Depression Can Stir Up Your Insurance Plans

By Author: Marcus Stalder
Total Articles: 491
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Depression and anxiety are some of the most common mental health issues of the western civilization. Whether it's the rapid life phase or the usual stress most of us encounter on a daily basis, it's nearly impossible to find a person who has never experienced depressive thoughts or overall anxiety. Sure, most of us manage to carry on with our lives and go past these periods of agitation and inactivity. But for millions of Americans both depression and anxiety are serious medical conditions that can cause quite a stir when it comes to insuring one's life.

Some of you may question the connection between depression and insurance rates. Fact is, when it comes to insuring one's life depression or anxiety can seriously affect the rates and the possibility of getting an insurance policy in the first place, depending on the severity of the condition. Having a history of depression or anxiety disorders in your medical record will make the insurance company more cautious about your application and they will likely to ask you about your treatment, recovery and so on. It will be regarded as a pre-existing condition and if you're ...
... currently undergoing depression treatment or recovery phase then you can be denied coverage until any results are provided to the insurer.

This may seem unfair to some people reading this, as such mental issues cannot be compared to more serious health conditions such as heart diseases or diabetes, right? Well, it turns out that they actually can. When it comes to life insurance the most important thing that affects the actual rates is a person's life expectancy. This estimated age until the person is very likely to be alive is in turn affected by a range of variables including lifestyle, health conditions, hobbies, activities, etc. And such mental issues as depression or anxiety, especially if severe, are known to strongly affect a person's life expectancy in a negative way.

Thoughts of suicide aren't the only problem that makes depression such a negative phenomenon. Recent studies have discovered that in patients with clinical depression the overall life functions are worse than in mentally healthy persons. People who suffer from chronic or severe forms of depression have weaker immune functions, are more prone to heart conditions and are physically inactive in general, which seriously affects the overall health condition. Depression creates conditions for different physiological conditions to develop, which ultimately reduce the person's life expectancy. The same applies to anxiety disorders, which are often linked to depression and can have the same consequences if left untreated. That's why it is hard to find cheap life insurance for a person with serious depression or anxiety disorders logged in their medical history.

Of course, the life insurance quotes you'll get if you have such mental issues will strongly depend on the actual severity of the condition and what stage it is in. If the problems were mild with no suicide attempts or other harmful effects on you health and you've undergone an effective treatment course, then your rates are likely to be the same as for people without history of depression. However, if the condition is really bad, you had suicide attempts and are currently undergoing treatment then you will have significantly higher rates and some insurance companies won't be willing to cover you at all.