Health events leave many Americans feeling loss of control over their lives

The pandemic has left many people feeling less in control, not only over their health but also their finances, careers and relationships.

The number of U.S. adults experiencing depression has tripled, leaving more than one in four experiencing symptoms of depression and one third feeling less in control of their health.

Compounded by financial stress, this loss of control has long-term implications and can result in increased risk of illness. Although there is increased attention paid to short-term actions such as eating better and losing weight, a long-term gap in seeking preventive health screenings and disease prevention can lead to serious and lasting consequences.

Cigna Supplemental Health Solutions partnered with Ipsos to study the overall impact of a serious health event. They reported several main findings:

• A significant portion of those surveyed felt they lost control over key aspects of their lives during the health event, including over their finances, careers and personal relationships.
• The mental toll also was significant and was more prominent among millennials.
• One in three people needed more support to help navigate the challenges of the event, yet only one in 10 actually sought out and used a support resource.
• Only two in five said they felt knowledgeable about supplemental health coverage. They wanted more support to help them understand their options.
• Those who had supplemental health insurance saw the value in the coverage and said it was an investment in their future.
• People wanted more information about what tools were available to help them maintain physical, mental and financial control. Those who had mechanisms to learn about available options could minimize financial damage and regain control more quickly.

During a serious health event, lives are affected in many ways, and about one in three experienced a loss of control in some aspect of their lives. This loss of control can have a lasting impact and can be difficult, if not impossible, to regain. About one in five experienced a loss of control over their finances during their health event. For most of those, about seven in 10, it took more than two months to regain control of their finances, if they ever did. About three in 10 still have not regained control of their finances.

Eight in 10 people said they received support from friends and family, but the event put a lot of strain on those relationships. Three in 10 said the event had a negative impact on their relationships with friends and family.

Just more than 30 percent reported a negative impact on their work or career advancement. One in five needed to leave work, with 11 percent having to go on short-term disability, 3 percent on sabbatical, 2 percent on long-term disability and 2 percent having to leave their job. Twenty percent rated both their physical and mental health during the event as fair to poor.

Roughly two in five said understanding the extent of their illness or injury and their finances helped them feel more in control during the health event. This was followed by returning to work and being able to return to their quality of life before the event.