With mental illness on the rise, disability insurance can be life-saving
      about old mutual news with mental illness on the rise disability insurance can be life saving

      The mental health fall-out of Covid-19 has hit working adults hard, leaving them and the families they support financially vulnerable. A new kind of disability insurance from Old Mutual offers to reduce financial anxiety when you can’t earn so you can focus on getting better.

      As evidence of a sharp spike in mental illness continues to mount, experts are in little doubt that we’re living through a profound global trauma. The full extent of the crisis is yet to become clear, but we do know that more and more people are unable to work due to psychiatric disorders. Disability insurance can play a key healing role here by providing individuals and families with the means to focus on recovery.

      That’s according to Lionel Kannemeyer, Retail Executive: Old Mutual Namibia, who points out that mental illness numbers were already on the rise – even before Covid-19 brought an entirely new level of daily uncertainty – and predicts a further increase for 2020 amid the financial pressure related to the pandemic.

      The risk of a vicious cycle is real. When financial stress contributes to mental illness, such as debilitating anxiety and depression, then being unable to work only increases the anxiety about money and makes the condition worse.

      The Old Mutual Namibia Savings and Investment Monitor 2019 reveals that 73% of respondents consider dealing with personal finances stressful. Additionally, 38% of respondents consider themselves “just about getting by financially”, while 29% find it difficult to get by.

      While psychiatric conditions continue to carry the stigma of being ‘only in your head’, they are, in fact, frequently life-threatening.

      “Good disability insurance can make all the difference when it comes to recovery,” explains Kannemeyer.

      “When you suffer a major mental health setback, the last thing you need is to be worried about money or having to go back to work before you’re ready. If you find yourself out of action – and none of us are immune, especially now – the income protection that disability insurance provides means you can continue taking care of your dependents and meeting your financial commitments.”

      Part of a ground-breaking new range of personal cover that responds to your individual needs and budget, Old Mutual Disability Income Cover provides up to 24 monthly payments if you are impaired, unable to work or can’t take care of yourself due to an illness (including mental illness) or injury.

      What’s more, you can add the Income Extender Benefit to continue these monthly payments until you recover and can work again, or your cover ends. “Recovery is a journey that can’t be rushed,” says Kannemeyer. “The Income Extender Benefit recognises this and means you’re not under pressure to get back to work until you’re truly ready.”

      “Covid-19 has brought the fragility of life into sharp focus and made it clear that absolutely no one is invincible,” says Kannemeyer.

      Knowing you have good disability insurance can reduce some of the anxiety of not being able to provide for your family – which, in turn, can only be good for your mental health.

      Old Mutual Protect is a new comprehensive risk proposition, offering Life, Funeral, Disability, Illness and Future insurance – all in a single, modular-based digital solution that adapts and responds to your unique needs and budget.

      SMS “Cover” and the name of your town to 66522 or contact your Financial Advisor or Broker. Find out more http://oldmutual.com.na/personal-cover; #PersonalCover @OldMutualNAM