Here’s something you probably didn’t know: Right now, Roger Tullgren of Sweden is recieving disability payments on account of the fact that he is addicted to heavy metal. No, he hasn’t developed some sort of mercury or lead dependency, he just needs heavy metal music, badly. For years, his heavy metal addiction was a big part of his life and he claims to have lost his previous job as a result of attending over 300 concerts in the course of a year, often blowing off work to do so. The being the case, it seems that Tullgren was able to get an occupational psychologist to classify his love of heavy metal as a disability which is apparently enough to entitle him to disability compensation.
Since then, he has found a new job that is very accommodating to his situation. Tullgren is allowed to listen to his heavy metal music at certain times during work, dress how he likes and even miss work for concerts providing he makes up the hours afterwards. All in all, it seems like a pretty sweet deal. Needless to say, there are other occupational pyschologists who feel that this might go a little too far. While addiction may be classifiable as a disability, they argue, steps should be taken to treat the victim instead of accommodating him. Swedish newspaper The Local quotes a Stockholm psychologist who puts it like this:
“If somebody has a gambling addiction, we don’t send them down to the racetrack. We try to cure the addiction, not encourage it.”
Still, if you can get someone to pay you and encourage your addiction, rock on dude. You hit the jackpot.
(The Local via Marginal Revolution)
