Posts filed under 'Anxiety'
40 years ago it was a rare thing to hear of someone who was on medication for depression. Of course back then people really didn’t talk about “those kind” of problems very openly. Treatment options were generally restricted to visiting a psychologist, therapist, or psychiatrist.
Now conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety are talked about and blogged about and the medications are more commonly known than most medications for cholesterol or back pain. I doubt if many of us don’t know someone who is taking Prozac, Zoloft or Paxil for depression. There’s plenty of anxiety to go around making us familiar with Xanax or Buspar. Most people are familiar with Lithium as a treatment for bipolar and more than you might think are aware that anti-seizure medication like Depakote is a common medication for controlling the manic/depressive symptoms.
Anxiety and depression have probably always been around and are now more openly discussed and fortunately more quickly diagnosed and treated. If someone with a mood disorder is compliant with today’s treatments, very often even their closest friends may not know what they are dealing with.
How do life insurance companies view the conditions and medications? You should know by now that I always start with what an underwriter looks for first. Compliance and control!!! Are you following the doctors orders and do you have control? In this case control would be defined as being able to carry on both a work and family life in a stable way.
Just a note about depression. There is an underwriting difference between situational depression and chronic depression. If someone close to you dies, depression is a normal response and would be considered situational. Generally treatment doesn’t last for years as a person adjusts to the loss or whatever the situation was. Chronic depression may or may not be brought on by a particular situation, but is often continually treated for years, if not for the rest of a person’s life.From an underwriting standpoint, a situational depression may receive more favorable underwriting, but both types of depression can be underwritten at better than standard rates, often preferred rates, as long as compliance and control are present.
Anxiety disorders are practically as common as headaches in our society and personally I understand why. I live in a small town because the big cities make me anxious. I don’t like being there. I don’t like driving there. I don’t know people who live in cities cope with it. Again, anxiety disorders are looked at the same. With the medication can a person function well? Are they compliant and is their condition under control?
Bipolar is underwritten with basically the same pattern. I should add here, and this goes for depression and anxiety also, if you are on disability due to the problem, that is not considered good control. If you are occasionally hospitalized, that is not good control. If you have attempted suicide, well, are you seeing the pattern?
Bottom line Better than standard and even preferred rates are attainable with mood disorders if you use the right independent agent. Control is the key.
April 3rd, 2008
I know I’ve been beating this drum quite a bit, but the word needs to get out. Having bipolar disorder is not the frosting on a decline cake if you need life insurance. Can everyone qualify for good life insurance rates with bipolar? I won’t even tell you that everyone can be approved, but given certain criteria, a lot of people who have been declined in the past, can be approved and at very good, better than standard rates.
Obviously, like depression or anxiety disorders, there are extremes when it comes to bipolar. And let’s be blunt. It ranges from mentally ill and disabled to completely normal and stable. There are a huge number of people with bipolar who’s best friends wouldn’t know it if they weren’t told. Which brings us to the criteria for finding and locking in good rates for life insurance.
Stability is the key. For obvious reasons life insurance companies see a larger than acceptable mortality risk in someone with bipolar who hasn’t figured out how to control it and become functional and stable. So, guideline #1 for good rates is you can’t be on disability. If you are disabled by your bipolar, that kind of rules out functional and stable.
#2 is that, other than for the purposes of diagnosis, you shouldn’t have had any bipolar related hospitalization in at least the last 10 years, and #3 is, at least I think, very obvious. No suicide attempts.
With all of the no’s out the way, let’s get to what underwriters really want to see. Compliance and control. Compliance is documented in your medical and psychiatric records. How well have you compllied with your treatment? Do you just take medication when you feel like you’re losing a grip, or do you take it as prescribed? Do you see your attending doctor as scheduled, or do you just go in if you have to refill a prescription?
And very important. Is your family, work and community life stable? We are finding huge numbers of people with bipolar who have been declined simply because they “have it”, without anyone ever looking at their life and finding out they have things under control as well, if not better than, most of us. We have found great insurance rates for CEO’s with bipolar, community leaders with bipolar, and solid family people with bipolar.
Bottom line. 99% of life insurance companies will go screaming into the dark if you tell them you are bipolar. The other 1% seriously look at you and weigh the risk. The only way to that 1% is through an independent agent.
March 11th, 2008
There are times when I wonder how any one in this world can live without have some degree of anxiety. I know I was just a kid back, but I don’t remember the 50’s and 60’s, or for that matter the 70’s being overly stressful.
Then came the 80’s with high interest, AIDS, and a host of other social issues that seemed like they were starting to tighten the screws just a bit on our relaxed lives. It was about that time that people started working longer hours, divorce started to skyrocket, and generally the stress of everyday life started becoming, well, anxiety producing. And it hasn’t let up.
Against that backdrop comes a study that indicates that anxiety is a stand alone risk factor for heart attacks. In a nutshell, all things being equal, a man who is suffering from chronic anxiety is 30-40% more likely to have a heart attack than someone who thinks happy thoughts. And that was for men who were in the top 15% of the scales they used to measure anxiety for this study. The higher a man’s score, the higher the likelihood that it could lead to cardiac issues.
It’s important to note that in this context, anxiety isn’t about being a little anxious or nervous, but rather a true anxiety disorder that manifests itself on several deep and serious levels.
Anxiety disorders and depression are looked at by life insurance underwriters in much the same way as bipolar disorder. Remember that the criteria for finding the best rates are that a person hasn’t been hospitalized in at least the last 10 years for the disorder, they’ve never attempted suicide, aren’t on disability due to the condition, are compliant with treatment, and are stable and functional. Maybe we should add that they haven’t had a recent stress related heart attack.
Bottom line. Our bodies and physical and emotional health are all interwoven far more than we can imagine. Stress, anxiety or depression, left unchecked can ruin our lives emotionally, and now we know that it can just flat out end our lives with a heart attack.
February 5th, 2008
I read a list of lifestyle choices today that, if most of us instituted them in our lives, would probably make positive changes. Oddly enough, the list came from Bipolar.com, an excellent site for those with bipolar or those living with someone who has bipolar disorder.
Balance and stability, as I’ve mentioned in several posts, are the key to good life insurance rates for those with bipolar disorder and those who suffer from anxiety and depression. What caught my attention was that those things that someone with bipolar needs to do to achieve balance are things that each of us could benefit from.
No, I’m not suggesting that we all start taking lithium, although whenever I have to visit a big city I come away convinced that they might have a better quality of life with some amount of lithium in the drinking supply. A kinder, friendlier sort of big city you know.
Bottom line. Taking control of the disorder and structuring your treatment and life style such that stability and balance naturally follow are the keys to a better life and also to affordable life insurance rates.
February 3rd, 2008
We’ve talked about the effects of stress on health and we’ve even talked about how mild stress channeled effectively can increase productivity. I’ve shared a few times what a huge relief a vacation is to the overall stress of especially work life.
Study after study has shown that Americans are working harder and vacationing less. With the techno world we have, it is a common sight to see people “on vacation” working their tails off while sitting in some obscenely restful place like Belize. I admit that I have tried to work while on vacation. I start out with good, or wrong, intentions of working while I am gone. This is mainly due to some pumped up feeling of self importance that has me believing that if I don’t keep blogging the life blood into our business, it will simply disappear and I will come back and have to start from zero again.
I read that most Americans are working so hard that they don’t even use the vacation time they have earned. We need to get a grip! Vacations are as necessary as anything we do for our health. From eating correctly to exercise, ignoring the “taking care of ourselves” part will come back to bite us and instead of spending 10 days on a tropical beach, we may find ourselves spending that time recovering from a heart attack.
Vacation is the chicken soup for the working soul. I know when I started my business that one of my major concerns was that I wouldn’t be able to take time off to rejuvenate from the long hours I was working. Realistically I know that most small business owners and especially sole proprietorships have that same concern. I won’t pretend to know how it will work in your business, but there are at least 100 different ways to structure your business to make the time off possible. If you can’t see any, write and let me help. It’s not my job, but it would certainly be my pleasure to help a fellow businessman figure out how to walk away for a week without worrying.
Bottom line. While insurance applications don’t ask about your vacation habits, the effects of not taking a vacation will show up somewhere. High blood pressure is a very common effect of not taking care of yourself. Stress can lead to depression or anxiety disorders. Do yourself a favor and use every day of vacation that is coming to you. If you’re self employed, take every day of vacation you need. Start small. Take a week. Make it your goal to vacation twice a year for a week. Then make it a goal to vacation twice a year for 10 days. You need it.
November 5th, 2007
We talk all the time about how losing control of one part of your health inevitably has a compounding effect on other areas of your health. Stress, or anxiety, is certainly not an exception to that rule.
In a recent post we talked about how some amount of stress, channeled efficiently, can actually be a good thing. A way to increase efficiency and productivity.
For the fortunate few that can achieve that balance, stress is OK. For the majority though, stress is a physical and psychological drag. Nearly half of Americans say that stress has a negative impact on their personal and professional lives. One third say they are under extreme stress.
Stress has to be dealt with somehow and when managed poorly, it is often the management that causes collateral health issues. People under stress often change their eating habits, gaining weight. We’ve discussed on a number of occasions the domino effect that weight gain, leadning to obesity, can begin if left unchecked.
Other ways that people deal with stress have serious social and physical consequences also. People who smoke, smoke more. People who drink, drink more. People who abuse, abuse more.
It is certainly simpler suggested than done, but there are positive ways to deal with the stress that life deals us on a daily basis. Healthy behaviors noted to manage stress included 54% listening to music, 52% reading, 50% exercising or walking, 40% spending time with family and friends, and 34% praying.
Bottom line. Just like any strain on the body, life insurance underwriters are most concerned with the domino effect. If stress isn’t relieved somehow, other problems almost always follow.
October 29th, 2007
The Rock!! I bring Pru up every once in a while simply because they seem to be a company that is out to make a difference in the life insurance business. Other companies are competitive, and Prudential isn’t the answer to every life insurance question, but they are trying as hard as any company out there to expand the underwriting box and be just a little more fair. The attached is a two page summary of Prudential Financial’s rating, history and financial strength.
prudential.pdf
So, what are their strengths and what are their weaknesses? They are above average in underwriting for private pilots (including students), sleep apnea, weight (with an extra break if you’re over 65), situational anxiety and depression issues if well controlled, one time dui cases, prostate cancer and family history.
Areas where they come close, but I personally would like to see them be a little more aggressive would be well controlled diabetes and minor cardiac issues (a one vessel angioplasty with no heart attack after age 50).
Where I really wonder what they are thinking is with more involved heart issues and cancer (except prostate cancer).
But, no company can be all things to all people and again, they are a cut well above average in today’s market.
Bottom line. It takes an independent agent to figure out which direction you need to go for the best life insurance value. All of the top companies have an area where they stand out. Pru has several.
October 16th, 2007
If asked what the drug of the 90’s was, my guess is that most answers would sway to the wrong side of the alley and go with crack or methamphetamines. Being the cleancut, right side of the alley kind of guy, my vote went to Prozac.
I was researching the different uses of the drug in preparation to do battle with a life insurance underwriter. Insurance underwriters tend to bulk anti-depressants all into a real problem category. Their attitude is that someone must be practically unable to function due to depression or anxiety to be moved to taking medication.
Having used Prozac for a short period of time after a divorce, I can tell you that it’s effect on me was not dramatic. It did just what the doctor said it should. It took away some of the lows and kind of leveled out the feelings I was going through.
This same doctor, a good friend of mine, also told me that he had prescribed Prozac for sexual dysfunction, weight loss, anxiety and, no kidding, writer’s block. Maybe the drug is still working 13 years later since I have never had writer’s block of any lasting significance.
This battle I am gearing up for has to do with the use of Prozac to increase a person’s ability to concentrate. I’m not talking about attention deficit disorder or anything like that. This is simply a case where the CEO of a very successful company has found that he is better able to concentrate and be more effective when he uses the drug. He is not depressed, nor does he suffer from any anxiety disorders.
In searching the web for the proper context I came across an article that described stress as a normal part of life and that managed stress can be a very productive thing. At first I thought that was kind of stretching things a bit, until I put it into the context of my own business.
There is definitely stress in a sales business with multiple employees. It’s not a bad thing. I am certainly not stressed out or anxious, but rather I have a God given abiltiy to channel that stress into productivity. Maybe I would be even more productive on Prozac!
Bottom line. I think this is one of those situations where you are far better off to use an independent agent, and one that can think and believe outside the box. Underwriters, at least some of them, are not all black and white and there is room in their minds to move and do something bold like give a better rate than the book calls for.
October 11th, 2007
Life insurance underwriters have their hands full trying to sort through all of the possibilities with an applicant suffering an anxiety disorder. I had in my mind that it was just this simple. People had depression and they were down. People had anxiety disorders and they were, well, anxious about too many things.
But now I find out that anxiety disorder is a generic term that covers several mental issues that affect nearly 20 million adults in the US. That’s 13.3% of adults. Now, I didn’t do a study, but I’m thinking about 95% of teenagers and young adults probably suffer from the same issues, or maybe because I’m old and slow it just seems that way.
Anyway, from an underwriting standpoint, insurance companies are looking for stability and control. And just a footnote. Being on disability is not seen as stability and control. Stability would be when you can function normally in society in things such as having a job. Control is being compliant enough with treatment that you can keep the job and carry on with things such as family life.
Bottom line. Issues of anxiety and depression, as long as there is control and stability, can be underwritten at rates as good as preferred. This is definitely a time when an independent agent will be worth their weight in something just because each company sees the subject from a little different angle.
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September 26th, 2007
For the next several weeks I will be occasioanally giving information on the companies that I use. Each of these companies has a strong point or they would’t be in my portfolio. Each of them has weak points and these are things I consider when I am “shopping” for my customers.
In addition the sharing some of the company underwriting strong and weak points, I will also provide a “Company Snapshot” that will give you some insight into each company’s history, ratings, financial strength, etc. I hope this information will be useful or at least give you some idea of how I choose a company when I am considering a choice for a customer.
Genworth Life and Annuity leads off. Formerly First Colony Life, a wholly owned subsidiary of GE Financial.
genworth-life-and-annuity.pdf
Genworth has, over the past 10 years or so, never fallen out of competition as far as offering some of the best rates in the industry. They are one of a handful of companies that has probably never fallen out of the top 10 during that time period. As competitive as the term insurance market has been during that period, to constantly keep a company in that position says something about how committed they are.
Genworth has always had strong underwriting in three main areas. First, their allowances for cholesterol have been the industry leader since cholesterol was invented. For their best rate class, where most companies use a guideline for total cholesterol at 205 to 220, Genworth is at 240.
Genworth has always been very fair about situational depression or anxiety issues. I’m not talking about more serious or chronic situations, but situational. Some examples of situational are when a family member dies or you lose your job and your doctor prescribes something to help you through the adjustment period. Generally, if all other risk factors are good, Genworth will be one to two rate classes better than the competition.
Another area where they are good, and in my mind, could stand to strive for greatness, is with private pilots. In general, they will offer an instrument rated pilot preferred rates. They are, on average, less abusive than most companies on VFR pilots and students, but I would like to see them step up a notch in this area.
Genworth is one of the top two companies for scuba divers. They are very friendly down to 100′ where most companies get weird on you after 60′ or 75′.
Another area where Genworth stands out is the fact that they are one of only a few of the top companies that will write term insurance below $100,000 face amount. They are also very competitive in the universal life field.
I promised that there are no perfect companies out there. Genworth is weak on their underwriting for diabetes, heart disease and cancer. They fall right into the middle of the pack, a place I avoid when working for my clients.
Bottom line. Genworth Life and Annuity is highly rated and competitive. They have carved out niches and have held their ground in those areas.
September 22nd, 2007
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