I think it was ridiculous for her company to look at photos and cancel her checks. As someone who suffers from depression, I can testify that it is life altering. Just because she was having fun at that particular moment does not mean that she is not depressed. I have had friends take me to dinner to cheer me up, and sometimes they make me laugh. That does not mean that I am not still depressed. I read this article and her doctor told her to try to have fun with friends. She took her doctor's advice and her job used it against her. This is sad.

I, for one, am most surprised that there's actually an insurance company that will dole out monthly payments for someone being on medical leave for "severe depression". I mean, come on! It must be a Canadian thing. Strange policy, so I guess it's fitting that part of the reason for termination seems odd. How does one demonstrate "severe depression"? Obviously they can't do a brain scan and see who qualifies, so they have to look to behavioral evidence. While it might not be conclusive evidence that she's no longer severely depressed, it definitely weighs in that direction. Clearly the depression wasn't severe enough to prevent her from going out and having a good time on these multiple occasions. She says she followed her doctor's advice to do "go out and have fun"..so why shoudln't she try "going back to work and being a productive member of society"? Routine and purpose can be quite helpful in alleviating depression. Just a thought.

I work in insurance defense and the first thing we do is check for all public evidence accessible online.

We once had a girl claim that she was no longer able to Cheer at her college football games anymore. But there it was. Photo evidence on her Myspace page that she was continuing to cheer just fine. She was trying to sucker thousands and thousands of dollars out of this poor woman for a fender bender.

I feel no mercy for people who cheat the system like that.

I agree that cheating the system is wrong. However, severe depression is a legitimate illness. Look it up in the DSM-IV. By design, our health care system relies on input from multiple sources, including both medical and mental health professionals. This woman was not just "getting checks" each month. There is a formal process that requires periodic check-ins with those professionals, who are then required to provide their input as professionals to the insurance company.

The bottom line is that one's mental health cannot be measured by a few photographs. Besides, those who have experienced depression (which is quickly growing to include the majority of Americans at least once in their lifetime), will understand that when you are depressed, you need to participate in activities that help bring you out of that funk. To say that someone with depression is disallowed from smiling, laughing, or participating in any other type of emotional act is, quite frankly, a load of crap.

Hopefully, if you stop and think about it logically for a moment, you'll get what I am saying.

If the person is blatantly lying (like kismekate's cheer story), I think it would be a very good reason to open the case for further investigation. However, severe depression is a very real thing, and a couple of pictures will not tell you the whole story. They should have at least investigated further before canceling her claim.

Did the photographs have a date stamp on them? There are a ton of pictures of me and my friends on Facebook that were put up months if not years after the time they were taken.
Heck the pictures from last Halloween only made it up a few days before Halloween this year. A bunch of the people who were at the party I attended actually commented on what other party I went to since my costume was different.

It depends. In the case of depression I find it hard to believe you can make a cut and dried medical diagnosis based on a photograph.
However, if you're idiot enough to be bilking your insurance company saying you can't walk and your Facebook has you waterskiing on one leg and documenting your Ironman triathlon bid, I say go after the insurance fraud charges!

I used to work at a doctors office and was told by a patient that they were declined life insurance because the company said that a picture on their page looked like she was take part in wreckless behavior. I don't know what the outcome was, but I know she was talking about suing the company.

Akasha, I saw her on the news and she said that they were for her birthday and a friends birthday the same year. I am not sure how the government (she lives in Canda) found that out the dates of the pictures but she admitted on the news that they were current.

Akasha, I saw her on the news and she said that they were for her birthday and a friends birthday the same year. I am not sure how the government (she lives in Canada) found that out the dates of the pictures but she admitted on the news that they were current.

Miss Tina: Thanks for the update. I did not see the interview.

If you're stupid enough to have all your pictures public, you get what you deserve.

yeah i gotta agree with caroline. I'm a fond believer of "if you post it, they will look." Obviously the insurance company skipped a couple of steps in jumping to cancel her coverage, but if you are "severly depressed" to the point where you cannot manage work, then you shouldn't be able to manage hanging out and palling around with friends.

it's like kids staying home from school sick. If you're too sick to go to school, you're too sick to hang out with friends. The insurance company has a right to see anything on the internet that anyone ELSE can see, and if you're volunteering information, then they have every right to use it.

make sure you're fully covered when is comes to setting up your life insurance policy.

As poster 1 said and not only that there is a stigma attached to mental illness and clinical depression, it's possible she didn't want friends and family to know and may only post pictures of herself that depict her being happy or at family gatherings and with friends. Photos don't tell the whole story.

Can't people still gain access to "private" photos? Especially an investigator or someone connected to your network somehow. Or maybe see pictures tagged in the profiles of friends.

Yes

Severe depression? I'm sure she does - when it's convenient. I want to smack whiney people like this who embody the victim mentality that has become so prevalent in our litigious society. This sounds like the ultimate in passive aggressive manipulation, in this case, for profit at the expense of whom? If you have a way to rationalize this type of behavior, you are probably cheating the system in your own ways, and too dishonest with yourself to admit it. I agree with the poster above - I have no mercy for people who cheat the system like this. This type of soft fraud is why my home, car, and health insurance rates are so high. People should earn money in exchange for the value of the services they provide, not by inheritance, or insurance claims.