20 years of life lost

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.

Mental illnesses cannot be seen: the wounds they inflict are internal. How badly they also disrupt physical health is therefore easily underestimated - even by doctors. A call to be more mindful.

Severe depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders: the sufferings of the soul are as diverse as those of the body - and just as dangerous. Because when the soul is sick, the body is also damaged. And that expresses itself very specifically in a greatly reduced life expectancy. Oxford psychiatrists have now calculated this for the first time. A serious mental illness therefore costs an average of ten to twenty years of life. "Many mental illnesses reduce life expectancy more than smoking 20 cigarettes a day," says Seena Fazel, head of the study. For this, the scientists evaluated 20 studies with data from 1.7 million people. More than 250,000 had died in the respective investigation periods.

20 years of life

The life expectancy of people with bipolar disorder is shortened by nine to 20 years on average compared to mentally healthy people. People with major depression are lost seven to eleven years. And for schizophrenia patients, the lifespan is shortened by ten to 20 years. For comparison: chain smokers die an average of eight to ten years earlier.

Stress hormones gnaw at the heart

The reasons for this: Illnesses such as heart attacks and diabetes affect people with severe mental illness more often and more severely. This is partly because the emotional distress also destabilizes the body functions - from blood pressure to sugar balance to the immune system.

Stress hormones, which the body permanently produces under emotional pressure, play an important role in this. They disrupt the blood sugar balance and cause the pulse and blood pressure to climb. They also stimulate inflammatory processes that gnaw at the vessel walls, among other things. The result is diseased, calcified blood vessels, which increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Overstrained patients

In addition, people with a mental illness are less able to care for themselves. They often lack the energy or organizational skills for a healthy diet, exercise or even a visit to the doctor. Even if they experience physical complaints, they are less able to contribute to getting well again: they find it even more difficult to make lifestyle changes than others, they forget their medication more often, or the diabetics among them do too seldom measure their blood sugar in order to adjust it correctly.

Another reason why mentally ill people die earlier: "They often behave risky - especially alcohol - and drug abuse is very common," explains Fazel.

And last, but not least, mental illnesses often stifle the joy of living - and not infrequently also the will to live. Ten to 15 percent of people with serious mental problems commit suicide.

Particularly worrying: Even doctors rarely have the health risks associated with mental illnesses on their radar: "Mental and physical illnesses are considered separately - also on the part of the medical profession," warns Fazel.

Quick action needed

All of these things can be changed, says the psychiatrist. There are effective drugs and therapeutic offers for people with mental illnesses, which, however, must also be used. Above all, it is important that those affected receive help quickly, are reintegrated into working life and have meaningful employment. Fazel is convinced: "It's a challenge, but we can do it."

In addition to doctors and psychiatrists, he sees politics as being responsible: "Mental problems must be given much higher priority," said the scientist. The anti-smoking campaigns, which have already had a major impact, could serve as a role model here. “Now we need a similar effort in terms of mental health.” Ultimately, mental health problems are just as dangerous and widespread as the consumption of cigarettes. And we are increasingly keeping them in check (tel).

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