Mental health conditions we support
We all have mental health − so Bupa takes it seriously
If you have health insurance with us, you’ll have support for almost every mental health condition there is. And you’ll still be covered even if your condition comes back − time after time subject to terms and benefit allowances†.
This page has information about:
- the most common mental health conditions we help our members with
- conditions we support as part of your cover
- the few conditions we don’t currently cover, but can still help with.
Mental health conditions we help with
Anxiety
Anxiety gnaws away at you. It drains your confidence, stops you sleeping, and can give you panic attacks.
Addiction
Addiction is compulsively doing something even when it’s harmful − like substance or alcohol misuse.
Depression
Depression is more than just feeling fed up for a few days. It’s a serious condition that can take over your life.
Alan was addicted to alcohol
Normal meant drinking over two litres of gin a day. Alan hid it quite well and hoped no one would notice. But his family did. Watch our video to see what life used to be like for him and how we helped††.
ALAN:
If you knew where I’d come from...
...you wouldn’t think I’d be here now.
But after I retired, I was drinking two litres of gin every day.
Breaking point was the day my wife said she was walking out.
When I rang Bupa, I suppose I ran out of excuses.
I had a session with a doctor who specialises in addiction. He said basically ‘you’re killing yourself’
He put together a treatment plan. I went into rehab for 28 days.
SARAH:
We’re here to get you the support and treatment you need and minimise the impact on your family.
We do follow up calls…keep the conversation going and make sure you’re doing okay.
ALAN:
I’ve got a lot to thank Bupa for.
I’ve got my family back.
And I suppose I’ve got myself back, too.
Jameel struggled with both anxiety and depression
Normal meant a constant feeling of worry in the pit of his stomach and suffering with his emotions. But he felt pressure from his family to make everyone happy. Watch our video to find out how we helped††.
JAMEEL:
Being around other people is the most natural thing in the world. But to me…it’s liberating.
You don’t always realise when something’s happening to you. I know I didn’t.
I’ve always been a worrier.
From a young age, my family put a lot of pressure on me. As I got older, my anxiety spiralled
I couldn’t leave the house, I’d jump every time the doorbell rang. I was very, very low.
My wife said: “It breaks my heart to see you like this, you need help.”
I had Bupa cover through work, so I made the call to reach out.
Bupa helped me choose a therapist… I was in control of who I went to see… they were fantastic.
PAT:
With anxiety, or depression, you always worry about the next wave. So getting the right treatment for you, as quickly as possible, is really important.
From the moment you pick up the phone, we’re here for you
JAMEEL:
Between my therapist, my wife, and Bupa, my confidence is higher than it’s ever been.
I’m so grateful for everything Bupa has done for me. They’ve helped change my life.
The mental health conditions we cover
The following list doesn’t include everything we cover, but it gives you an idea of how thorough we are. You might have symptoms that can’t be fully diagnosed until more medical information becomes available.
An acute stress reaction occurs when symptoms develop due to a particularly stressful event. The word 'acute' means the symptoms develop quickly but don’t usually last long.
Download our podcast Three-minute breathing exercise
Our wellbeing platform, Healthy Me, has more information to help you manage your stress reaction, especially through mindfulness.
An adjustment disorder occurs when the normal process of adaptation to one or more stressful life experiences is disrupted.
This will occur within three months of the onset of this stressor or stressors. It could take the form of anxious feelings, nervousness, worry, feelings of sadness and crying, broken sleep, difficulty in concentrating, muscle tension and fatigue. A person suffering in this way might also withdraw socially, have difficulty working (or attending school or college), or suffer from headaches or stomach aches. They would be well advised to try to understand what is happening, and that this is a specific response not the way life usually works.
Our wellbeing platform, Healthy Me, has more information to help you adjust to your circumstances as well as your reactions.
Alcohol misuse is when you drink in a way that's harmful, or when you're dependent on alcohol.
Download our podcast Exploring your relationship with alcohol
Read our health information page about alcoholism, which can tell you about risk factors, symptoms, treatments and places to seek help.
Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.
Everyone has feelings of anxiety at some point in their life. For example, you may feel worried and anxious about sitting an exam or having a medical test or job interview. During times like these, feeling anxious can be perfectly normal. But some people find it hard to control their worries. Their feelings of anxiety are more constant and can often affect their daily lives.
Listen to our series of helpful podcasts on Mindful walking meditation.
Read our health information page about anxiety, to find out more about the symptoms and available treatments.
Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that affects your moods, which can swing from one extreme to another.
People with bipolar disorder have episodes of:
- depression – feeling very low and lethargic
- mania – feeling very high and overactive
Symptoms of bipolar disorder depend on which mood you're experiencing.
Read our health information page about Bipolar disorder, which has information about types, symptoms and treatments.
Depression is more than simply feeling unhappy or fed up for a few days. Most people go through periods of feeling down, but when you're depressed you feel persistently sad for weeks or months, rather than just a few days.
Read our health information page about Depression which has information about types, symptoms, treatments, and how to help yourself.
Dissociative disorders are a range of conditions that can cause physical and psychological problems.
Some of them are very short-lived, perhaps following a traumatic life event, and resolve on their own over a matter of weeks or months. Others can last much longer.
The three main types of dissociative disorder are:
- dissociative disorders of movement or sensation
- dissociative amnesia
- dissociative identity disorder
This can involve eating too much or too little or becoming obsessed with your weight and body shape.
The most common eating disorders are:
- anorexia nervosa – when you try to keep your weight as low as possible by not eating enough food, exercising too much, or both
- bulimia – when you sometimes lose control and eat a lot of food in a very short amount of time (bingeing) and are then deliberately sick, or use laxatives (medicine to help you poo), restrict what you eat, or do too much exercise to try to stop yourself gaining weight
- binge eating disorder (BED) – when you regularly lose control of your eating, eat large portions of food all at once until you feel uncomfortably full, and then often feel upset or guilty
- other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED) – when your symptoms do not exactly match those of anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder, but it's no less serious an illness
Mixed depressive and anxiety disorder is characterized by symptoms of both anxiety and depression. The symptoms include a depressed mood, or diminished interest in activities along with additional depressive symptoms, as well as multiple symptoms of anxiety.
There’s lots more information about both anxiety and depression at our wellbeing platform, Healthy Me. What's the difference between anxiety and depression? also talks about having them both at the same time.
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common mental health condition in which a person has obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours. OCD can be distressing and significantly interfere with your life, but treatment can help you keep it under control.
Read our health information page about OCD, which has information about types of obsessions and compulsions, as well as the causes of and treatments for OCD.
Panic disorder is a form of anxiety where you regularly have sudden attacks of panic or fear.
Everyone experiences feelings of anxiety and panic at certain times, because it's a natural response to stressful or dangerous situations. But for someone with panic disorder, feelings of anxiety, stress and panic occur regularly and at any time, often for no apparent reason.
Read our health information page about Panic attacks, which has information about causes, symptoms, treatment and how to help yourself.
Personality disorders are a type of mental health problem where your attitudes, beliefs and behaviours cause you longstanding problems in your life.
The word ‘personality’ refers to the pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviour that makes each of us the individuals that we are.
None of us think, feel and behave in exactly the same way all the time. It depends on the situation we’re in, the people we’re with, and many other things. However, if you have a personality disorder, you may often experience difficulties in how you think about yourself and others. And you may find it difficult to change these unwanted patterns.
A phobia is an overwhelming and debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, feeling or animal.
Phobias are more pronounced than fears. They develop when a person has an exaggerated or unrealistic sense of danger about a situation or object.
If a phobia becomes very severe, a person may organise their life around avoiding the thing that's causing them anxiety. As well as restricting their day-to-day life, it can also cause a lot of distress.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events.
Read our health information page about PTSD, which has information about causes, symptoms and treatments.
Postnatal depression can affect women in different ways. It can start at any point in the first year after giving birth, and may develop suddenly or gradually.
Many women feel a bit down, tearful or anxious in the first week after giving birth. This is often called the baby blues and is so common that it's considered normal. The baby blues don't last for more than two weeks after giving birth. So if your symptoms last longer or start later, you could have postnatal depression.
Read our health information page about Postnatal depression, which has information about postpartum psychosis.
You might be said to 'lose touch' with reality.
The most common types of psychosis are hallucinations and delusions. You might also experience disorganised thinking and speech.
Psychosis affects people in different ways. You might experience it once, have short episodes throughout your life, or live with it most of the time.
Recurrent depressive disorder is characterised by a history of at least two depressive episodes, separated by at least several months without significant mood disturbance.
Read our health information page about Depression which has information about causes, symptoms and treatments.
Schizophrenia is a disorder of the mind that affects how you think, feel and behave. Its symptoms are described as ‘positive’ or ‘negative’.
It can have a severe impact on your functioning as well as your physical health.
Substance abuse or misuse is formally defined as the continued misuse of any mind-altering substance that severely affects a person’s physical and mental health, social situation and responsibilities.
Depression is a low mood that lasts for a long time, and affects your everyday life.
If you have SAD, you'll experience depression during some seasons in particular, or because of certain types of weather.
Read our health information page about SAD, which has information about symptoms, treatments and self-help. You can also read our article about ways to treat SAD
What isn’t covered by your policy
We cover more mental health conditions than any other leading UK insurer. There are just two categories of condition that we aren’t able to cover:
Dementia
Although most of our 120 care homes offer dementia care, some are dementia-only, offering a specialist environment designed around our residents’ needs.
Learning, behavioural and development conditions
Although we don’t cover these, we will cover mental health conditions associated with them, such as anxiety. So, you’d be covered for the anxiety but not the learning, behavioural and developmental conditions.
Will you cover my pre-existing mental health conditions?
Our health insurance is designed to cover you for the treatment of conditions that appear after you take out a policy with us, and that includes mental health conditions*. However, even if you have a history of mental illness, that doesn’t automatically mean we can never support you in future.
When you take out a policy, you’ll usually be asked for some medical history. We’ll ask you about any symptoms, treatment or advice you’ve had in the past, including your mental health and wellbeing. How recent that was will affect what we can cover you for in future. Then we’ll tell you how we could support you in future. This is a wide-ranging area, so even if you’ve struggled in the past with similar but unrelated symptoms, we’d still look to see if we can support you.
For example, if you’ve had PTSD before, we could still cover you for future unrelated episodes of stress. And if you’ve had post-natal depression, we could still cover you for unrelated episodes of depression. We may be able to review any such exclusion whenever you renew your policy, so do ask us for a review. We can only consider covering you for previously excluded conditions for which you’ve had no symptoms, treatment or advice for at least 12 months**.
Every decision we make is based on your own personal circumstances, so do call us to discuss your options on 0808 271 4639^. We may record or monitor our calls. Please check your policy to see if you have mental health cover.
** The period of time will depend on the condition.
I need help. What’s my next step?
I already have Bupa health insurance.
I’m interested in health insurance for my employees.
I want to find out more about your mental health cover.
I don’t want insurance, but I do need some help.
^Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm. Calls may be recorded and to maintain the quality of our service we may monitor some of our calls.
†Subject to terms and benefit allowances. For any business policies please refer to your policy documents to see if you have mental health as part of your cover. If you have mental health benefits your guide will confirm if your employer has chosen to remove the chronic rule for mental health conditions.
‡ To support addictions we fund one addiction treatment programme in your lifetime.
††Each story refers to mental health cover and reflects the experience of one particular Bupa member. The cover you choose will have specific terms and conditions, and pre-existing conditions are normally excluded.
†††As of March 2024, this comparison to other products in the market is based on Bupa’s and Defaqto’s interpretation of the differences between Bupa’s Bupa By You, SME Select and Corporate Select health insurance products and other health insurance products offering mental health cover. The comparison excludes any special offers or promotions which may temporarily alter the cover offered. Cover comparison information is for personal use and guidance only and does not constitute any contractual representation, warranty or obligation by either Bupa or Defaqto about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability of the comparison. Neither party accepts any liability for errors, omissions, direct or consequential loss in relation to this comparison.
See PDF How we compare: Individuals (PDF 1MB)
Bupa health insurance is provided by Bupa Insurance Limited. Registered in England and Wales with registration number 3956433. Bupa Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Arranged and administered by Bupa Insurance Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales with registration number 3829851. Registered office: 1 Angel Court, London, EC2R 7HJ. © Bupa2024
