Mental Illness and Income Protection Australia

Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 01:21 Written by Natural Health Team Wednesday, 26 October 2011 01:21

Health Information about Mental Illness and Income Protection Australia

Mental Health (depression, anxiety, stress and other related illnesses) is becoming more prevalent in society and also more common as a reason for insurance companies’ claim payments especially in regards to Income Protection. Over the past few years, the percentage of claim payments made due to mental illness is in the range of 20% of all payments made.

The Life Insurance industry has made a strong effort over recent years to educate insurance companies and advisers on how to best deal with policy holders making claims for Income Protection due to mental illness. Since this work commenced, industry-wide guidelines relating to mental health conditions have been developed, and there has been a decline in the rate of refusal of Income Protection for those with mental illness.

Insurance companies can deal with mental illness in a couple of ways. Firstly we see that some, more basic Income Protection policies, exclude all mental health conditions and therefore a history of mental illness does not affect your application.

If mental illnesses are covered under your Income Protection policy, you will be required to disclose all history relating to this condition including how long ago, the medication that you were prescribed, how serious the condition was and if it resulted in you taking time off work. The insurance company will more than likely write to your treating doctor in order to receive their opinion on future risk. Ultimately it is the judgement of your future risk that will dictate whether the insurance company will exclude the condition, charge more due to higher risk, or offer standard rates.

Different insurance companies use different criteria when determining who to insure and what price to charge. It is important to have assistance when completing the application by an adviser who understands how the criteria works. The most important issue to consider is however that you should never not disclose a condition as it is more than likely that the insurance company will find out the truth from your medical records and could simply not pay your claim due to non-disclosure.

No. Insurance law states that once your policy is in force and you disclosed your medical history at the time of application, as long as you continue to pay your Income Protection premiums the insurance company can not cancel the policy. The great thing about quality Income Protection policies and the current system of underwriting at the time of application is that your risk to the insurance company is calculated at the time of application, any change in your health, occupation or other risk ratings does not affect your policy cost or terms ongoing.

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Mental Illness: Disease or Choice?

Last Updated on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 10:21 Written by Natural Health Team Tuesday, 25 October 2011 10:21

Health Information about Mental Illness: Disease or Choice?

Is it true that Dr. William Glasser’s Choice Theory doesn’t believe in mental illness? Of course not! However, that is what many believe and some don’t give his ideas credence because they think he is wrong about that. This article is my humble attempt to explain exactly what Dr. Glasser means when he says he believes in mental health, not mental illness. This article should be particularly helpful to those of you who work in the helping professions or those of you with family members who have been diagnosed with any type of mental disorder.

I’m asking you to take a journey with me into the realm of possibility. What if what we believe about mental illness is wrong in much the same way people in Columbus’ day believed the world was flat? And if it’s possible our conceptualization about mental illness is wrong, then it logically follows that perhaps we need to look at treatment differently.

My goal in this issue is not to change your mind about what you think and believe, but merely to present another possibility. Take a journey with me into an alternative explanation and see where it takes us . . .

Choice theory has two concepts that are central to this discussion. One is the concept of total behavior and the other is our creative system. I’ll start with total behavior. Glasser says all behavior is total, meaning it consists of four inseparable components-your actions, your thinking, your feelings and your body’s physiology. All of these components occur simultaneously, even when you are more aware of one of them.

You only have direct control over two of these components. No matter how hard you try, you will not be able to change your feelings or your body’s physiology without first changing your actions or your thinking. You may not believe you have control over your thinking because sometimes certain thoughts enter our minds unbidden. However, once you learn how, you can direct your thoughts from unwanted topics to healthier ones.

When we want something we don’t have, we are driven to create a behavior designed to get us what we want. Sometimes, we rely on behaviors we’ve used in the past that were effective. Other times we create a new behavior. Whatever our choice, we are choosing the best behavior available to us at the time to get what we want.

When it comes to mental health symptoms, many believe that an imbalance in our body’s chemistry causes the unusual behavior or thinking. But what if the “crazy” behavior and thinking over an extended period of time actually causes the chemical imbalance instead? Isn’t it at least possible? Isn’t it exercising that releases endorphins into our blood? It’s not the endorphins that make us exercise. Isn’t it thoughts of bodily harm that releases the chemical adrenaline into our blood stream when we are scared? It’s not the adrenaline that makes us scared, is it?

And what about those diagnoses that don’t have a known chemical imbalance? What about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Dissociative Identity Disorder. These are groups of symptoms that develop during a serious crisis that serve us in that moment. In Choice Theory, Glasser would say they become organized behavior. In neurology, it might be said that neurons that fire together wire together. This means that once we produce a behavior and repeat it over time, it basically becomes the path of least resistance and when confronted with similar circumstances, we will default to our typical way of handling it.

So, if someone has developed a behavior that works for them to get something they want, then they are more likely to choose that behavior in the future. It is difficult to think of mental health symptoms as having any positive benefit to them. Why would someone choose such thoughts and behaviors?

Currently, there is a concept I hear more and more in psychology called secondary gain. Mental health professionals are recognizing that there often is some pay off for mental health clients in their symptomotology. It might get the client attention. It may abdicate them of daily responsibility. It might get them SSI benefits. They may be able to avoid unpleasant situations and keep undesirables at arm’s length. The list goes on and on. Couldn’t it at least be possible that these are not actually secondary gains, but rather the reason the symptoms developed in the first place?

Couldn’t it be that a person learned that being sad got them attention so they developed the behavior of depression? Couldn’t it be that a person learns anxiety gets them out of doing certain undesirable things? Once we experience a benefit, the behavior is more likely to become hard wired and therefore repeated, even long after it stops being effective.

Once of the criticisms of Glasser’s theory is that no one would actively choose to be neurotic or psychotic or personality disordered. Glasser never said it was a conscious choice. Most people suffering with mental health disorders are truly suffering, unaware there is any choice in the matter. Our current approach to treatment basically reinforces this image of mental health clients as victims.

I don’t know about you, but I want my clients to know there is a choice. They didn’t know it before. But if they understand now how symptoms can develop out of satisfying some need the had, then treatment becomes a matter of teaching them more responsible ways of getting those needs met.

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Is the Problem Mental or Medical?

Last Updated on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 04:21 Written by Natural Health Team Tuesday, 25 October 2011 04:21

Health Information about Is the Problem Mental or Medical?

You walk into a moderately business office sit down a chair in a well-dressed lobby and wait for your name to be announced. Finally, it comes and you are assessed by an intake worker, finally sent to a therapist a week later, and then recommended to the staff psychiatrist. In this short time, you were diagnosed with Bipolar, Depression, which is an element of bipolar, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

You also have a history of Diabetes, High-Blood Pressure, and Allergies. Now the doctor is not aware of the inflammatory fiber nerve disease underlying the symptoms. You continue to visit the mental health experts complaining constantly of your symptoms, and they begin treating you like a Hypochondriac. (Someone occupied with health issues and most times are exaggerated)…you begin feeling confused, disappointed with the therapist, and decide to go to see a physician that finds a fiber nerve disease, which proves that your complaints are valid.

However, you were already given prescriptions for psychotic and depressive symptoms. You begin taking the medications and suddenly your insurance policy stops payment on the drug Effexor XR. Suddenly, you explode feeling aggressive, wanting to kill, wanting to die, wanting to harm and there is no explanation since these feelings has never occurred to this magnitude before you took the antidepressants prescribed. Now the problem has increased and you are searching desperately for an answer, yet you find nothing. What went wrong you might ask?

Well, Effexor XR is given to patients with depression and bipolar symptoms. Since Effexor is said to target the brain chemicals increasing the Norepinephrine and Serotonin in the brain, it is claimed to eliminate symptoms of depression and bipolar. Now Effexor XR is notorious (once the medication is stopped abruptly) for increasing behaviors including, suicidal thinking, impulsive behaviors, violent outburst and so forth.

The Prescription has caused increase in Blood making it a bad deal for patients with High-Blood Pressure. Now you went to the therapist to fix a problem and your problems has increased dramatically at it is all because of health care, mental health, medical, and so on. You start feeling that it cannot get any worse, but the doctors continue increasing your medicines prescribing Tenormin (Atenolol) for your pain and after prescribing numerous doses of inflammatory prescriptions, which lead to stomach disorders, you are now taking meds to control your stomach. Moreover, it does not stop here. Next, you are given Impramine HCL for pain, Tramadol for pain, and rotated between antidepressants finally prescribed Effexor XR again.

If you are feeling alone you are not, since many times doctors, mental experts, and health care providers make this mistake excessively many times to count. It is ludicrous to go to mental health experts all to find severe complications exploding your life and you are the one to blame, when in reality these experts made a serious mistake. Since the mental health expert obviously had no choice but to eliminate Hypochondriasis, and claim that they were only searching for answers to the problem (making excuses) you finally say I am searching for another mental health expert, since you have no idea what you are doing.

You go to the next office; sit, wait, and when you are called you talk to an intake worker, then a therapist, and finally a psychiatrist. You go through the same procedures wondering if these experts are smarter than the other experts you just left, and soon find yourself on Effexor XR, Impramine HCL, Tramadol, and a variety of other medications.

I told you people what happen before you tell the experts, yet they ignore your cries and tell you to take your medications as prescribed. Are we fixing problems or are we adding to the many problems we face every day. Some mental diagnoses were later proven a medical problem or central nervous interruption that created a series of symptoms delusional to mental health experts, believing that the patient was mentally ill.

Caught in a web of testing and despair we often fight to find a reason that our minds are tricking us into acting out of accordance to the so-called normal. The solution is right in front of them in most cases, yet everyone is turning their heads and looking for another answer.

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Safety and Health in the Workplace – Physical, Mental and Social

Last Updated on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 07:21 Written by Natural Health Team Tuesday, 25 October 2011 07:21

Health Information about Safety and Health in the Workplace – Physical, Mental and Social

Safety and Health in the workplace is more than just accident prevention. A good safety program needs to look at and address all aspects of working conditions. When looking at safety and health in the workplace, we refer to the conditions as occupational in nature. So to identify just what occupational safety and health is, we break it down into separate components. The three overall components to address in your successful Safety Programare physical, mental and social safety.

Maintaining the well-being and physical safety of all workers and building occupants is the physical aspect of a program. Physical safety is critical in the occupational setting. There are hundreds of standards and publications to describe and define how to keep people physically safe at work. There are also hundreds of ways that employers train and educate employees on workplace safety. Physical safety is the first aspect that comes to mind when referring to a safety program. There are many other areas of well-being that need to be incorporate into a safety plan. Ones mental safety is also important.

Workers mental well-being must not be excluded. If people are physically safe, but mentally unhealthy and exhausted, problems are sure to arise. If you were to ask your employees just what is mental safety? you probably would be surprised at the lack of awareness in the area. In fact many employers are unaware of the importance. One of the best ways for an employer to access the workers mental stability is to review the call-ins or absenteeism rate. Sometimes a lack of respect for ones job will result in a lack of caring. When people don’t care, they could put themselves or others at risk for physically injuries.

Another area of mental safety at work is mental health of workers. Be aware of people and the anxieties that they face or are facing. Depression is on the rise and you may have workers that are battling stress and burnout situations at and away from work. Other serious mental health such as bi-polar disorder can negatively impact your work place and put workers in danger. Make sure that employees that may have a mental health condition manage it with a doctors approval. The next area of safety is that of ones social environment.

Some examples of an employee being socially unsafe is that of a hostile work environment. This takes on many forms. A hugely growing social environment is now online. The amount of time that workers spend online is huge. Although we think of online bullying as a teen problem, your company should enforce rules when it comes to just how much access workers have to internet resources. Passing on inappropriate content through emails or other electronic means can become inappropriate and led to socially unacceptable behavior. This topic should be addressed in yearly training.

Another socially unacceptable behavior is harassment. Harassment takes on many forms. Either physical or sexual in nature. Either way, if people feel uncomfortable around others in the work environment, then they are not in a socially safe place.

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Mental Illness in Children: Some Facts and Sources

Last Updated on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 04:21 Written by Natural Health Team Tuesday, 25 October 2011 04:21

Health Information about Mental Illness in Children: Some Facts and Sources

An increasing number of children are experiencing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Depression in children, including elementary age kids, is on the rise. If you search the internet you will find many facts about mental illness in children. These facts tell a story.

* 1 in 10 children have a mental illness that keeps them from functioning in their families, in their schools, and in their communities. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

* An estimated 2.5% of American children suffer from depression. (www.WebMD, “Depression in Children”)

* Depression in children is often undiagnosed and untreated because it is confused with normal childhood or teen behavior. (www.WebMD, “Depression in Children”)

* Half of the lifetime causes of mental illness start by age 14. (National Institute of Mental Health study)

* Approximately 4.1% of school-age kids have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. (National Institute of Mental Health)

* Anxiety disorders often start in late childhood. (National Alliance for Mental Illness)

* An estimated 13% of kids between the ages of 9 and 17 have an anxiety disorder. (U.S. Surgeon General)

* Emergency departments in U.S. hospitals often under-diagnose mental illness in children who are being treated for self-harm. (“Archives of General Psychiatry,” October 2006)

* Only about 21% of children who have mental illness receive treatment. (“American Journal of Psychiatry,” September 2002)

* Untreated mental illness can lead to more severe mental illness and this illness is more difficult to treat. (National Institute of Mental Health)

Young children can – and do – develop mental illness, including depression. Their mental illness may show up as poor school performance, ongoing worry and anxiety, refusing to go to school, hyperactivity and fidgeting, awful nightmares, disobedience, verbal and physical aggression, temper tantrums, and general irritability. Do you think your child has a mental illness? There are things you can do to help him or her.

1. Poor nutrition can change brain chemistry, so make sure your child eats a balanced diet.

2. Observe your child’s behavior over time. You may wish to keep a diary of this behavior for at least a month.

3. Talk with your child about the problem: bullying, self-esteem, things she or he has seen, and personal feelings.

4. Encourage your child to confide in you. Listen to your child’s word choices and for descriptions of feelings. Observe your child’s body language as you listen.

5. Praise your child’s talents and strengths. Don’t overdo it, though, or your your child won’t believe you.

6. Seek professional help if you think it is needed.

Mental illness is treatable and the treatments are getting better all the time. For the sake of your family, your child, and your child’s future, get help for his or her mental illness as soon as possible. While you are doing this, remember to take care of yourself, for the mental illness of one affects all in the family.

Copyright 2006 by Harriet Hodgson

http://www.harriethodgson.com http://www.healthwriter.blogspot.com

Harriet Hodgson has been a freelance nonfiction writer for 28 years and is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Her 24th book, “Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief,” written with Lois Krahn, MD, is available from http://www.amazon.com. A five-star review of the book is posted on Amazon. You will find another review on the American Hospice Foundation website under the “School Corner” heading.

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