Is Mental Health Illness the New Cancer to our Youth? And How Early Should We Insure It?

In May we support Mental Health Week.  During this week and really throughout May there are various organizations that drive information sessions, self-help programs, and other public awareness campaigns so as to help educate those of us wanting to learn more or feeling the direct effect of mental health illness.

I’ve witnessed the impact of Mental Health in my circle of family and friends.   I have lost a dear family member to suicide, and have attended funerals for a series of friends and connections who have lost love ones in similar fashion.  I have seen more and more of our youth and young adults being diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder), taking medication or treatment for anxiety or mild depression, or experiencing symptoms of a major depression or schizophrenia.

It got me thinking about the trends in Mental Health, and how they stack up to our #1 killer in Canada, Cancer.  I lost my entire birth family to cancer, including my 14 year old brother.  I unfortunately can easily name a multiple of people in my friends and family circle who have passed away due to Cancer, most older but some unfortunately too young. I grew up addressing Cancer as my #1 nemesis to me and my family, but now there appears to be company.

I by no means wish to present myself as an expert in either of these areas.  I visited the Canadian Mental Health Association (www.cmha.ca), the Canadian Cancer Society (www.cancer.ca), and Childhood Cancer Canada Foundation (www.childhoodcancer.ca), and coupled this with my practical experience.  Here are some facts I found on their respective websites:

* I don’t believe this captures other deaths that can be associated with mental health issues, such as episodes that lead to accidents causing death.

I deal in the world of life insurance, and I see a flood of insurance application from adults littered with episodes of battles with mental illness.  The impact of mental illness on an insurance underwriting is not straight forward – but generally if the mental illness condition is monitored with a suitable attending physician and is controllable with medication, than a standard rating can be obtained.  However, if the application is too close to a mental illness event (a first event or repeat event), the insurance can be rated (more expensive), postponed (until more time can be reviewed for monitoring the condition), or outright declined.  Bear in mind that most issued life insurance policies contain a “suicide clause”, which will permit the payment of the life insurance benefit on a suicide event but only after the policy is over two years old. I see a lot of people with Mental Illness history getting standard life insurance rates, and I see others who cannot get the life insurance they need due to their Mental Health history.

It is for both my experiences with Cancer AND Mental Health that I bought life insurance for my children, and that I sell child life insurance to my clients.  I bought the life insurance in the hope my children would not suffer through either illness, but I bought it knowing that they currently do not have either illness and therefore the life insurance is easy to get for them now.  I bought them Participating Whole Life insurance, as it has the following features I wanted for my children:

·   It is permanent coverage and will provide coverage for my children for their lifetime.

·   I can pay off the insurance in 20 years or less, and because my children are young the premiums are reasonably small for the amount of insurance I can get.

·   The insurance is participating, which means it grows in value annually, so during and after my premiums are paid, the policy will continue to get bigger and bigger, all without any tax consequences.

·   I can transfer the policy during my lifetime or on my passing to my children tax-free, so that they can have the coverage as part of their insurance portfolio as adults.

·   Participating whole life insurance has “cash values”, which can be accessed in the future by my child (typically tax-free) to be used for whatever purpose they prefer (fund education, buy a car, deposit on a home).

When I see the incident of mental health illness creeping up in our children and youth, I think about ways to mitigate that risk.  One clear way is to get them the help they need to address the mental illness as soon as possible, with the hope that they will grow up to be like some of those adults I deal with now that have a history of mental illness but a controllable one.  A complimentary way is to start them early in participating whole life insurance, so that no matter what life has in store for them in the future, they have an element of their basic foundation of life insurance coverage in place.

Marco’s Soapbox Section:

I read on www.cmha.ca that in Canada, only 1 out of 5 children who need mental health services receive them, and  that the stigma or discrimination attached to mental illnesses presents a serious barrier, not only to diagnosis and treatment but to acceptance in the community.   We lose a young adult to cancer, and we hear “how horrible, but what could you have done”.  We lose a young adult to suicide, and we hear “how horrible, what was he/she thinking”.  I hate to be so general, but my experiences tell me the above is true.  I am supporting  Ride Don’t Hide, where I will join thousands of cyclists who will come together to celebrate and strengthen mental health for all Canadians while fundraising money for mental health programs and services.  If you wish to show your support, visit my nephew’s fundraising page at: Ride Don’t Hide Team Valt Page.  Thank you!

THANKS FOR READING!!!