Articles "Can depression shorten people's lives"

 Key facts

  • People with severe mental disorders on average tend to die earlier than the general population. This is referred to as premature mortality. There is a 10-25 year life expectancy reduction in patients with severe mental disorders. 

• The vast majority of these deaths are due to chronic physical medical conditions such as cardiovascular, respiratory and infectious diseases, diabetes and hypertension. Suicide is another important cause of death. 

• Mortality rates among people with schizophrenia is 2 to 2.5 times higher than the general population. • People with bipolar mood disorders have high mortality rates ranging from 35% higher to twice as high as the general population. 

• There is a 1.8 times higher risk of dying associated with depression. People with severe mental illness do not receive the same quality of physical health care as the general population. 

• The majority of deaths of patients with severe mental illness that are due to physical medical conditions are preventable with more attentive checks for physical illness, side effects of medicines and suicidal tendencies-. 

• Interventions exist to promote the mental and physical health of individuals with severe mental disorders. There is a need for increasing access to quality care for patients with severe mental disorders, and to improve the diagnosis and treatment of coexisting physical conditions. The integration of mental and physical health care could facilitate this.

 

Study confirms that depression can shorten life

It's long been believed people with major depression and some other serious mental illnesses tend to live shorter lives than others—and die more quickly than expected when they develop illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

The paper also suggests that improvements in the quality of mental health care depressed patients receive could reduce mortality in those groups, and that better overall management of their care could also reduce their risk of early death.

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Depression Most Prevalent Mental Disorder in America

 Depression is the most common serious brain disease in the U.S. today. Major (also called unipolar) depression, a physical illness whose principal manifestations are psychological, involves frequent episodes of intense hopelessness and lowered self-esteem. It can affect an individual's mood, body, behavior, and mind; when left untreated, depression may eventually lead to suicide.

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Adjusting Your Life for Recovery From Depression

There's a lot that you can do on your own to ease the symptoms of depression. Changing your lifestyle can have a big effect on your mood. However, it's not always easy to change our ways.

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Can mental illness shorten your life?

People with severe mental disorders on average tend to die earlier than the general population. This is referred to as premature mortality. There is a 10-25 year life expectancy reduction in patients with severe mental disorders.

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Mentally ill die many years earlier than others

New research confirms that people with mental disorders have an increased risk of premature mortality. When compared to the general population, average life expectancy is respectively 10 and 7 years shorter for men and women with mental disorders.

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