Gnostic
Mark Ella (57)
Unfortunately. Depression being an excuse to drug use is common place in society.
You only have to go down to your local magistrate court and listen to the defense lawyers who are fighting tooth and nail to keep their clients out of jail and any drug related crime usually has a depression angle attached to the defense argument.
I think talkback radio land is sick & tired of criminals not being held accountable for their actions and their drug use & James Slipper has been thrown into that stereotype.
This is a very good point. Debate in modern society in the age of the internet is being controlled by moderation and by overwhelming attacks from people who are "offended" at any counter argument, such as opposing quotas formal or informal in parliamentary representation and in situations like this. I have no doubt that some are ready to jump on Sth X for not being acceptably sympathetic for the mental illness so prevalent in society.
Edit *** Dru's response to the Pillock above is a good case in point, Dismal has a long history of parody and sarcasm in his posts on any subject to address the key points and I do not see that he has crossed any line except to as inelegantly as usual put a point in the debate.""""
Lets just look at some fundamentals, drugs of most recreational types if not all are not conducive to high performance in an athletic sense or even in a mental sense. So for people in high performance areas to imbibe substances the question must be asked are they fit to hold those positions and receive the inflated salaries in such case. It may be the case that in such high pressure environments some individuals are not suited to the job and cannot function at the required level regardless of their talents and to continue to encourage them to do so is injurious to them, when we could say, 'shit mate its Ok to not be perfect and I have had enough' and give it away and be truthful about the why of it.
Now nothing in that statement precludes the organisation supporting their employee/contractor in seeking a remedy if they have a genuine medical issue. Now I say genuine medical issue, because as pointed out by Sthern X the courts are over run with people avoiding responsibility for their actions pleading some medical condition, not once but time and time again. Shall I say I have to join the ranks of the perpetually offended on this point - far too many people use such excuses to cover their poor life choices, and I find it demeaning to those who have genuinely struggled to always do the right thing and suffered and struggled. Now we don't know anything about what has happened in this case and I do not care to speculate and do not support anybody assuming or reporting on it (if the full story cannot/will not be reported report none of the reasons).
I have zero sympathy or empathy for drug use. Do not care and will not accept the excuses, I have heard them all my life and seen the results first hand.
Now on the totally separate matter of mental illness in men, as Cyclo pointed out Men do not deal with the issues well, but IMO and direct experience the systems are feminized to the point that a lot of men are not comfortable in confronting those issues via the counselling etc route in the modes that are favoured. We cannot ignore the fact that the systems and treatment programs that are used currently are failing dismally with the rate of suicide being approx. 75% male (http://www.mindframe-media.info/for-media/reporting-suicide/facts-and-stats). I cannot and care not to count the number of former colleges I have lost to suicide with most abusing alcohol and in some cases prescription drugs on the way.