People With Mental Disorders Die 7-10 Years Earlier

People with mental disorders die 7-10 years earlier

People with mental health problems have a much higher risk of premature death. The data obtained by scientists allowed us to see how depression, anxiety and other disorders affect life expectancy.

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People with mental disorders have a much higher risk of premature death, according to a study conducted by scientists at Aarhus University. The study, published in The Lancet, included 7.4 million people living in Denmark between 1995 and 2015.

“It is well known that people with mental disorders die earlier. However, for the first time, we are presenting a comprehensive study examining mortality in certain types of mental disorders,”said Dr. Oleguer Plana-Ripoll, lead author of the study.

The data scientists obtained have allowed us to see how disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders and substance use disorders affect people's life expectancy.

“We investigated how mortality rates change for each type of disorder, for each age, for men and women. In addition to evaluating premature mortality, we were able to examine specific causes of death such as cancer, diabetes and suicide,”says Plana-Ripoll.

Scientists say the risk of premature death was higher for people with mental disorders at any age. Looking at the differences in average life expectancy, the authors found that men and women with mental disorders were 10 and 7 years shorter, respectively, compared to the average Dane of the same age.

“People with depression, which is one of the most common mental disorders, have had an increased mortality rate. In addition to the increased risk of dying from suicide, they also have an increased risk of dying from medical conditions such as cancer, respiratory disease, diabetes. We found that men and women with mood disorders had 7.9 and 6.2 years shorter life expectancies, respectively, after diagnosis compared to the average Dane of the same age,”says Dr Plana-Ripoll.

Scientists also found that although men with mental disorders have a higher risk of dying from cancer, they are much more likely to die of cardiovascular disease and lung disease at a younger age than the general population.