Concerned about disclosure and getting help

stephn — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 13:48:34 GMT

I'll try be brief. 40+, never been to a mental health professional. Since about 15 chronic and persistent substance/alcohol abuse, gambling addictions, depression, went through a divorce and was a bit suicidal at that point but never admitted or too close, ideation I guess, all the time being career minded and relatively successful (money focused) which enabled sustaining issues. Now the main point, I definitely felt I had a limited future, so about 10 years ago signed up to a lot of life insurance policies, only a reasonable amount considering dependents and income etc.

Obviously when I filled in the form for this, my answer was that I do not have any history of mental illness, depression, substance abuse etc etc

So now, finally I guess, I've come to the realisation that I definitely have a chemical or imbalance due to certain self medicating that I can be better, so I want to go and see a psychiatrist and discuss, not a psychologist, because while I'm happy to talk, I know I need more than just talk, and want medicine to be considered, even if its just temporary or their decision is I don't need medication. (I understand its not a quick fix, or a magic pill). But I don't want to keep moving around doctors telling my very long, problematic history.

So two things: 1) I am concerned about invalidating my life insurance, my going to a doctor being on the record. 2) I don't really even want to talk to a GP about too much detail, mostly for the same reason, but obviously a referral has its advantages.

- Can I pay direct to a psychiatrist, pay full price (no referral) then they self-refer me to then have future options of rebates etc.
- or Can I just go to a GP and say, don't want to talk about it, its personal, but I want a referral
- Can I keep this 100% confidential, not disclose me going to a psychiatrist, not so much for future policies, but also to prevent it invalidating due to I guess potential deception in signup historically (even though these policies have been active for 10+ years)

Apologies if this is a bit chaotic and not clear. I guess I want help, but I know about the discrimination, generalisations and issues that can happen so hesitant. Thanks.

Concerned about disclosure and getting help

romantic_thi3f — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 01:55:44 GMT

Hi stephn,

Welcome to the forums and thank you for being here. I'm sorry that you have to be asking these questions; it's really unfortunate that your life insurance policy even has to be questioned.

I don't have life insurance, but I have been doing some research, and here's what I found:

- It seems to be common for Life insurers to request information at the beginning of a claim and that information is 'easily' transferred. Other than the initial claim, to access information there needs to be a 'reasonable request'. So it's discrimination if they were to access your files randomly without a genuine need.

- Whether you go to a GP, a psychiatrist or obtain a rebate through a psychologist, this will go through Medicare which is part of your files.

- If you don't want any records listed on Medicare, you'll need to pay for it upfront. While a psychologist is often the most common go-to, you can also see a registered counsellor which is going to be significantly cheaper. Licensed ones are available through ACA (Australian Counselling Association).

- There are a lot of policies where the costs don't change, but this depends on the insurer. A lot of these insurance companies have online web-chats so you can ask them anonymously and decide from there, or seek out an alternative insurer.

- You can have a look through some of the discrimination advice websites on what insurance companies can and can't do and what your rights are.

I hope this helps. Hopefully others with more knowledge and experience than me can jump in here too.

topic Concerned about disclosure and getting help in Depression

Concerned about disclosure and getting help

Concerned about disclosure and getting help