Life Insurance With A Phobia
Phobias are extremely common and most people who have one have never mentioned it to a doctor.
That makes this one of the shortest honest answers on the whole list, and it would be misleading to inflate it.
The part worth care is the boundary with anxiety more generally, which is a different and more substantial entry.
The short answer
A specific phobia is an intense fear of a particular thing, and the great majority are managed by avoidance without any medical involvement at all, which means there is usually nothing in a record. What would make it a real entry is treatment, cognitive behavioural therapy or medication, or the phobia being part of a wider anxiety disorder with its own history.
What it is
A specific phobia is a marked, persistent fear of a particular object or situation, out of proportion to the actual risk, leading to avoidance. Common examples include heights, flying, needles, dentists, spiders and enclosed spaces.
Many people simply avoid the trigger. Where a phobia interferes with life or with necessary medical care, treatment is usually a talking therapy, most often cognitive behavioural therapy with graded exposure, and occasionally short-term medication for a specific situation.
Why it comes up on an application
- If it has never been treated or discussed with a doctor, there is usually nothing in your medical record and saying so is accurate and complete.
- Treatment is the entry. A course of CBT, a referral to a psychologist, or medication prescribed for it are all real history.
- The boundary with generalised anxiety, panic disorder or social anxiety is the thing worth being accurate about, because those are broader diagnoses with their own treatment and their own page here.
- Needle phobia has a practical dimension: it can affect whether somebody completes medical tests, and that is worth a mention if it has.
- Any medication prescribed, including beta blockers or a short course of a sedative for flying, is a prescription and belongs in a medication answer.
- Where a phobia has affected work, working at height being the obvious example, that is a direct question on an application.
What we would ask you
- What the phobia is, and whether you have ever sought help for it
- Whether you have had any talking therapy or medication for it
- Whether you have been diagnosed with anxiety, panic disorder or social anxiety more broadly
- Whether it has ever affected your work or your ability to have medical treatment
- Whether you are currently off work or working reduced hours because of an accident, injury or illness
- Whether you are waiting on any medical tests, appointments or treatment
- Whether you have been diagnosed with or treated for cancer in the last five years
- Whether a parent, brother or sister was diagnosed with cancer, heart disease or a stroke before 65
- Any medication you take
- Whether you smoke, and your date of birth
Usually There Is Nothing To Declare
It is worth saying this plainly rather than writing several hundred words implying otherwise.
If you dislike spiders, avoid ladders or hate flying, and you have never seen a doctor or a therapist about it, there is nothing in your medical record and no diagnosis. If a form asks about mental health conditions, you can say you have a specific fear that has never been treated, and that is an accurate and complete answer.
This page exists because people search for it and worry about it, and the useful service is to say that the worry is usually out of proportion to the entry.
The Line To Be Careful About
There is one place where imprecision matters, and it is the boundary with anxiety as a broader condition.
A specific phobia is fear of one thing. Generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder and social anxiety are broader diagnoses, usually with treatment behind them, sometimes with medication, and they are a materially more substantial entry. People occasionally describe the broader condition using the milder word.
So if you have had treatment for anxiety, or an antidepressant prescribed for it, or a referral to mental health services, declare that properly rather than as a phobia. Our page on depression and anxiety covers what we would ask, and getting the right one on the form is better for everybody.
Which cover is relevant
The usual starting point. An untreated specific phobia is rarely a factor; a broader anxiety history is a different conversation and belongs on its own page.
Pays on diagnosis of a listed serious condition, and a phobia is not one. Worth having for the risks it does cover.
Replaces earnings if illness or injury stops you working. Relevant only where it has genuinely affected your ability to do your job.
Common questions
Do I have to declare a phobia?+
Answer what you are asked. If it has never been treated or discussed with a doctor, there is nothing in your record and saying you have an untreated specific fear is a complete answer. The worry about this is usually out of proportion to the entry.
I had CBT for a phobia. Does that count?+
Yes, and it is worth stating. A course of talking therapy or a referral to a psychologist is real history, and a question about treatment for mental health is asking about it.
What is the difference between a phobia and anxiety?+
A specific phobia is fear of one particular thing. Generalised anxiety, panic disorder and social anxiety are broader diagnoses usually with treatment behind them, and they are a more substantial entry. Declare whichever actually applies rather than the milder word.
I take something before flights. Is that medication?+
Yes, if it was prescribed. A short course of a sedative or a beta blocker for a specific situation is a prescription and belongs in a medication answer, and it takes a line to say.
My phobia affects my work. Does that matter?+
It is worth declaring, particularly if it has caused absence or made you change what you do. Fear of heights in a trade that works at height is a real example, and whether it has affected your work is a direct question on most applications.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.