People with severe mental illness in England die 15–20 years earlier — The Guardian
In England, people with severe mental illness die 15–20 years earlier than other adults, largely because of physical illnesses that can often be prevented. The charity Rethink Mental Illness reached these conclusions after analysing NHS data, The Guardian reports.
Risk of premature death
The study classified as people with serious mental disorders adults who had been referred to specialist mental health services. According to Rethink Mental Illness calculations, they were 4.8 times more likely to die before the age of 75 than the general population.
The likelihood of death from liver disease for this group was 6.3 times higher, from respiratory diseases six times higher, from cardiovascular diseases 3.8 times higher, and from cancer 2.3 times higher. Mortality from suicide was 14.6 times higher than among people who had not been referred to specialist mental health services.
Causes of mortality
In 2022–2024, cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as liver disease, accounted for 56.5% of all deaths among people aged 18 to 74 with severe mental illness in England. Cancer and cardiovascular diseases each accounted for just under 19% of deaths, respiratory diseases for 11%, and liver disease for 8%. Suicides accounted for 7% of premature deaths in this group.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
The organisation also calculated that in 2022–2024, the number of deaths from cancer and cardiovascular diseases among working-age adults with mental disorders exceeded 24,000 in each category. According to Rethink Mental Illness, these are the highest figures since records began.
Factors behind inequality
Among the factors behind excess mortality, the report’s authors named poverty, poor housing conditions, higher smoking rates, medication-related weight gain, insufficient physical activity and fragmented healthcare. They also drew attention to “diagnostic overshadowing” — situations in which physical symptoms are mistakenly attributed to a patient’s mental state, meaning possible illnesses are not always properly examined and treated.
Rethink chief executive Mark Winstanley said opportunities to identify and treat physical health problems in time are being missed, even though many patients regularly interact with healthcare services. Subodh Dave, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, called for systemic action, including smoking cessation programmes and regular physical health checks.
