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Should You Receive Benefits If Your "Laziness" Is Caused By A Mental Health Condition
If you have schizophrenia, you can suffer from a loss of motivation and other "negative symptoms":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia
If all or most of your positive symptoms are being managed by medication, should you receive benefits if you can't work because of the loss of motivation and other "negative symptoms"?
I ask because people say they agree with benefits for the disabled, including the mentally ill, but then say that we have to weed out the lazy and unmotivated people.
But this example of schizophrenia seems to complicate things a bit: you become unmotivated as part of the condition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia
If all or most of your positive symptoms are being managed by medication, should you receive benefits if you can't work because of the loss of motivation and other "negative symptoms"?
I ask because people say they agree with benefits for the disabled, including the mentally ill, but then say that we have to weed out the lazy and unmotivated people.
But this example of schizophrenia seems to complicate things a bit: you become unmotivated as part of the condition.
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Original post by Liquid Swordsman
Yes
I agree. I was just interested to see what other people think. I might post a poll, if I can.
Dont forget depression, i think thats the big one in 'no motivation'.
I have depression and anxiety and other than taking 6+ hours a day to pull myself out of bed, working in a place with people terrifies me.
In the meantime i cant visit the dentist or doctors etc because i cant afford to pay for them. Even my depression medication costs money.
It seems even to better myself to be able to work requires money i rarely have.
And im sure you can get benefits for mental illnesses, ESA(employment support allowance), which is what im going to try and get.
Though peoples attitude on mental illnesses are usually negative. "Its all in their head" they say, and theyre right, if it wasnt in their head they would be fine. Or have physical disability.
I have depression and anxiety and other than taking 6+ hours a day to pull myself out of bed, working in a place with people terrifies me.
In the meantime i cant visit the dentist or doctors etc because i cant afford to pay for them. Even my depression medication costs money.
It seems even to better myself to be able to work requires money i rarely have.
And im sure you can get benefits for mental illnesses, ESA(employment support allowance), which is what im going to try and get.
Though peoples attitude on mental illnesses are usually negative. "Its all in their head" they say, and theyre right, if it wasnt in their head they would be fine. Or have physical disability.
Original post by moonkatt
Mental illness is still an illness. The lack of motivation someone with mental illness can have is a symptom, not laziness. Would you describe the coma Michael Shumacher is in due to his head injury as laziness?
I agree with you.
no: too many people would abuse it (i mean, why not?) and the country would eventually collapse. not worth it overall.
natural selection, I guess
natural selection, I guess
(edited 10 years ago)
Entirely depends on how severe the illness is. It's quite difficult to tell when someone is being lazy or genuinely can't work because of their illness -- a symptom like lack of motivation can be triggered by something like overwhelming feelings of fear or zero self-esteem.
I've hosted a myriad of mental illnesses which don't affect me so much on a typical day but when I go through certain tough periods, every single one of them come out to play and I become unbearable for myself to deal with (meaning no one else around me is ever aware of it). There are a lot of people in even worse positions than mine whose lives would hit rock bottom because when you're dealing with a serious mental illness (or a few!) then you're dealing with something so much bigger than yourself and so your mind, and thus your life, has a tendency to become erratic so that extra bit of help becomes entirely necessary.
Of course, I'm speaking of worst case scenario here. I most certainly know of benefit scroungers who have faked their symptoms just so they could be diagnosed with anxiety and depression (which pretty much everyone has
) because they think people with mental illnesses have it easy because apparently people are nicer to us. My ****ing arse.
I've hosted a myriad of mental illnesses which don't affect me so much on a typical day but when I go through certain tough periods, every single one of them come out to play and I become unbearable for myself to deal with (meaning no one else around me is ever aware of it). There are a lot of people in even worse positions than mine whose lives would hit rock bottom because when you're dealing with a serious mental illness (or a few!) then you're dealing with something so much bigger than yourself and so your mind, and thus your life, has a tendency to become erratic so that extra bit of help becomes entirely necessary.
Of course, I'm speaking of worst case scenario here. I most certainly know of benefit scroungers who have faked their symptoms just so they could be diagnosed with anxiety and depression (which pretty much everyone has
) because they think people with mental illnesses have it easy because apparently people are nicer to us. My ****ing arse.
Yes. I have depression, and can often feel like I can't do anything even get out of bed. That's not laziness, it's the depression. Anyone who thinks otherwise can bite me.
Original post by genuinelydense
no: too many people would abuse it (i mean, why not?) and the country would eventually collapse. not worth it overall.
natural selection, I guess
natural selection, I guess
I hope youve never taken a paracetamol. Or antibiotics. Or ibuprofen. I hope you've never been to the GP when you're ill. I hope youve never been to A&E if you've broken anything, sprained anything, or otherwise injured yourself. I hope you've never had a filling, tooth removed, or any dental work done. I hope you don't ever use any of the NHS resouces, and don't plan to, because if you did, you would be a walking hypocrite
Natural selection after all
They should be helped and encouraged, but I think a form of work would help them
Original post by 2ndClass
No, there are a plethora of medicines out there to make them cope
Actually the medications do little for negative symptoms of schizophrenia, and to a lesser extent, in other conditions like depression and bipolar. While medication can help with a lot of things, to suggest it as a cure all for everyone is ignorant and to be honest, offensive.
Don't talk about what you know nothing about.
Original post by Tyrion_Lannister
Actually the medications do little for negative symptoms of schizophrenia, and to a lesser extent, in other conditions like depression and bipolar. While medication can help with a lot of things, to suggest it as a cure all for everyone is ignorant and to be honest, offensive.
Don't talk about what you know nothing about.
Don't talk about what you know nothing about.
"negative symptoms" are not a constant occurrence and feeling depressed or bipolar doesn't greatly inhibit you from doing your work. I'm sure if you had a family to feed you wouldn't use that petty excuse. No one should foot the bill for your laziness because you just don't "feel like" going to work today.
Stop whining.
Original post by 2ndClass
"negative symptoms" are not a constant occurrence and feeling depressed or bipolar doesn't greatly inhibit you from doing your work. I'm sure if you had a family to feed you wouldn't use that petty excuse. No one should foot the bill for your laziness because you just don't "feel like" going to work today.
Stop whining.
Stop whining.
Are you trolling or actually this ignorant?
It isn't just being lazy or not feeling like doing it. Do you have any idea what depression is like? Have you ever suffered from it? I ended up in A&E at 2am because I literally felt like killing myself, but didn't even have the motivation to do it. Do you have any idea what that is like? Do you have any idea what it's like to live with this, for years and years and years? It does inhibit your work. Sometimes you can't even face getting out of bed, yet alone venturing outside.
Do some research on mental health. Your ignorance disgusts me.
Nowadays, 'depression' is used by far too many people as an excuse.
Original post by Tyrion_Lannister
Are you trolling or actually this ignorant? Genuinely unsure.
It isn't just being lazy or not feeling like doing it. Do you have any idea what depression is like? Have you ever suffered from it? I ended up in A&E at 2am because I literally felt like killing myself, but didn't even have the motivation to do it. Do you have any idea what that is like? Do you have any idea what it's like to live with this, for years and years and years?
Please, do some research on mental health. Your ignorance disgusts me.
It isn't just being lazy or not feeling like doing it. Do you have any idea what depression is like? Have you ever suffered from it? I ended up in A&E at 2am because I literally felt like killing myself, but didn't even have the motivation to do it. Do you have any idea what that is like? Do you have any idea what it's like to live with this, for years and years and years?
Please, do some research on mental health. Your ignorance disgusts me.
.Yes, because you had depression and tried to top yourself, that means all depressed patients should be on monitored suicide watch and given benefits for the rest of their lives........
For the most part depression suffers and generally those who exhibit personality issues are not drama queens like yourself. They take the appropriate medication and live their lives to the fullest.In the future refrain from posting anecdotal arguments, your emotionally charged posts are a bit silly and getting tedious tbh.
Original post by 2ndClass
.Yes, because you had depression and tried to top yourself, that means all depressed patients should be on monitored suicide watch and given benefits for the rest of their lives........ For the most part depression suffers and generally those who exhibit personality issues are not drama queens like yourself. They take the appropriate medication and live their lives to the fullest.
In the future refrain from posting anecdotal arguments, your emotionally charged posts are a bit silly and getting tedious tbh.
For the most part depression suffers and generally those who exhibit personality issues are not drama queens like yourself. They take the appropriate medication and live their lives to the fullest.In the future refrain from posting anecdotal arguments, your emotionally charged posts are a bit silly and getting tedious tbh.
1/7 people with bipolar kill themselves, mny more try, so no, it isn't just me
And those are just stats off the top of my head. You're extremely ignorant. People with depression should have access to DLA and ESA. DSA is for the additional costs of the condition, like medications, having to get taxis instead of busses because crowds make you panic, that sort of thing. I take medication, don't know why you're insinuating I don't. You do realise it doesn't make it completely go away, right? I'm not a "drama queen" either, Im telling you something that happened, that happens to a lot of people with depression. I'll stop posting "emotionally charged" posts when you stop posting sexist, ableist, ignorant drivel
Original post by 2ndClass
"negative symptoms" are not a constant occurrence and feeling depressed or bipolar doesn't greatly inhibit you from doing your work. I'm sure if you had a family to feed you wouldn't use that petty excuse. No one should foot the bill for your laziness because you just don't "feel like" going to work today.
Stop whining.
Stop whining.
Depression is not a "feeling"! You can't feel "bipolar"! Depression is a complicated set of biological, cognitive, and environmental phenomena combining to make a disorder that can seriously alter (from 'normal') an individual's ability to feel certain ways, have productive thought processes, and carry out certain actions. It's frustrating and often debilitating. By displaying this level of intolerance you are perpetuating harmful stigma that further worsens a disorder that is perhaps the greatest cause of DALY burden in Western countries.
For slimy ballsacks' sake, the mind is based on functioning of the brain. The brain is a physical organ. WHY are illnesses of this organ treated with such mistrust and disdain compared to illnesses of any other organ?!!
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