12 Aug 2014, 12:00 pm
I don't trust any bureaucrat to be guided by their better angels 
. Give them a chance to categorize you into a group not to be trusted and they will in the name of covering their asses.
We call them "jobsworths" because their line is always my job's worth more than taking a chance on this or that no matter how trivial. It's even sillier when the chances of them losing their job (especially civil service) is too small to consider.
If a jobsworth has something he can use against you or can deny you something to cover his ass assume that he will, ethically right or wrong be damned.
I wouldn't advise someone who needed mental heath services not to pursue it but at the same time I would advise them to weigh the benefits against the potential risks.
Same principal can be applied for filling out any kind of questionnaire; if the question does not appear relevant to the intent of the questionnaire then don't answer it or just go ahead and lie about it. If you do lie then remember it and be consistent about it. Never allow anyone convince you that you're unqualified to call a pigs as pork, either. It's a CYA world and any information that will be entered in a database or even a word document becomes searchable and may be dug up later.
