This almost absent-minded gorging had serious mental consequences.

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Psychologists point out serious mental health consequences of being in Dixon's situation for a long time.

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If social and job support can mitigate the mental-health consequences of poor economies, then the U.S. may not fare well.

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But those who live with the consequences of mental illness every day suspect that a vulnerable community is being singled out to assuage the sort of fears memorably expressed by the National Rifle Association's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, last December.

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"There are still clear consequences for talking about your mental health history, " said Jane Pearson, a suicide prevention expert with the National Institute of Mental Health.

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As well as the misdiagnosis of mental health problems there have been other extreme consequences to the attribution of possession.

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At the extreme end of the scale, the consequences of head injury are death, persistent vegetative state or severe physical and mental disablement.

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That is the sort of moral immunity we normally extend to persons who lack the capacity to understand either the consequences of their actions or the difference between right and wrong: very young children, extreme mental defectives and, more controversially, the severely mentally ill.

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