Should this apply to hiking "addicts" too?

[Skits]

http://scienceblogs.com/omnibrain/2007/06/heavy_metal_disability.php#c475785

A Swedish man has been granted disability benefits due to an "addiction" to heavy metal music. Playing in two bands, including Silverland, he also attended nearly 300 concerts last year.

Tullgren says he has always had difficulty holding down a job, mainly because he is absent most of the time.
Psychologists decided Tullgren's obsession is nothing less than an addiction, which puts him in a difficult situation in the labour market. Tullgren said he has been fighting for recognition for a long time.

Many occupational psychologists in Sweden, however, are totally baffled by the decision. "If somebody has a gambling addiction, we don't send them down to the racetrack. We try to cure the addiction," [said] deputy employment director Henrietta Stein.

[Frosty]

http://scienceblogs.com/omnibrain/2007/06/heavy_metal_disability.php#c475785

A Swedish man has been granted disability benefits due to an "addiction" to heavy metal music. Playing in two bands, including Silverland, he also attended nearly 300 concerts last year.

Tullgren says he has always had difficulty holding down a job, mainly because he is absent most of the time.
Psychologists decided Tullgren's obsession is nothing less than an addiction, which puts him in a difficult situation in the labour market. Tullgren said he has been fighting for recognition for a long time.

Many occupational psychologists in Sweden, however, are totally baffled by the decision. "If somebody has a gambling addiction, we don't send them down to the racetrack. We try to cure the addiction," [said] deputy employment director Henrietta Stein.Wow. I can see the next defense of a serial killer:

"Your honor, my client is addicted to killing people. Rather than being tried, he should be recieving disability checks every month."

"My client is addicted to the taste of human flesh, your honor. It isn't his fault. He went to Overeaters Anonymous, but all they talk about is Little Debbies and Ding Dongs. No one mentions liver pate."

[berninbush]

Yup, sounds like something they'd come up with in Sweden. My boss, who is a medical doctor and lived in Sweden for many years, told me that after many years of socialism, they are breaking down completely as people realize how they can get away with a lifetime of government-financed leisure. The most common complaint is "back pain." He says there is no medical way you can prove someone's back *doesn't* hurt; you can take x-rays and MRI's that show nothing wrong, but if they say it hurts, the government still pays up.

I suspect the current system has only lasted so long because the Swedish people as a whole were honest and hard-working to start with. But we're all human, and all subject to the temptation to be lazy.

[jrwiesz]

Why work and be a contributing member of a society, when you can blame it on an illness? Too many, "Give me something for nothings". Strap him to the loudspeaker, turn it up, til he blows-up!:banana