Sharing – Mental Illness Costs Lives, But Not How You Probably Expect
This is an interesting finding, because it may be surprising, but it also makes a lot of sense.
“On average Danes diagnosed with mental illness – a third of the population – live 10 years less than everyone else.
In The Lancet, McGrath reveals the detail behind that figure. “All types of mental disorders had higher mortality rates – some are attributable to suicide but surprisingly, most were due to general medical conditions such as heart disease, infection, and cancer,” he said.”
Yes, we lose people to suicide often, and that has an impact on the life expectancy of people with mental health diagnosis but it is even lower because of other factors. The study didn’t identify those factors in particular but would we really be surprised to learn that people dealing with depression, for example, aren’t great about seeking medical care or following treatment plans for their physical health?
That feels likely to me. I sure didn’t do the best job of taking care of myself physically when I was dealing with major depression, how about you?
