>[...] The people on drugs are all on disability, unable to work. The
>people who got off the drugs are living ordinary lives and aren't on
>disability. (I think this is an important thing people have
>overlooked: getting a mental disability diagnosis is a way to
>supplement family income.... I learned about this from a guy at work
>and wonder how much of this is being fueled by that...)
To some extent no doubt, But keep in mind that many people who are on these drugs are often disabled by the drugs themselves. So its hard to pin down cause and effect.
My advice to anyone seeking a psychiatric diagnosis in order to qualify for a benefit such as sick pay or disability benefit is to quietly flush the prescription drugs that accompany the medical certificate down the toilet. They are dangerous, don't touch them with a barge pole.
Incidentally, since I gave up smoking I have suffered regular bouts of mild depression, something I have never had any experience with whatever in my whole life. It has been something of an eye opener for me, in the sense that I was previously completely unable to comprehend what depression even was.
But unfortunately the only drug treatment I know will work (nicotine) has been taxed out of my price range. (Not to mention the unpleasant side effects like lung cancer.) Once in a blue moon I will slap on one of my left over nicotine patches for relief, but its not the same as sucking on a satisfying roll-your-own (sigh.)
>The one thing that is annoying me so far, though, is that Whitaker
>seems to be using the "productive member of society" trope to subtly
>persuade. In other words, he's saying that rise in the number of
>people collecting SSI/SSDI payments is alarming because there are so
>many unproductive members of society who aren't holding down jobs. I
>mean, I happen to think that people need to be productive members of
>society - something they do that contributes to the betterment of
>their and others' lives. But he's using it in a way to sort of say,
>at least so far, "See, there are all these people sitting around on
>the dole when they could be holding down regular jobs." One woman,
>from an elite background, even calls her monthly check from SSDI
>being "on welfare."
Ah yes, the ruling class is very concerned about the evils that idleness and welfare dependency bring down on the poor. A concern which I find very touching. Especially given that they are so self-sacrificing as to make no complaint about the similar ill-effects that their own class suffers from idle dependence on dividends. But they only think about others, you can't help but admire that. ;-)
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas