Life Insurance And The Anxiety/Depression Oxymoron!

This is a stressed out world we’re living in and it would be highly unlikely that you don’t know someone suffering from either anxiety or depression, and not too unlikely that the someone could be you. The more pressure the world exerts, the more likely that our coping mechanisms are going to need some help.

From a life insurance underwriter’s point of view, if the anxiety or depression is mild to moderate and a person is compliant with treatment and stable, rates as good as preferred are not out of the question. I have run into more and more people who are treated for both, but again, given the criteria above an underwriter would not likely pile up on a person due to “multiple impairments”.

I read an article just recently that suggested that rather than anxiety and depression being two distinct disorders, that in many it seems that the two impairments are really just separate manifestations of the same disorder. There appears, in fact, to be a genetic link between the two.

As we’ve discussed on a number of occasions, no matter what the impairment, from depression to anxiety to bipolar disorder, life insurance can still be attainable if your life can be characterized as stable. I’ve taken a bit of a beating over one of the other underwriting criteria that goes along with mood disorders, the fact that you can’t be on disability due the impairment. I’ve had several people cry foul on that guideline, but let’s be real. If you are functional and stable, you shouldn’t need to be on disability.

The best demonstrators of functional and stable are family and work life, and no recent hospitalization due to the impairment. Attempted suicide really throws a damper on the whole thing.

Bottom line. A good independent agent knows what to ask and how to present it to provide you with the best possible chance of getting affordable life insurance. Don’t try this with your local State Farm agent unless you feel like racking up a decline or two before you finally find approval.