Concerned about disclosure and getting help

[stephn]

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.

[romantic_thi3f]

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.

rt