Greater exposure to the known risk factors for physical disease such as socio-economic status, smoking, poor nutrition, reduced physical activity and higher sedentary behaviour. Reduced access to and quality of healthcare due to financial barriers and stigma and discrimination among healthcare providers.
One major reason that people with severe mental illness live shorter lives on average, is because they're more likely to suffer from physical health conditions.
New research shows that those with longstanding mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder are biologically older than their actual, chronological age. If you're one of the millions of Americans who lives with a mental disorder, your body might be older than you think.
Why does bipolar disorder reduce life expectancy? Bipolar disorder can take a toll on your mental health and your physical health. Physical illnesses associated with bipolar disorder are common and considered major contributors to reduced life expectancy.
The average age at death for residents with any mention of mental illness was 58.5 years, compared to 76.2 years among deaths to those without any known mental health diagnosis.
If you think depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder are the mental illnesses most commonly linked to an early death, you're wrong. Eating disorders—including anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating— are the most lethal mental health conditions, according to research in Current Psychiatry Reports.
Sadly, chronic anxiety does more than affect your life quality. It can also significantly shorten your lifespan. Anxiety that's experienced all of the time is also a doorway to drug or alcohol addiction. Many people who suffer from chronic anxiety use drugs or alcohol to promote feelings of relief.
According to the World Health Organization, people with severe mental health disorders have a 10–25-year reduction in life expectancy. Schizophrenia mortality rates are between 2 and 2.5 times those in the general population, while individuals with depression have a 1.8 times higher risk of premature mortality.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the decline in life expectancy among people with more severe mental illness ranges from 10–25 years . Most studies of schizophrenia show a life expectancy reduction of 10–20 years.
ADHD can reduce life expectancy by as much as 13 years, but its risk is reversible. Learn how to mitigate the risks in this video, with Russell Barkley, Ph.
50% of mental illness begins by age 14, and 3/4 begin by age 24.
Mood disorders (e.g., bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder) usually appear around age 30 and are the most prevalent class of lifetime disorder among adults between the ages of 30 and 44 (25 percent).
We take a life-course approach to mental health because good mental health begins in infancy. 20% of adolescents may experience a mental health problem in any given year. 50% of mental health problems are established by age 14 and 75% by age 24.
After 24 years, more patients with BPD died by suicide than patients with other PD (5.9% vs 1.4%). Similarly, rates of death from other causes were higher in patients with BPD (14.0%) compared with comparison patients (5.5%).
SMI patients die about 10–20 years earlier than the general population (1–5).
In any case, improving mental health is a proven method to live longer. It has been demonstrated that people who practice positive thinking live an average of 8 to 13 years longer.
“Adults with schizophrenia are about 10 times more likely to die of COPD and 7 times more likely to die of diabetes,” says a co-author of the study, Mark Olfson, MD, a psychiatrist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City.
The exact causes of schizophrenia are unknown. Research suggests a combination of physical, genetic, psychological and environmental factors can make a person more likely to develop the condition. Some people may be prone to schizophrenia, and a stressful or emotional life event might trigger a psychotic episode.
In most people with schizophrenia, symptoms generally start in the mid- to late 20s, though it can start later, up to the mid-30s. Schizophrenia is considered early onset when it starts before the age of 18. Onset of schizophrenia in children younger than age 13 is extremely rare.
Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPDs) become overwhelmed and incapacitated by the intensity of their emotions, whether it is joy and elation or depression, anxiety, and rage. They are unable to manage these intense emotions.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has long been believed to be a disorder that produces the most intense emotional pain and distress in those who have this condition. Studies have shown that borderline patients experience chronic and significant emotional suffering and mental agony.
Personality disorders that are susceptible to worsening with age include paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, obsessive compulsive, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, avoidant, and dependent, Dr. Rosowsky said at a conference sponsored by the American Society on Aging.
More intense manifestations of anxiety can include extreme and persistent fear in the face of everyday situations. And having that intense form of anxiety for prolonged periods of time is considered an anxiety attack, a condition which can last anywhere from several minutes to weeks on end.
Research shows that overreacting, constantly worrying, and living in a state of perpetual anxiety can reduce life expectancy. 1 If this describes your typical response to everyday setbacks and snafus, it may pay in the very, very long run to learn ways to lighten up and lower stress.