Lynne S. Gots, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Travelers Beware!
By Lynne Gots, posted on August 7th, 2011.
cialis he said While we’re on the subject of vacations, have you ever read the fine print on a travel insurance policy? You should.
A friend of mine discovered the hard way that travel insurance policies aren’t worth the paper–or cyberspace– they’re printed on. Planning to visit her son during his junior year abroad in Paris, she booked a trip at an unbelievably great price through an online travel site. Just to be safe, she sprang an extra $300 for insurance because the agent assured her it would provide her with peace of mind in case she had to cancel her plans for any reason.
Sadly, she did end up cancelling the trip because her son became severely depressed and needed to return home earlier than planned. Although she was very worried about him, at least she didn’t have the added burden of losing the prepaid $2500. Or so she thought.
After her son’s condition improved, and well before the filing deadline, she sent the insurance company a letter from her son’s psychiatrist, along with the rest of the required documentation. Months of back and forth correspondence ensued, with the insurance carrier claiming—no surprise here–that they needed copies of forms and credit card receipts she’d already sent. The scheduled date of the trip had long passed when she finally heard back about the disposition of her claim. The news, as you might have guessed, was not good.
According to the letter from the insurance carrier, the claim was “denied under General Exclusion (j) Mental, Nervous or Psychological Disorder; ‘Mental, Nervous or Psychological Disorder’ means a mental or nervous health condition including, but not limited to: anxiety, depression, neurosis, phobia, psychosis; or any related physical manifestation.” Huh?
I think this policy makes an unfair distinction between mental and physical illness–one that isn’t allowed in employer-sponsored, large-group health insurance plans. The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act was signed into law by President Bush in October 2008 and went into effect for most policy holders in January 2011. “Mental health parity” means health insurance companies can’t impose tighter restrictions on coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatment than for medical and surgical procedures.
The Act, as it’s called, only applies to health insurance. But the fine print in the travel insurance policy violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. And it’s a reminder that we haven’t come so far, after all, in our understanding of psychiatric illness. If you suffer from a “nervous disorder,” you’re still to blame.
Tags: insurance, mental health parity
Posted in General |
The Joy of Sheets
By Lynne Gots, posted on August 5th, 2011.
Part of what made my recent vacation so enjoyable was staying in a lovely house. The owners, an architect and his designer wife, had created a tranquil, beautifully appointed mountain retreat in the desert complete with three walled gardens and a trickling waterfall. Every morning I took my coffee outside, closed my eyes, and listened to the wind chimes and hummingbirds. Idyllic.
But I also derived an embarrassing degree of pleasure from another space: the perfectly arranged master closet with its piles of throw pillows, brightly hued Indian blankets, and tidy little packages of sheets and pillowcases bound with matching grosgrain ribbons. What a shame that this display, worthy of a high-end home furnishings store, was hidden away in a dark, walk-in storeroom!
When I got back home, determined to keep a little of the desert magic with me, I arranged the shiny black, San Ildefonso pottery bowl and bird on the mantel, cooked a green chile stew, and took stock of my linen closet. It was not a pretty sight.
I’ve always felt a little frisson of excitement at the prospect of transforming my life into a marvel of organized efficiency through the purchase of storage receptacles to hide my inner slob. Considering the success of The Container Store and Real Simple Magazine, I suspect I’m not the only one who indulges this fantasy.
So off I went to HomeGoods, where I scored a set of cloth-lined, wicker baskets from the half-price rack. I stayed up entirely too late that night folding towels into precise thirds and stuffing rolled sheets (I long ago accepted my inability to fold fitted sheets) into the darling containers. And then I opened and closed the doors over and over to admire my handiwork. Not as pretty as the architect’s closet, but good enough for me.
There’s only one small problem. The discard pile of faded beach towels and frayed sheets culled during the reorganization is still sitting in the middle of the hallway. So much for inner peace.
Posted in General |
Vacation Blues
By Lynne Gots, posted on August 3rd, 2011.
Leave it to the social scientists to prove the obvious. According to a headline in the Washington Post, “Surveys find that the vacation glow vanishes once we return to everyday life.”
This is no news to me. Having returned just a few weeks ago from a restorative trip to the high desert of New Mexico, I can affirm that the inner calm I felt in the mountains faded even more quickly than my tan as soon as I returned to sea level. Still, it’s nice to have hard data to validate personal experience.
In separate studies conducted in the Netherlands and in Australia (where—get out your tiny violins– the researcher studied vacationers on the Great Barrier Reef), the academics found that the first few days of a trip can cause aches, pains, and general malaise—symptoms of “leisure sickness”–in work-addicted professionals who can’t relax. After a few days, most people feel much better, and by the end of the vacation, they’re really into the groove.
Then comes the crash. Back to the old routine and in less than a week . . . poof! It’s like the getaway never happened.
I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few weeks contemplating this phenomenon because I want to recapture that vacation state of mind. And I think it’s possible. I’ll tell you how later.
Tags: stress, vacation
Posted in General |
