Does your Health Insurance Cover Mental Health and Managing Depression?

The pandemic seems to be drawing to a close, but its effects are far from over. People have been stuck inside their homes for almost two years. This isolation has led to loneliness, which further led to many mental health challenges, especially depression.

Poor mental health can lead to many challenges in your day-to-day life, and it is very important to be able to cope with depression. But despite being an important aspect of human health and wellbeing, the stigma around mental health issues still prevails, even in 2022. Thus, it becomes important to properly understand depression first.

What is Depression?

Depression is a psychological disorder that has a huge impact on the mental health of a person. If ignored or left untreated, its impact can be devastating. Depression afflicts not just the person suffering from it, but also their friends and family. Apart from these effects, depression as a mental disease can also have long-lasting impacts on physical wellbeing of an individual.

Symptoms of Depression

One of the most alarming aspects of depression is that it can manifest in a variety of ways. Symptoms for depression are broad and general, which leads to them being ignored often. This list of symptoms include:

• Difficulty remembering events and things
• A general sense of hopelessness
• Lack of motivation to do anything
• Unusual loss or gain of appetite 
• Issues with coherent thinking 
• Sleep deprivation
• Mood swings
• Anxiety attacks
• A constant sense of sadness

How to Deal with Depression?

If diagnosed with depression after speaking with mental health experts, coping well and dealing with this disease for the sake of your mental health becomes the most important step. Stressing about it only worsens depression, so managing stress is paramount. Apart from that, a few healthy habits to practice include:

1. Daily exercise

Daily exercise in the form of any activity, be it running, walking, playing any sports, or activities such as yoga/pilates, raises endorphin levels in the body - leading to a feeling of happiness that combats depression. Daily exercise helps tremendously to stay healthy both physically as well as mentally.

2. A healthy diet

Eating the right food and making sure your body stays hydrated will go a long way when it comes to maintaining both physical and mental wellness.

3. Meditation and mental peace

A healthy mind will equal a healthy body carrying out activities such as yoga, meditation, deep breathing, and other mental wellness practices helps increase mindfulness, thus boosting mental health.

4. Seeking professional treatment

As covered in the next segment, getting help from a trained professional is the best thing to do. They can guide the process of how to cope with depression in a medically informed manner.

Why Getting the Right Tresatment for Depression is important?

When it comes to illnesses as serious as depression, it is important not to ignore any relevant symptoms. Always seek help from a trusted medical professional who is trained in therapy and counselling. A healthy balance of medication and counselling, as well as a healthy lifestyle with the aforementioned measures, is the only way to get out of the vicious cycle of depression.

Is Depression Covered by Health Insurance Policies?

The short answer - yes. The Mental Health Act of 2017 declares that mental illnesses are to be given as much importance as physical diseases. With this growing awareness of mental health and wellbeing, health insurance policies have now started covering psychological diseases like depression, anxiety, etc. However, they do not cover mental retardation, as it is not a disease.

Choosing a Health Insurance Plan

Depression can affect anyone, across all ages, genders and cultures. As we covered, if left unchecked, depression can affect a lot of physical processes too. If a family history of depression exists, it becomes vital that you choose the health insurance that covers your well-being.

Finding the right individual or family health insurance policy from Niva Bupa's comprehensive plans has now become a painless process through this website.

Just like insurance for any other physical disease, the health insurance plan accommodates medical expenses incurred during the treatment of these mental health problems.

Niva Bupa health insurance helps through any difficult time in the process of getting better mentally, pre & post-hospitalization.

Remember, managing stress is key to managing depression as well as preventing it. And with the many benefits of the Niva Bupa health insurance, you can breathe easier.