Lifespan of those with mental illness 13 to 30 yrs shorter

[tomsie]

I got a shock when I heard this statistic, and thought I'd let people know who may have mental well-being issues or know someone who has.

People with enduring mental illness (EMI) have a reduced life expectancy of between 13 & 30 years than
the general population. It is estimated that 60% of this increase in mortality is caused by physical illness.
taken from this website

www.icgpnews.ie/press-release-icgp-calls-for-structured-care-for-people-with-enduring-mental-illness/#:~:text=People%20with%20an%20enduring%20mental,is%20caused%20by%20physical%20illness.

For those diagnosed with schizophrenia "Overall, the weighted life expectancy was 64.7 years and 59.9 years for men compared to 67.6 years for women."
taken from www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/features/schizophrenia-life-expectancy

This website backs up the other websites and the websites are easy to read
www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/features/schizophrenia-life-expectancy.

This journal gives an more in-depth analysis
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951588/

Schizophrenia affects approximately 24 million people or 1 in 300 people (0.32%) worldwide.
strangely in Ireland around 1 in a 100 develop schizophrenia at some point in their lives.

You can probably guess I have been diagnosed with Schizophrenia, the diagnosis happened around 19 years ago.
I'm 43 now and have good mental health but when I heard the average life expectancy of someone with my diagnosis was
around 60. It was a wake-up call. I know the clock is ticking for everyone, and I hope to make good choices and improve
my life and hopefully live longer. Thought I'd share this information it doesn't seem to be common knowledge.
I'm interested in people's thoughts on this issue. I also wonder what role psychiatric meditation play in the lifespan
of people with enduring mental illness.

[denis]

www.madinamerica.com/2016/12/carrie-fisher-bipolar-meds-heart-disease/

[tomsie]

Denis that's a great article, Mad in America has a lot of Good info.

[BigBruvOfEnglandUK]

I'm really out of my depth on this subject but I'm guessing that people with mental health problems are more prone to living dangerous lifestyles with things like self medicating by using street drugs and alcohol?

[brothersteve]

I had some cooky relatives and some neighbors who lived long lives, seemingly on spite. They were not schizophrenics but they were really bitter and hurtful types to be around at times. No drugs or booze. No violence like knives or guns or bats but hurtful talk. Some of the stuff I heard was unbelievable. They would lie and bend truths to get their way or try to prove their point. Being around them made me feel like I was going nuts because I saw things different t them.

[lardy]

Mar 29, 2023 8:57:57 GMT BigBruvOfEnglandUK said:

I'm really out of my depth on this subject but I'm guessing that people with mental health problems are more prone to living dangerous lifestyles with things like self medicating by using street drugs and alcohol?

Yup, they tend to be more sexually promiscuous and numb their emotions with alcohol and drugs.

It's a saddening circle of danger that you can't really pull them out of until they "Grow out of it" (It never goes away but with age comes better control) but by then the damage is done and they usually are very lonely people with a dependence on Anti-psychotic, sleeping, Anti-Anxiety, Painkiller meds.

The craziest thing is the damage is done in such little time it's ridiculous, in the 90's I was very young but from speaking to people and from what I've seen albeit from a younger mind, the Alcohol and marijuana doesn't seem to be the biggest culprit, early 2000s is when these meds started getting prescribed massively and within 30 years the above statements is the norm for people who just went to their doctor because they felt run down.

The medication the "doctors" are prescribing are ripping families apart and making vulnerable people die lonely, sad and in pain.

My Great Grandfather suffered pretty bad PTSD and schizophrenia and was put in a mental hospital in the last 5 years of his life on a dose of lithium, talking to people who knew him it seems like he was the ONLY person they knew with severe mental health issues. I can name 15 people off the top of my head that are on a list of mental health medications, they're literally killing people and ruining their lives prematurely.  

[Deuce Gunner]

Mar 29, 2023 8:57:57 GMT BigBruvOfEnglandUK said:

I'm really out of my depth on this subject but I'm guessing that people with mental health problems are more prone to living dangerous lifestyles with things like self medicating by using street drugs and alcohol?

There is also almost nothing you can DO to lengthen your life. There are an awful lot of things you can do to shorten it and people with perfect mental health do these things also. It's like those silly surveys that tell people that being able to do an X number of pushups, squats, chin ups, etc. is an accurate predictor of how long you will live. The people that can do whatever number in the study are probably just intrinsically healthier than say someone born with a genetic birth defect that can't even stand on their own.