People with mental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety attacks and bipolar disorder live 10 years shorter – the report of American specialists published by JAMA Psychiatry showed.
Columbia University psychiatrist prof. Mark Olfson emphasizes that the reason for the shorter life of mentally ill people is not more frequent suicides among them, but acute or chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, mainly heart attacks and strokes.
Many studies have long pointed out that mental disorders are so burdensome for patients that they often shorten their lives, especially when they are poorly treated and patients cannot count on the support of their relatives.
Dr. Elizabeth Walker of Emory University in Atlanta and her team have followed 148 studies on the subject from various countries in recent years. They lasted from one year to even 52 years (on average for 10 years). They show that people with mental disorders are 2,2 times more likely to die of premature death compared to the entire population. And they live 10 years shorter.
Mental disorders such as schizophrenia do not directly affect life expectancy. Prof. Olfson explains that for many patients, they only contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle. Patients often smoke cigarettes, abuse alcohol, have poor nutrition and are not physically active. They also often have limited access to medical care. “And it all adds up to a greater risk of death” – emphasizes the specialist.
A particular example is smoking. In industrialized countries, the number of smokers is steadily declining, mainly among men. But among people with mental disorders, this is not observed – says prof. Olfson.
Only 17 percent. deaths among mentally ill people are caused by suicides or accidents. The vast majority (67%) are associated with various diseases; the causes of the remaining deaths could not be explained.
According to the authors of the report, it is still necessary to try to prevent suicide of mentally ill people, but health prophylaxis is equally important, and less attention is paid to it.
President of the Polish Psychiatric Association, prof. Bartosz Łoza claims that schizophrenia can shorten a patient’s life by up to 15-25 years. To prevent this from happening, it must be treated effectively from the very beginning. The mainstay of treatment are antipsychotics (so-called neuroleptics).
However, patients rarely follow the recommendations. As much as 40 percent. of them do not buy drugs at all after discharge from the hospital, and after 30 days less than half of them are taking them – says prof. Osier. The same is true of the treatment of depression and bipolar disorder; patients stopping prematurely or refraining from taking them. (PAP)