Challenging Disorganization and Hoarding Expert Ellen Hankes

How Long To Maintain Medical Papers?

Wendy in Iowa asked a great question about medical records. Here is her question:

How long do you retain medical papers? I usually get some kind of paper at the office, and then claims from the insurance company, and then bill from the doctors office. I match these all together and pay the remainder that insurance doesn't cover. So, how long should I keep it for? NOTE: We do not itemize our taxes.

Thanks, Wendy, for your excellent question. While the rule of thumb is to keep medical papers for three years, there are several additional things to consider. If the health condition is a chronic one, retain medical documents for three years after the chronic condition is resolved. Health records such as immunizations should be kept indefinitely. If in the future, your medical expenses are itemized on tax returns, retain these tax-related documents for at least seven years.

My personal method is to retain all such records for ten years. The math is easy: In 2010 I destroy the records from the year 2000. Anything related to long term purchases or tax materials is retained separately and stored indefinitely. Chronically disorganized individuals will find the use of open bins and color filing materials helpful in managing the multiude of papers.

Destroy any personal records in a secure way such as shredding.

Review the Record Retention Guidelines 101 at Smead Organomics for information on a wide array of household record retention information.

Why Depression and Organizing Challenges Are Linked

 It is not unusual for a chronically disorganized individual to tell me that he or she is affected by major depression. Why might that occur?

Symptoms of depression can include indecisiveness and distractibility, according to MayoClinic.com. Since organizing requires making decisions about where things should go, whether to keep or recycle items and how to categorize material, indecisiveness is a roadblock in effective organization.

Staying on task and keeping with an organizing project can be very difficult, or impossible, for a person who is easily distracted. The fatigue that may go along with major depression is also a detriment to organizing. The depressed person may not be able to muster up the energy to get started organizing and may find the energy required to keep the momentum going on their own just too overwhelming!

While mental health professionals are the best source of mental health counseling and treatment, the individual who is affected by both depression and disorganization may well benefit from working with a professional organizer who has experience and training in working with the chronically disorganized.

Have you observed a link between depression and disorganization? I would like to hear from you.