’t really have any understanding of depression.
that’s no proof at all. Just because someone seems happy or has a good day doesn’t mean they arent’ still depressed
Well it’s been said over and over, but no it should not be used against her. Have a moment of fun does not mean someone is no longer depressed. I suffered from major depressive disorder for years. You don’t know what was in her head. Just because you’re smiling on the outside….I mean, we all know how to wear a mask to make people think we’re okay when we’re not.
I think it can look that way in pictures. The I’m so sad I can’t work but I can play like crazy thing would be hard to pull off.
The woman was out trying to have some fun – a form of self therapy. Some get the same results out of a bottle.
@TheBigShowAtUD - HAHA…you planning a FB or insurance mafia?
No.
I think its sinful that companies do stuff like this. So the message here is…don’t smile or have a fleeting decent moment or fun in your life because big brother and the insurance company…employer…etc are watching you and God forbid you have one moment that belongs to you alone….
I suffer from severe depression .. that dosen’t mean I’m not smiling in all of my pictures.
What did the insurance companies want her to do? Spend her life moping in bed? If you’re depressed it’s expected to at least try and go out to have fun.
Not at all. I look happy in a lot of my pictures even when I wasn’t happy at the time, let alone an hour or so later. A girl I knew from high school looked happy in all of her photos online, even those that were taken the day before she killed herself. External appearances are no indication.
People are stupid.
Why is the insurance company creeping our her Facebook??? thats the real question…
And it doesn’t prove anything.
No.
It’d be funnier if she killed herself and updated it on facebook.
Doesn’t prove anything. You could start a Johnny Depp fan club and be its president and still be depressed. Even if Johnny came to be your own personal chef you’d still be clinically depressed despite that instance of happiness. I hate insurance, it’s sucky
well wouldn’t that be a sign that her medication is helping? or did they not give her any? don’t they know that there are different kinds of depression and people who are depressed aren’t gonna go out and show it!
been there, done that, but not the same problem. my parents took me to a theropist and they perscribed some wierd shit that made me really shaky and light headed. so yeah there is no proof.
You people are ridiculous. She’s depressed – so what? Why does she get to go on sick-leave? …because she’s depressed? Sounds dumb to me – oh & she gets her benefits? Wow. I understand getting two weeks paid vacation, or a certain number of sick-days.. or even maternity leave! But really, because she’s depressed? US > Canada
She also said she was following her doctor’s orders to try to have fun and live a little. I’m not sure if this is a case of fraud or not. Who am I to judge.
Well….a picture of someone looking “HAPPY”, doesn’t prove that they are, indeed, happy. At the same time, I don’t think depression is a valid reason to be on disability. I’m depressed, more often than not, and I still work!
Yes, insurance fraud is really common, eh? She was probably just milking a bad day.
No. Not at all.
@Another_Perfect_Wonder - ”At the same time, I don’t think depression is a valid reason to be on disability. I’m depressed, more often than not, and I still work!”
Sounds like you’re not depressed enough.
Can’t fight depression without trying, but trying doesn’t automatically make it go away. They should continue to support her until she recovers, not just until she makes an effort to.
@TheBigShowAtUD - I wish I could “Like” comments.
i’m depressed because i no longer have as many comments, and i have not been featured for the longest time… i wonder if i can claim for insurance…
No.
God forbid she feels good enough to go to the beach.
Not at all…
No!
That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Moments of brief happiness, or moments pretending to be happy, do not mean that you are not depressed and miserable.
I’d say yes but I don’t know much about depressions.
she should be going to a therapist and getting medicine from a psychiatrist instead of going to a beach.
@Tr011 - You don’t know me, so you have no idea. Trust me, if *I* can work, anyone can. We all have choices to make. I could probably get disability for a couple of different things…but that would only make me feel WORSE about myself.
no, proof would be a note from her doctor / psychologist stating that she has overcome her depression.
depression can hide in unlikely places. half the people i know could be depressed, for all i know. i don’t think you can judge what someone’s mental condition is from looking at his or her facebook.
@Nope_Ive_Never - i agree.
why would she add her insurance company as a friend on Facebook?
No.
Absurd. This sort of judgment is like saying a person who suffers from debilitating depression better not have the right to break out of seclusion, dwelling in self-misery let alone people willing to try and take them out of it. What, is she supposed to put up a gallery of self-shot pics and label it, “Expressions of Depression”, to counteract what pics are up?
I’m sure someone that spent years of schooling and took a load of debt to be able to diagnose someone as depressed and spent time and energy on how to treat such people would immediately have their patients’ insurance yanked upon seeing a bunch of JPEGs on Facebook. It’s offensive to medical practice and offense to humanity (unjust). If she is suffering then she may not be able to bite the bullet of withdrawn insurance or any legal fees to fight it and the spontaneity of it all is clearly going to help improve her condition.
Patently ridiculous.
everyone here who’s saying they’re diagnosed with chronic/severe/clinical depression, have you guys been medically diagnosed? cuz depression is different from manic/depressive… if you’re a unipolar depressive, then yeah, you shouldn’t be able to be happy at all…
no because i am still depressed but i can stil take happy pictures so yea
Maybe she’s manic-depressive.
@macphoto - mmm, probably both. i’m sure plenty of people who love to go after insurance companies. besides that, yeah, i need a larger fb mafia. it’s a tough life.
@TheBigShowAtUD - haha, I love this.
@ZepBlueEyedGirl - heh, well… it’s the thought that counts.
I didn’t even know you could be on sick leave for having depression. I had to stop taking summer classes last year because of my depression and the damn school wouldn’t even give my parents their money back and we had papers to prove I was in the hospital.
Well she may be depressed but her insurance company is not responbile for paying for her recreation. That is rediculous that she got away with it.
shouldn’t people try to have fun to stop being depressed?
no….
No. Obviously not. Anyone who has actually experienced depression knows this. The mere fact that you are smiling at one instance doesn’t mean anything in terms of judging depression.
But the real story here is whether the insurance company is justified in such a breech of privacy. How do they get to look through someone’s facebook photos? This is not a public website. On Facebook you connect only to friends. So was someone posing as her friend in order to get on her facebook list specifically to check if she was really depressed? That seems seedy.
In any case though sick leave for a year and a half due to depression is probably hitting the limits of what makes sense anyway so I’m not overly upset about this particular case. Still I’d be happier if insurance companies used the advice of actual doctors to determine coverage not sending out investigators to play “gotcha”.
No. One of the best days I had last year occurred between some of my most depressed weeks. They shouldn’t punish her for what little happiness she can get.
Not at all. People with depression don’t spend every second of their life sat at home contemplating suicide.
yes, she should have looked sad at those places.
I hav the most fun times when Im depressed, lol. Insurance people love ur $$$
Last year I was out for a month on short term disability for my depression. I used that month to get myself straightened out so I could function once it was time to return to work. No, I didn’t stay in the house all the time (sitting around crying, etc), but I also wasn’t out like I was on a vacation. And if I had been, I don’t think I’d be posting pictures to a social networking site… at least not during my time away (maybe after some point after returning)–at least not something like the beach/vacation, but birthday party I think would be harmless (imo). But that’s me as I know that if my employer does stumble across it, they may receive the wrong impression. By the time it was time for me to return to work, the difference was remarkable. But this is me and my situation.
As for this woman, we don’t have the whole story, and I can’t really speak for her. Maybe her doctor did suggest she do these things, we aren’t likely going to find out. I don’t know what exactly is considered long term leave (I’d assume 13 weeks+ as I know my short term is 1+ through 13 weeks), but if anything, rather than judging by pictures on facebook, perhaps they should have requested progress notes from her doctor every so often to determine where she stands and if they consider her well enough to return to work or still to ill and should continue receiving benefits. I just don’t think pictures can really convey what is really going on.
Well if she’d kept her page private, as I do and so does many others…people can’t troll on your page and browse your pics. Also, did she piss someone off and they reported those pics to her insurance company?
I heard about this story through a friend. My first thought was “Well what if she was on medication that was helping her cope with the depression, she’d obviously still need the coverage, but may have been experiencing some relief from her symptoms. Also, like people above me have said, just because you have depression does not mean that you spend every waking moment moping and acting miserable.
@TheBigShowAtUD - Can I join your mafia?
Absolutely not. I have pictures of myself going out and drinking and laughing and smiling all over the place from friends on their facebooks and in my head in those moments I am fucking miserable, and when I come home and sit in bed I either can’t sleep, or I just cry for hours on end. Pictures mean nothing, what a stupid company.
I do not think her photos and her depression are linked. My husband is extremely depressed and he can still “smile for the camera” or put on a show around strangers. That doesn’t change the fact that he is still very depressed.
Well, this is interesting. On the one hand, I agree that she’s not going to be depressed 24/7 and just lay in bed all day. It’s just pictures, and for an insurance company to make such a policy decision off that is sorta nuts.
On the other hand, she was on long-term sick leave! So she had a good day and was able to go to the beach… and a show… and a birthday party… why not have a good day and go to work? It does seem like an abuse of the system. And I’m sorry, but people can act more depressed for a doctor or insurance rep… obviously she wasn’t so utterly devoid of hope that she was NOT lying in bed all day. Hence, she could manage to be a bit more “down” at the right times and still remain on sick leave.
What? they have benefits for pple who suffer frm depression in other countries?
In singapore, if you have depression and cannot function in society properly, you get fired, become jobless, and condemned for being weak.
@impossibleangles - certainly. i thought it might be too forward if i made the suggestion, myself. ahem. i hope you’re good, though. don’t be Godfather III about it. i need to know you’re committed.
i think this is completely horrible. this will just make her depression worse.
Well, I’m pretty sure that going to the show was to help with her depression…
She should probably kill herself, then post the photos on her Facebook page. To prove her case.
She shouldnt give such proof that looks like she isnt
@TheBigShowAtUD - Would it help if I told you that my maiden name is “Guido”? True story.
ive got severe depression too and just because she is doing something that is taking her mind off all the bullshit they are taking away her benefits!?!
thats is complete BS
I’m not sure.
I have a disorder that used to make me go through periods of mild depression, but even when I was mildly depressed I didn’t leave my bed/room for anything except the bathroom and occasionally food. it was THAT bad. and that was only mild!
but I guess people who have more severe forms of depression have been dealing with it for a while, and have learned to try to get out and do things.
Its a tough subject, but either way she should keep her facebook private if she’s going to go out and do that.
its like a mother getting paid for maternity leave and then having pictures of her at amusement parks and doing all this stuff. it just doesn’t add up.
I think going to the beach is proof enough that she is doing something about her depression. I know when I get depressed, the first thing I do is smoke a pack of cigs and hole myself up in my room.
Nice thing about facebook is that everyone can legally act out their stalker fantasies, isn’t it?
I’m just really creeped out by the idea that the insurance company, who she is a CUSTOMER of, is stalking her facebook.
It’s not like they’re looking at a prospective employee. She’s a client. Who’s personal life they do not need to know about. Why the heck are they looking at her facebook…
She has a nice rack – depressed or not, those twins are inflated!
no, it does not, i can have small moments of happiness, but i always end up back in the same depressed mood. I think that was extremely idiotic of her insurance company, but then, i’m not surprised.
It should ABSOLUTELY be used against her. Depression is real, and there are some people who suffer from mental illness, to the point where they cannot fulfill their daily obligations. However, if you cannot go to work, because of your depression, then it should be because you cannot get out of bed, cannot get dressed, cannot leave the house, etc. If you feel well enough to go out and play, then you feel well enough to work.
I agree that people with depression, are not down for every minute of the day, but most people with depression, still go to work, even with their illness. If it’s bad enough that you can’t go to work, it should be bad enough that you can’t party.
no. have you ever comforted a crying friend? you can make them laugh while they’re still hurting