Man gets sick benefits for heavy metal addiction
 

Dedicated to all Drome heavy metal fans.

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Man gets sick benefits for heavy metal addiction

Published: 19th June 2007 15:12 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/7650/

A Swedish heavy metal fan has had his musical preferences officially classified as a disability. The results of a psychological analysis enable the metal lover to supplement his income with state benefits.

Roger Tullgren, 42, from Hässleholm in southern Sweden has just started working part time as a dishwasher at a local restaurant.

Because heavy metal dominates so many aspects of his life, the Employment Service has agreed to pay part of Tullgren's salary. His new boss meanwhile has given him a special dispensation to play loud music at work.

"I have been trying for ten years to get this classified as a handicap," Tullgren told The Local.

"I spoke to three psychologists and they finally agreed that I needed this to avoid being discriminated against."

Roger Tullgren first developed an interest in heavy metal when his older brother came home with a Black Sabbath album in 1971.

Since then little else has mattered for the 42-year-old, who has long black hair, a collection of tattoos and wears skull and crossbones jewelry.

The ageing rocker claims to have attended almost three hundred shows last year, often skipping work in the process.

Eventually his last employer tired of his absences and Tullgren was left jobless and reliant on welfare handouts.

But his sessions with the occupational psychologists led to a solution of sorts: Tullgren signed a piece of paper on which his heavy metal lifestyle was classified as a disability, an assessment that entitles him to a wage supplement from the job centre.

"I signed a form saying: 'Roger feels compelled to show his heavy metal style. This puts him in a difficult situation on the labour market. Therefore he needs extra financial help'. So now I can turn up at a job interview dressed in my normal clothes and just hand the interviewers this piece of paper," he said.

The manager at his new workplace allows him to go to concerts as long as he makes up for lost time at a later point. He is also allowed to dress as he likes and listen to heavy metal while washing up.

"But not too loud when there are guests," he said.

The Local spoke to an occupational psychologist in Stockolm, who admitted to being baffled by the decision.

"I think it's extremely strange. Unless there is an underlying diagnosis it is absolutely unbelievable that the job centre would pay pay out.

"If somebody has a gambling addiction, we don't send them down to the racetrack. We try to cure the addiction, not encourage it," he said.

Henrietta Stein, deputy employment director for the Skåne region, is also puzzled by the move; "an interest in music" is not usually sufficient to qualify for wage benefits.

"Certain cases are confidential but in general there is always a medical reason that is well-documented," she said.

Tullgren currently plays bass and guitar in two rock bands and says that he tends to get a lot of positive reactions for daring to be himself.

"Some might say that I should grow up and learn to listen to other types of music but I can't. Heavy metal is my lifestyle," he said.

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Those Swedes and their welfare state.

I respect that country but that's just retarded

nice and I was ill and needed help and they denied me but sh1t like this gets help...this is so f'n retarded.:roll:

Yeah but you live in the US. Illegal immigrants need your health benefits :roll: But real countries like Sweden who aren't stupid have stricter boarders and thus more money to spend on their citizens.

this is true lol:lol:

maybe listening to rap will go as an instant iq test, idiots by default

Hm, maybe if I shift my musical taste from "rock" to "heavy metal", I might have a chance on finishing school one year early... *starts planning a fiendish plot*

Really, when the idiots of the world get wind of this, you can only imagine how many of them will start listening to heavy metal in order to sick benefits. You have to love the logic of the world today, no? :roll:

I don't really think that heavy metal is to blame here. The guy's life has been completely taken over by his hobby which greatly affected his lifestyle, to the point where he's not capable of following the society rules anymore. This addiction could have been provoked by anything: music, video games, anime watching etc.

The point is - the state doesn't really help this guy with subsidizing his illness - and by "illness" I don't mean the sole fact of enjoying heavy metal, just that crazy state where he cannot keep any steady job for longer than a few weeks or months because he treats his hobby more seriously. Attending three hundred shows a year? Gimme a break.

Eh, I don't know...I'm no psychologist, but I have taken one college psych course...it seems to me he's just a moron who cares more about metal than work.

Wow. That's just dumb. I'm glad something like that doesn't happen here in the U.S. God knows that emos will get every last penny of any kind of government help program.

No worse stuff happens here. Like a women gets a website URL tattooed on her forehead so her 4 year old kid can go to college.

Someone actually manages to sell a grilled cheese sandwich on EBay for thousands of dollars.

Look at the news everyday you'll see some report on a moron or morons who live in this country. They do the stupidest crap and end up on the front page of the news paper.

Stupid people live in every country, not just the US. :roll:

Yea, it's pretty sad knowing that morons hit the front page of newspapers or become the main story on a rather regular basis.

Indeed he is a moron. However this man is such a moron that he probably is bordering on impaired.

That's a cheap shot. some of the very smartet people I know listen to rap music.

Anyway......hmm. I want government owned health care so I can make up...um...uhhhhhh......bankitis. Yeah, that's it, bankitis. Because working at the fraking bank is THE most stressful job I have EVER had and I DEMAND compensation in the form of FREE psychiatric help and homeopathic stress relief therapy paid for by my taxes. :roll: :lol:

My beliefs on our health care system in the U.S. are way to political to go into here.....but stuff like this almost makes me appreciate the little privatized system we have here. Bet no HMO's or Insurance companies would have touched this :P

Yes they do. There's stupid people everywhere. But the majority of them are in the US. This country celebrates at times it seems.

Oh and because people are so dense, that's my opinion

If you've done any history research, you'll find this great nation was founded on stupidity and alcohol. If you don't like it, you can get the hell out. I'm pretty happy with my country. We have our problems, but so does everyone else.

Yea... heh, alcohol and stupidity go hand in hand. Especially when those hands belong to men. And before anyone goes crazy on me for man-hating, don't. Almost all of my friends are guys and I'm really uncomfortable in a room full of girls. Besides, I can't think of any country that was founded by women.

And by the way Ai, Goon has a mixi account. He told me to let you know so you can go ahead PM him. :)

Believe me if I could afford it or was allowed to in some cases I would.

I'd love to know where you'd rather be than here.

I'll do ya one better I'll show ya
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/6...pebcopyxz5.jpg

I finally get to visit Europe in September but alas I only get to visit Scotland off the list of the places I really want to see.

I mean don't get me wrong I still want to see France and all that as well but I REALLY want to see Finland and Sweden.

I've lived in Cali my whole life and it's not horrid here but the immigrant problem is seriously bothersome and I've seen the whole country except some of the more southern states and I don't desire to. I hate hot weather and most of the other states are boring. We drove across country so I saw alot.

Seattle was very cool though. One reason I can't wait to see Europe is the weather. I mean I've read alot about Sweden and stuff and it's dark there alot which I like because honestly the sun annoys me. I have very sensitive eyes and being outside for to long seriously compromises them. Plus my skin is to fair and I burn very very easily.

maybe if they removed all the people finland would be a nice place to see, where else can you get people that pose as the people that pose as the people they are not

I love metal... but this just pisses me off. If this dumbsh*t can't get a job because of his lifestyle and appearance (and believe me, I can relate), then he should just become a roadie like every other sad, old, uneducated metal head. Or, y'know, DIE so that he isn't a drain on society anymore. Seriously, people in Sweeden who actually have real jobs (not washing dishes like a teenager) are now helping to buy this guy new tats and concert tickets, that's messed up.

Awww... I want the tax payers here in the U.S. to buy me new tats too.:cry:

:lol: I'm not saying it isn't a good deal if you can get it, but being on the other side of it really sucks!

Actully you can't just get the hell out unlike america other countries just dont let non-citizens hop and skip right into their land and then work at wal-mart.
Cause trust me there's allot of other places I'd love to live like Canada.:D
Btw people who say "if you don't like it you can get ouuut!" really sound like those rednecks from that episode of southpark it's really quite funny.

Here in the good old US hahaha

"They took er jubs!"
"They tooker jubs!"
"Took er jubs!"
:lol:

As nice as some countries seem, I don't think I could move out of US permanantly. Leaving family and everything....idk I wanna live outside of the US for about a year sometime, but I don't know where.

no, you simply got the people that "act", we got people posing as those fine little deranged actors. maybe i can get some sick benefits for being a finn

whats the differnce?

:roll: Yah Sure.

it is right theeeere, i can't explain it any better and might go insane from repeating the word "pose"

do you mean poser? and it's not right there and what I'm saying is there no differnce between some one who is fake one place to another a fake person is a fake person.

hey i want assistance. i have an addiction to school buses and absolutely must drive them everyday, it's a mental issue and i need to drive, its like a drug. so im impaired...I want financial assistance so i can stay home and be a mom 24/7 instead of half the time and get out of the bus cos it's bad for my health.

Ooh, that's a good one. Let me try... okay so it won't be as random and awesome as that but still.:D

I'm addicted to tattoos!!! Please help! I can't work because all I do is think about tatoos and since I can't work I don't have money for the tatoos. And since I don't have the money for the tattoos I use the money that my mother gives me to pay my bills and rent to get the tattoos. I've tried for years to get government money out of it! So far it hasn't worked...
I wonder if I'll be able to have tabori done in Japan and still have U.S. tax money used to pay for it.

... aren't you already paid for driving school buses?

I have a video game addiction. We're already talking about this in another thread. Can I have days off from work and get paid?

Well if you can have your few days off from work paid then I should...uhhh...stay home when....uhhh...i think about tattoos...yea, that's it...tattoos. AND get paid for it.