10-07-2025
- Health
- Wall Street Journal
The Mental-Health Stigma That Won't Go Away: Getting Paid Time Off to Heal
Monika Gray-Payne, a self-employed esthetician, often worked seven days a week, providing cosmetic services. But in 2022, she found herself spiraling. Beset by panic attacks and crying spells, she struggled to leave the house, much less work. The next spring, after a diagnosis of PTSD and bipolar disorder, she filed a claim for disability pay.
Her insurer, Ameritas Life Insurance, didn't see things the same way. A doctor it chose to evaluate her described her symptoms as 'mild to moderate trauma.' In its letter denying her claim, Ameritas agreed that Gray-Payne had PTSD from a trauma years earlier but that she had proved before that she could 'put much of that behind' her and could work.
