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Comments: 645 +- Your Rights Online: Facebook Photos Lead To Cancellation of Quebec Woman's Insurance on Sunday November 22, @07:51AM
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No. 24601 writes "A Quebec woman on long-term sick leave, due to a diagnosis of depression, lost her health benefits after her insurance provider found photos of her on Facebook smiling and looking cheerful at parties and out on the beach. Besides all the obvious questions, how did the insurance company access her locked Facebook profile?"
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Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Insightful)
Second, is she the one that posted the photos? If someone else posted photos of her on a public page, anyone can see them.
Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Insightful)
Second, is she the one that posted the photos? If someone else posted photos of her on a public page, anyone can see them.
Exactly, and because of tag-a-person-in-photo feature it's quite easy to find the photos too.
She said her insurance agent described several pictures Blanchard posted on the popular social networking site, including ones showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party and on a sun holiday — evidence that she is no longer depressed, Manulife said.
This is evidence that she is no longer depressed? Depression is a lot deeper thing than that. Obviously you have happy moments and can smile on birthday party or on holiday. But in no way that mean that you really feel good and like that always. And I think you're supposed to try to have fun, so that said depression would actually go away.
"We can't ignore it, wherever the source of the information is," she said. "We can't ignore it."
Like a depressed person wants to always show everyone that she is depressed? Facebook isn't a complete picture in to your life. It is what the person posts there, and usually people like to make themself look good and not like a depressed wreck.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Insightful)
Like a depressed person wants to always show everyone that she is depressed? Facebook isn't a complete picture in to your life. It is what the person posts there, and usually people like to make themself look good and not like a depressed wreck.
My best friend and my brother have both had severe depression problems. It is quite possible to be out and functioning at moderate levels of depression - talking, smiling, looking like you're enjoying yourself. I think one described it something like this:
I was standing there having a conversation, smiling and laughing, while thinking about different ways I could kill myself to get out of that situation.
So you know what, fuck you Manulife. You are in no situation to reverse a doctors' diagnosis based on some pictures you found on the internet.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Insightful)
Absolutely. If she's depressed, going to parties and taking a holiday is only going to get her healthy faster. Staying home and moping will only make her depression worse. Antidepressants and having fun are roughly equally effective, and work far better together.
(Not that plenty of people don't scam the system.)
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, having dealt with a family member who suffered through clinical depression for several years - I can say with certainty that very few of the posts in this discussion show any knowledge of the disease whatsoever. Especially those that are claiming "going out and doing fun stuff" will have any affect on the disease whatsoever.
Clinical depression has very little to do with what people normally experience when they're "feeling depressed".
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Insightful)
One would think the insurance company would be interested in the person recovering.
The insurance company doesn't care if you live or die, so long as they don't have to pay out.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Insightful)
Insurance companies hiring private investigators to spy on their clients is fairly common in Canada, where the payout looks like it's going to be long-term or the client seems a little suspicious. It's kind of a "dirty tricks" thing to do, but it's not entirely unjustified, depending on the illness, and the circumstances. For example, since we brought in contingency fee arrangements, auto insurance lawsuits have increased dramatically, and claims for things like chronic pain syndromes and whiplash are skyrocketing. One reason Insurance companies pay for surveillance (and they do pay, it's not cheap) is that they often do catch people faking illness or injury.
The irony is, of course, that depression is not one of the illnesses that people are likely to fake. There's still a strong stigma around mental illness here in Canada (and the US as I'm sure you can tell from the comments here) and people will go out of their way to avoid being diagnosed with depression or any other mental illness. To further compound the irony, the "chronic pain syndromes"* that so many people suffer from are quite often symptoms of depression. But the sufferer refuses to acknowledge even being depressed, so the doctors are limited to treating the symptoms (and eventually enabling an oxycontin habit).
My experience with Insurance companies has been that most of them will pay out on medically supported depression claims for a certain amount of time (probably up to 2 years) and after that time they'll start snooping on the client; the rationale being that after two years, the client should have found a treatment that works.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Insightful)
IANAL, but I did work as a clerk in a law firm that defended insurance companies, and I am a law student. Investigators may take surveillance of claimants from off the claimant's property. They may not pass on to the claimant's property, take images of the claimant inside their home, tap phone lines. When recording video they may not record audio of the claimant simultaneously. In fact audio recording in public is a no-no as well.
Basically, the law behind this is the notion that you have no expectation of privacy outside of your own home, but you do have a strong expectation of privacy inside that home. Keep in mind, this isn't a particularly new law, it seems to have roots in the common law and might predate large-scale insurance consumption by the masses (but I'm not going to do the research right now to back this up, so don't nit-pick me on this, mkay?).
Who does it benefit? It benefits insurance companies to some extent, Google Streetview teams, and other people with an interest in recording what's going on in public. It benefits shopkeepers who can put up CCTV cameras pointing outside their stores for security. But your implication is right, it doesn't benefit everybody. But don't make the mistake of thinking that the Insurance companies bought and paid for these laws, they didn't (though they may stump up good money if those laws get threatened).
DISCLAIMER: I'm not a lawyer, the above are not legal opinions, if you want a legal opinion please go talk to your lawyer!
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Interesting)
So you know what, fuck you Manulife. You are in no situation to reverse a doctors' diagnosis based on some pictures you found on the internet.
Agreed. I wonder what that company would do with someone with say a bipolar disorder. "Oh he was exceptionally cheerful and friendly; therefore he can't possible have crippling depressive phases." Speaking from experience I can say that depression, at least in my personal experience and from dialogue with family members with a similar affliction, comes in varying intensity at sometimes random intervals. And during the summer months is it generally easier to have a prolonged positive phase, while during the winter the depressive phases can be harder to deal with.
A cousin of mine killed himself at the age of nineteen; it came as a total surprise to everyone except his absolutely closes friends and relatives "he always seemed like he was in such a good mood" someone said about him afterwards. Society seems to pressure people into hiding these types of problems, or at least people with these types of problems tend to keep them to themselves. One of the very worst things that can happen is to not be believed, or have people belittle what they don't understand.
I have no personal knowledge of this particular case, but this kind of shit from the Insurance Company in question can only add to problems that are already bad enough. Personally I hope the Canadian authority shaft this company hard.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Informative)
I have some experience working with Insurance companies (in Ontario), and I can say that usually, if they're paying out on a depression claim, they do so with a certain amount of good grace, up to a point. If treatment goes on longer than, say two years, the company is going to get suspicious and nosy, on the grounds that after two years the patient should have found a treatment that works and be on the road to recovery. Depression is a treatable illness.
This woman will either have an option to appeal the insurance company's decision, or sue them for the money. If all the company has is a few Facebook photos, they're not going to get very far against her. If, on the other hand, she's been depressed for 3 or 4 years, has been treated by her doctor and seeing a psychologist and psychiatrist for all those years, and she's still not better, they'll have a somewhat stronger case.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Troll me all you want. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Then you can work, thief! (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's the thing, it doesn't really matter if she is plain old lazy, or truly depressed.
The issue here is that the insurance company is making the call, and it is not their job to make that decision.
The insurance company's job is to collect premiums and pay out when the doctor says "this person has a bad back" or "this person has a broken leg" or "this person is clinically depressed".
It is my assumption that this woman has regular meetings with a doctor at which time she is assessed to see - "is she still depressed?", "Has there been any improvement?", etc.
THAT is the ONLY information the insurance company needs to make their decision.
Anything else, such as info from FACEBOOK, does not tell the whole story, hell, it might not tell ANY part of the story. It may be irrelevant, and it may just be misinterpreted completely by someone who lacks the professional designation to be making decisions and pointing fingers in the first place.
The insurance company no doubt will argue that the have to "protect their assets" and that "people scam insurance co. all the time". While that is no doubt true, we must not forget that the insurance companies make plenty of cash by ripping people off on a daily basis. It's a two way street.
Bottom line, insurance companies HAVE to take the advice of "trusted" professionals, trusted or not, really. That is why we have doctors and lawyers etc - we must have someone who has the proper knowledge to make the ultimate decision.
If they want to save money so bad, they can start by firing the person that is paid to browse facebook.
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The case for reform (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, wait...
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Re:Then you can work, thief! (Score:5, Informative)
This particular story is out of Canada, different health-care system, different incentives.
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Re:Then you can work, thief! (Score:5, Interesting)
Except that the doctor shortage is not a function of universal health care, it's a function of the self-regulated medical profession maintaining control over how many doctors are certified every year. They keep the numbers down, so everyone has to scramble for a doctor, and the doctors can pick and choose patients. If the gov stepped in and mandated more seats in medical schools, there would be more doctors and less of a shortage.
The Canadian system isn't perfect, hell it isn't even very good, but it covers everybody, and it's more than twice as efficient as the current US system. But hey, if you enjoy the taste of the shit that the insurance companies feed you, by all means, keep right on eating it.
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Re:Then you can work, thief! (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem is that doctors are rather incented to declare people sick, so insurers will pay them.
This. This is what is wrong with US health care. The only incentive doctors should have to declare people sick is that the people are sick. If your system is designed to encourage anything else then it's broken by definition.
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That's depressing! (Score:5, Insightful)
You know when the most dangerous time is for someone who has suicidal tendencies. It's when they cheer up - it might mean that they've made the final decision to end it all. They'll be happy, smiling, giving away their stuff, party-party-party - and then they kill themselves.
Not only can you not diagnose whether someone's suffering from depression (it's NOT "gee, I'm depressed") by just looking at pictures - it's actually against the shrinks' professional code here in Quebec to proffer a diagnosis or ANY opinion without actually having examined the patient.
The proper course for the insurance company would have been to get a second opinion.
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Re:That's depressing! (Score:5, Interesting)
You're right on the money here.
When a person resolves to end it, there's a sense of relief; something to look forward to. It's perverse but having experienced it first-hand I can tell you its very true. I'd likely not be here if I had been living alone at the time.
One of the first things that comes back when you start taking antidepressants is your motivation. You still have the suicidal thoughts, but now you have the motivation and energy to go through with it.This is one of the reasons antidepressants are so dangerous to adolescents and kids. You combine motivation, negative outlook, and the impulsive nature of youth and you end up with a massive spike in suicides/attempts during the first months of antidepressant therapy.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Interesting)
There have been several cases in Sweden were the insurance companies have been spying on the beneficiaries video taping them, then hired a doctor to claim that the person is healthy. The problem is, there are many doctors, and you can always find one that will disagree with the first one.
If what you are suggesting is going to work, you would at least need some formalized appeals process, perhaps with government hired doctors from every medical field, that can review the cases from a neutral point of view.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Insightful)
But I do not agree with a layman overturning an expert opinon.
IMHO, that sort of thing by insurance companies needs to be legally treated for exactly what it is, practicing medicine without a license. That is, a felony. In the rare instance that an insurance adjuster happens to also be a licensed M.D. unless they actually SEE the patient in person first it is malpractice and grounds for losing that license. Just like the "pain docs" that prescribe strong opiates sight unseen for the scam pharmacies.
She was attempting to follow her doctor's orders and may even have been making progress. Then the insurance company did it's very best to send her back to square 1 or worse.
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The agent's no expert. (Score:5, Insightful)
A cancer patient might be rather sick, but make an extra effort for special events.
What next? They're going to cancel insurance for cancer patients if they look like they're better?
An insurance agent is unlikely to be an authoritative expert on medical matters (or in the rarefied field of "psychiatric diagnosis via facebook photos") - they may know some stuff (just like I do), but when it comes to a court case or other legal stuff it should not be their call to make. If the insurance company has doubts they should insist that the policy holder be examined by a certified expert in the relevant field. After all, it's not unusual that you have to go for a medical examination when you sign up for certain sorts of insurance. They don't just leave it to an insurance agent to say "hmm she looks ok to me".
Too bad if her case is genuine she'll likely be too depressed to sue them (unless she can afford her meds and is still taking them).
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Re:The agent's no expert. (Score:5, Informative)
Keep in mind that this is a Canadian woman, so her insurance is going to look different than what you're used to. She's being insured privately for the time she misses from work, not for the treatment of the depression. The depression treatment is covered under her provincial health care. Here in Ontario that would mean she's covered for her doctor's appointments, regular appointments with a psychiatrist, access to free counseling if she's near a Community Mental Health Centre, and if she can't afford her meds there's a public drug plan with a $200/year deductible. I would imagine that Quebec's health coverage is better than Ontario's, and she might get her drugs covered %100 there.
The private insurer (depending on what kind of insurance it is) would cover a percentage of her lost income, travel to and from medical appointments as needed including travel to out-of-town clinics or treatment centres, etc.
As for whose call it is, you're right. Generally the Insurance companies won't cut payments unless the patient has been non-compliant with treatment or they have a doctor's opinion supporting their position that she's better/should be better/faking. In this instance (I guess, I haven't RTFA) either they have other evidence or their jumping the gun.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Informative)
Just to expand on the tag a photo thing...
If your profile is completely private to me, but not to someone in my friends list - and you happen to tag a common friend for both of us in one of your own galleries, then that'll show up on my wall - I click on the picture and get full access to that particular gallery. (Maybe there's an option to stop it doing that, but I currently see it happening every day)
Profiles aren't really private anyway, if you know the full link to a particular image then you can view it regardless of user settings. Where to get such links? All over the place. Proxy, cache, etc.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Funny)
Nah, probably it was a female "friend" that handed her pictures to the insurance company.
That reminded me of a joke where a man calls every of his wife's female friends, asking each one if she had slept over with them, and receives the same "no, not here" answer. Another night the reverse happens, and the wife call's every of her husband male friends. Everyone answer "yes, he was here all night" and five of them even responds "he's still here, in the bathroom"! :-)
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:4, Informative)
The women are brutally honest. The guys are covering for each other.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Interesting)
what do you mean locked down ? i used to work for a PI and we had access to everyones profiles all the time. facebook does not restrict information if you are a corp with a PI license. you dont need to friend anyone. its incredibly convenient. see the facebook tos :
We may also share information when we have a good faith belief it is NECESSARY TO PREVENT FRAUD or other illegal activity, to prevent imminent bodily harm, or to protect ourselves and you from people violating our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, courts or other government entities.
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Re:Is she really sure it was locked? (Score:5, Informative)
The receptionist at a bank doesn't have access to everyone's accounts. The teller does. I'm not sure why you would be surprised that access is granted on a need-to-have-it basis at facebook, just like most every other successful business in the US.
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Her lawyer should pursue this. (Score:5, Informative)
*sigh* Well, speaking as a depressive I can say that a good part of the treatment that a psychiatrist suggests to their patients, besides their antidepressants, is to engage in social activities outside the home. They also say that staying cooped up at home and failing to get out can lead to a relapse and readmission to hospital. The Insurance company is not licensed to practice medicine, only to read a doctor's diagnosis and pay what's due.
Re:Her lawyer should pursue this. (Score:5, Insightful)
And you are hardly going to be post pictures of when you're unhappy, and people tend to smile just for photos, so you get a selective image of someone.
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Re:Her lawyer should pursue this. (Score:5, Informative)
Not to mention that a very close friend of mine has serious depression (she's not so bad at the moment, but has been hospitalised for her own safety before), and she can sound absolutely fine on the phone in the morning, and be totally withdrawn and uncommunicative in the afternoon. She can also be on a serious downer, yet sound fine on the phone to other people - in other words, put a brave face on things.
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Re:Her lawyer should pursue this. (Score:4, Insightful)
So will this new "no denial for existing conditions" Congressional law stop this stuff from happening? I hope so. I understand insurance companies need to watch out for fraudsters, but they should have more evidence than "we saw her smiling" to deny coverage.
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I wonder if the opposite is true? (Score:4, Interesting)
If Facebook photos are the standard by which we're judging whether or not people should be paid insurance claims for being depressed, I wonder if I can use that?
No, I'm not depressed. I mean, I have ups and downs like everyone else, but I don't think it's so severe to be classified as a medical condition. Still, I could certainly churn out a few photos when I'm feeling down one day and post them. Then maybe I could call my insurance company and tell them, "See? I'm depressed! It's right there on Facebook!"
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Well.. (Score:5, Funny)
I guess she's feeling pretty depressed right now. Does that mean she can have the insurance back?
If she wasn't depressed before she must be now (Score:4, Insightful)
This is why I don't use my real name on Facebook or use my exact location. It may mean friends, relatives, etc find it harder to find me but if I want to speak to them then I'll look for them.
Re:If she wasn't depressed before she must be now (Score:4, Interesting)
I think something like Facebook can be good but too many people think it's private. If you view it as never being private then you're probably going to be fine.
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Evil (Score:5, Insightful)
Evil insurance company, plain and simple. I am not saying that they all are, but this is beyond grasping at straws. This is healing someone because they are sick, and them kicking them to the curb and throwing them out because they show signs of recovery. She should sue them for making the depression worse. We should get together and figure out how to draw enough attention to put a stop to this, and make an example for other insurance companies.
This is a prime example why I don't think capitalism alone has all of the answers. If A needs B and C to prosper, and C needs A & B, A will rape B dry until C is so bad off that it is also hurting A. How does this make sense?
Not Surprising (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Oh, please, you're talking to a generation that grew up watching Dateline and 20/20 where insurance companies hired private investigators to stalk people who would do the following:
So then you'd see the companies hiring PIs to track the people (who allegedly could barely move) tearing it up at Disney World. Yeah, scam artists and fraudsters.
You shouldn't be surprised to see insurance companies being very proactive in their searches to follow up on people. I cannot say whether or not she is legitimately getting the short end of the stick or if she's defrauding the company. Sounds like the former. If she had made claims that she never smiled and couldn't go out in public due to depression then she might have problems. Why doesn't she just get her doctor to send a note to her insurance company explaining that people suffering from this magnitude of depression (and those recovering from it) can force themselves to smile for a picture? I mean, it's likely that the insurance company got tired of paying sick leave for depression unless it could be shown to be a chemical imbalance they probably were just looking for any reason to have to stop forking over pay.
Personally, I was offered $250 by my company's health insurance plan if I signed something that said I had not used tobacco products in the past 6 months. I hadn't but a few years ago I had (what I was told) were Cuban cigars in Mexico. Those friends put pictures of me on Facebook smoking them. So what? Well, if they found contrary evidence to my claim, I faced having my insurance terminated. Not worth the $250. Be aware of what Facebook puts on display for the world--even if you think it's private it's usually not. I mean, it could be as inane as some coworker who doesn't like her sees her other friend at work tagged in a photo with 'depressed' coworker on leave and decided to copy what photos they could see and forward them on to the insurance company?
Depressed or Bi-Polar? (Score:5, Insightful)
after her insurance provider found photos of her on Facebook smiling and looking cheerful at parties and out on the beach....
Well, she was on benefits because she was diagnosed as depressed, and it's already been said that any psychiatrist worth their salt will tell you to get yourself out there and at least *try* to have a good time.
But seriously, this is a bit out of hand, hasn't anyone at her insurance carrier ever had a picture taken? What does the photographer usually scream at you?
SMILE!!!
As someone that suffers from depression too.. (Score:5, Insightful)
I think this could rebound terribly (and rightfully) on the insurer.
The worst thing for a clinical depression is to stay closeted away. In the UK, there is no "social prescribing", where a GP may decide that the root of your troubles are a social disconnection. This disconnect raises stress, and is a sizable aspect in depression.
Rather than pump people full of antidepressants, they prescribe you a visit to a local social group that is ratified as being suitable for this (can be activity groups, plain social groups, heading to a gym, or whatever would best fit the person that's available).
This has had marked benefits to many that use the service.
Depression is always a fight, and when you fight it best, there's always a time that you smile. It may not last for long, but every point you can laugh and be brought out is an absolute gem. And there's no surprise that mates will take a pic of you when you're smiling and paste it on Facebook, rather than ones of you looking glum and disconnected.
One of those gems, for me, was years ago, just after my brother had had a massive car smash that left him on life support. One of my friends had first been blunt (there's nothing you can do, so get on with life while this goes on and things work themselves out), then actually managed to get me out and make me laugh. For just a minute; epic effort on his part, but it gave me a moment's respite, for which I'm eternally grateful.
Now, if anyone had dared to say to me in that minute or two of respite that I wasn't upset, torn up and terrified, I'd have torn them several new ones, and stomped on the pieces until the men in white coats dragged me off.
Smiling pictures of a depressive are not evidence they're not depressed. They're evidence that they have a good support network of people who are prepared to do the heavy emotional lifting to keep them going..
Cutting the insurance is going to make anyone depressive (or recovering depressive) fall far back down the treatment path..
Wouldn't be surprised to find this one in litigation sometime soon.
In my experience, (Score:4, Informative)
people with depression, even deep depression, can smile, laugh, and be outgoing right up until the moment they commit suicide.
It's part of the syndrome that they want to act like a natural, happy person, even if they're on a brink - no matter what. Many won't admit they're ill until fatal results happen.
Insurance companies shouldn't have anything to do with diagnosis, they aren't qualified (not being doctors), and they have a conflict of interest, making money by denying illness. Frankly I think making money by denying health care to people is nearly as unethical as just shooting them up front.
Re:Well yes... (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Well yes... (Score:5, Interesting)
That's a reason to destroy the greatest healthcare system in the free world?
How does Cuba come into this?
You think I'm joking, but for the dollars invested per capita, Cuba has the greatest health care system in the world. Look it up.
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Re:Well yes... (Score:5, Informative)
> why people say the U.S. has the best healthcare in the world
Then why is USA ranked 37th in the world, whereas UK is ranked 18th?
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Re:Well yes... (Score:5, Interesting)
My guess would be because the cure rates above are based on those who get treatment at all. Those who don't aren't counted. Only one of the systems listed above has people not get treatment once symptoms become apparent.
That and a carefully chosen ailment. Prostate cancer is generally slow. Watchful waiting is often advised for older patients.By the time it might cause death it will be a race between that and other ailments. If you're in the U.S. you'll get heroic (and expensive) efforts to make sure it's one of the other conditions that kills you (a month or 2 later while your quality of life sucks from the cancer treatment). It's a matter of having 3 more decent months of life or 5 more crappy months.
As for the wait times, in the U.S. if you are uninsured or your condition is "pre-existing", the wait time is effectively forever.
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Re:Well yes... (Score:5, Informative)
Care is rationed in the U.S. as well, only the rationing doesn't necessarily take actual need (statistical or otherwise) into account. For every case like the U.K. woman you mention, there's several more where an under-insured American didn't see a doctor at all until too late because it was just too expensive.
The U.K. has nice, we have "insurance adjusters" whose job is to find excuses for not paying.
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Re:Well yes... (Score:5, Informative)
Yet another reason why private healthcare must be stopped. Curing people doesn't come into it - it's about keeping them sick enough to stay profitable.
As a doctor I am disgusted by your remark. There's something called the Hippocratic Oath, you know. Insurance companies also have a vested interest in insuring only healthy people. Now I can't vouch for our cousins in the pharmaceutical industry who have ALWAYS been about the money, and make no allusions otherwise (hence their use of the Caduceus - the staff of Mercury god of Business, rather than the Asclepius or "healing" staff we doctors use). After all, the ideal situation for them is for all patients to become chronic, pill taking customers.
But those of us who actually provide the healthcare ONLY have the patient's full recovery in mind, when that's possible. The only thing we have to balance here is our own personal lives and time (doctors are people too - we have families, we have hobbies, and we get stressed - especially since most patients are ungrateful and we rarely hear the words "thank you" when we do our job well: we're just "expected" to do it). Being realistic, however, it's not always possible to "cure" everyone.
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Re:A great fraud story! (Score:5, Insightful)
As someone who has known several people with depression and bipolar disorder I'd like call bullshit on your kneejerk "FRAUD!" conclusion.
Most people with depression can be just fine for an hour or two and then spend a long time not even leaving their bed, those who are bipolar can be even worse, they'll be at a party having a blast and in just a few minutes they'll switch over to seriously contemplating suicide right then and there.
And even discounting this and trying to look happy for everyone else's sake there's also the fact that a lot depressed people do seem to really value those times when they can shake their depression for a few minutes or hours, and guess which image of themselves they'd rather show friends and family...
/Mikael
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