It is not surprising that the majority of insureds with disability claims keep themselves in constant states of anxiety over whether or not they will get paid each month. In the past, I’ve written many articles stating in my experience that it appears emotional upset can actually become a secondary disability I call “Disability Claim Syndrome”. Although there is no official designation, in my experience if you have two or more of the criteria below, you may be experiencing Disability Claim Syndrome with excessive worry, fear and anxiety.
Here are the criteria for DCS as I have experienced over the years:
- If you spend more than an hour each day thinking or dwelling on your claim, you have an anxiety level that is ever-present causing emotional worry and anxiety.
- If you go to your insurers’ portals more than twice a month, it has become an obsession or tool you’re using to help yourself feel secure and reassured that “everything is OK.”
- If you can’t sleep because of thinking or worrying about your claim, or if you have difficulty concentrating on anything other than your claim, then you are emotionally tied to the “uncertainty” and worry can easily overtake you.
- If you spend most of your day on the Internet researching about your claim, or looking up cases, or trying to find out about your claims handler, the claim has become a priority in your life.
- If you experience physical symptoms, stomach pains, nervousness, hands shaking, or worry just prior to the expected delivery of your benefit, then, once it’s received the cycle begins all over again next month, your body is affected.
- If you volunteer information frequently, even when updates are not requested, you are working against yourself by OVER SPEAKING your claim.
- If you worry about surveillance to the point of restricting activities even when you travel to your doctor’s office, or pick up medicines, or believe you are being constantly watched, your fear is guiding what you do.
- If you are unable to engage with your family in a normal way socially, then “the claim” is controlling your actions.
- If you make frequent calls to your claims handler just to reassure yourself that “everything is OK”, you are actually creating “red flags” that will make the management of your claim worse, not better.
- If you blindly accept all information you read on the Internet is accurate, and this information causes you act inappropriately with your own claim, you’ve become desperate.
Unfortunately, this is not always the end of the list. Having a disability claim can often disrupt the quality of life insureds are living, and yet wonder why they just don’t seem to be getting well. After all, people who file disability claims are truly ill and working through impairments, doctor’s appointments, tests etc. is a challenge in itself. Worrying about your claim is not good for you, it’s not healthy, and in the long run, causes you to be more impaired than you already are.
There are readers out there who are likely to say, “Well, what do you expect? My insurer could deny my benefits at any time?” And, that would be correct, they can. But, it is also true that over reacting with excessive worry and emotion won’t help you feel better. Excessive worry has a negative worsening effect on physical well-being.
It would be wrong of me to tell people “not to feel what they feel”; I am only trying to encourage insureds to recognize when their behavior has become self-destructive., both to themselves and their claims, and to their health. Nothing is going to be achieved on a disability claim in one day.
In this new age of aggressive claims management it is very important, as they say in Maine, “Not to poke the bear.” Insureds need to stay “under the wire” so to speak, and only respond to what they are being asked for.
Most insurance companies are in turmoil and don’t even know what they’re doing. It’s time to dump the fearful behavior that is harming you, and make a positive effort to live a life that brings happiness and joy. Don’t allow your claim to become your “secondary diagnosis”, or a source of fear you can’t get rid of.
