Five years ago, Colton and Mandersheidi surveyed mortality data from eight states and concluded that, on average, Americans with major mental illness die 14 to 32 years earlier than the general population. The average life expectancy for people with major mental illness ranged from 49 to 60 years of age in the states they examined — a life span on par with many sub-Saharan African countries, including Sudan (58.6 years) and Ethiopia (52.9 years).ii Average life expectancy in the United States is 77.9 years.iii It would appear that the increase in longevity enjoyed by the general U. S. population over the past half century has been lost on those with serious mental illness (SMI). In fact, this drop in life expectancy due to mental illness would surpass the health disparities reported for most racial or ethnic groups. Yet this population is rarely identified as an underserved or at-risk group in surveys of the social determinants of health. iv This is from a blog on the website of the National Institute of Mental Health written by its Director, Dr. Thomas Insel
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 02:23:50 +0000
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