Depending on the pathologies, the life expectancy of the mentally ill may be 9 to 24 years less than that of the general population.
In France, 12 million French people suffer from a mental illness. European study, which revealed this figure, had thrown a stone in the pond because the estimates were much lower. 15% of these patients suffer from a severe psychiatric pathology. These diseases are extremely disabling and at risk. A study, published in the journal World Psychiatry, reveals that these people would have a lower life expectancy than that of the general population.
Same consequence as tobacco
A team of researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford wanted to know more. To obtain conclusive results, it was necessary to analyze 20 studies on the subject. They include 1.7 million people suffering from different types of mental illnesses and 250,000 deaths.
In order to have a point of comparison, Dr Seena Fazel’s team established that a person, smoking at least 20 cigarettes a day, would have their life expectancy reduced from 8 to 10 years. In people with mental illness, the figures are even more worrying. For a bipolar patient, life expectancy is reduced from 9 to 20 years. A schizophrenic sees his own shrink from 10 to 20 years. For drug addicts and alcoholics, life expectancy can be reduced from 9 to 24 years!
As Dr. Fazel confides, “Britons suffering from mental illness have the same life expectancy as the population of North Korea and Bangladesh or as the British in the 1930s.” The researchers also found a early mortality rate significantly higher than that of the general population.
Risky behaviors
These differences can be explained by several factors: “High risk behaviors are common among psychiatric patients, especially drug and alcohol use, and they are more likely to commit suicide. ”
But that’s not all. For Dr. Fazel, physical problems are not as well monitored and treated as psychiatric problems in these patients. They worsen the prognosis of a wide variety of diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. “
Need better follow-up
Better monitoring would be a crucial step. As Dr. John Williams, head of the institution that funded the study, confides: these ailments “are among the most vulnerable people in society. This study, he continues, shows how access to good health care and advice is crucial, which is not always the case. “
Dr Fazel’s team recommends that governments agree to specific accommodations for this segment of the population, such as “full access to good health services, appropriate employment and daytime activities”. According to him, major awareness campaigns should be launched to help these people live longer.
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