Mental disorders may strongly decrease life expectancy

In a new study, researchers found people with mental disorders have a life expectancy up to a decade shorter than the general population.

They found that on average mental disorders shortened life expectancy by 10 years for men and seven years for women.

The findings provided new insights into how disorders such as depression, anxiety, and substance use affected an individual’s general health.

The research was conducted by a team at the University of Queensland and elsewhere.

The team used high-quality anonymous data from 7.4 million people living in Denmark between 1995 and 2015.

Using a measurement of “life-years lost,” the researchers were able to take into account the onset age of the disorders and make life expectancy estimates for each separate group of mental disorders, from depression and anxiety disorders to schizophrenia.

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.

This is the first time researchers have measured life expectancy for distinct types of mental disorders in a sex and age-specific way.

It’s well known that people with mental disorders die earlier than the general population, but the team has used more accurate approaches than those used in the past.

In addition to looking at premature mortality, the team was able to explore specific causes of death.

They found that the risk of early death was higher for people with mental disorders across all ages—apart from an increased risk of death due to suicide.

The results confirmed an increased risk of death due to conditions such as cancer, respiratory diseases, and diabetes.

The research also showed that although men with a mental disorder lose relatively few years of life due to cancer-related deaths compared to the general population, they are much more likely to die from heart and lung diseases at a younger age.

One author of the study is Professor John McGrath from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute.

The study is published in The Lancet.

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