Blog | Gen Re

Our Perspective

The “Epidemic” of Mental Disorders - Rhetoric and Reality

By Dr. Chris Ball |December 14, 2020|English

Mental health has become a big topic of discussion in the media. Headlines describing mental health problems at epidemic levels are common - and many come from “research” cited by insurers. We know antidepressant prescription rates have...
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Exploring the Mental Health App Maze

By Andrew Mills and Johannes Schmidt |November 24, 2020|English

When Apple registered a trademark for the slogan “There’s an app for that.” back in 2010, who could have foreseen just how many apps would be created - and for every imaginable need. With such a big focus on wellness in recent years,...
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Building Underwriting Models for Mental Health

By Dr. Chris Ball |October 08, 2019|English

As a young psychiatrist, I went through a period of being excited about the brain. It seemed that emerging technologies in imaging and genetics would transform clinical psychiatry. This was encouraging news with mental health problems causing the most...
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Can Suicide Risk Be Significantly Influenced by Underwriting?

By Dr. Chris Ball |June 06, 2019|English | Español

Suicide often leaves the bereaved with more questions than answers. Many will find it difficult to ever understand why such a drastic step was taken. The risk factors for suicide traditionally considered by life insurance underwriters are highly influenced...
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Alzheimer’s - Is Early Detection Becoming a Reality?

By Sabrina Link |February 14, 2019|English

For a long time, Alzheimer’s could only be definitively diagnosed after a patient’s death based on neuropathological findings in the brain. Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning and spinal fluid technologies can improve on purely clinical...
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What Drives People to Self-Harm and What Does it Mean for Insurers?

By Ross Campbell |July 25, 2017|English

When thinking about self-harm, we most associate it with youth. More than half of 11-14 year olds and eight out of ten 18-21 year olds have self-harmed - or know someone who has - according to the results of a UK poll undertaken during 2015.1 The number...
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