Slashdot Mirror
Mental Illness Reduces Lifespan As Much as Smoking
That smoking is bad for your health is a commonplace; cancer, lung disease, and other possible consequences can all shorten smokers' lifespans. A new meta study from researchers at Oxford concludes that mental illness is just as big a factor in shortening lives, and not only because depression is a contributing factor to suicide.
From the story at NPR: "We know that smoking boosts the risk of cancer and heart disease, says Dr. Seena Fazel, a psychiatrist at Oxford University who led the study. But aside from the obvious fact that people with mental illnesses are more likely to commit suicide, it's not clear how mental disorders could be causing early deaths. The researchers looked at data on 1.7 million patients, drawing from 20 recent scientific reviews and studies from mostly wealthy countries. Comparing the effects of mental illness and smoking helps put the stats in context, Fazel tells Shots. 'It was useful to benchmark against something that has a very high mortality rate.'" [Press release from Oxford.]
Perhaps the reduced life expectancy is comparable to that caused by high-stress lifestyles. If I was paranoid or socially ostracised, as the mentally ill commonly are, I'd be stressed too.
I can nail this one: Mentally ill people generally don't take good care of themselves. They tend to eat worse and more irregularly, sleep odd hours, and not get to the doctor as much (for whatever reason), especially if they live by themselves and no one's looking after them.
Basically, the severely mentally ill tend to make poor lifestyle choices a lot more.
In addition to the poor choices associated with irrationality ... remember that these are diseases of the brain. Complex syndromes that have effects beyond behavior and thinking. For example, depression is associated with pain.
Some interesting reading: Peter Kramer's Against Depression.
...mental health patients tend to be serious smokers too, self-medicating. Anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, major depression, to name a few. (Source: was married to a psych nurse)
This is a positively idiotic statement.
The mentally ill are over-represented in homeless, impoverished, drug-using (self-medicating), and other highly at-risk populations. Even with a support network, they are often unable to assist in their own care, and symptoms they describe may be attributed to excessively attributed to psychosomatic rather than physical causes. They often refuse medical care, either blanket refusal, or may specifically refuse to take one medication, or follow one bit of doctor's advice. They usually have difficulty retaining a doctor, and bounce between them, probably to progressively less-capable ones.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Doctors have done studies for years confirming that smoking tends to moderate SOME symptoms of schizophrenia. How rain on your wedding day is that?
Seriously, this shouldn't be a surprise. Mental illness can include and/or lead to anorexia, compulsive overeating, apathy and depression leading to sedentary lifestyle, suicide, dangerous risk taking behavior, homelessness, poor nutrition, drug abuse including excessive smoking and drinking, and taking lots of prescribed medications.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
Dude, no one gets out alive. Ever.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
If the name doesn't ring a bell to younger Western audiences (and not to be confused with an Asian supermarket chain, apparently), it is now part of Glaxo-SmithKline (GSK):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...
Yet another thing to be depressed about...
A number of reasons
1) Basic human compassion
2) Mentally ill and drug abusers affect the healthy. Drug crime is rampant with a high cost to society. Even if all drugs were legalized, as I believe they should be, there would be still a heavy price, just as with alcoholism. These would include car crashes, unemployment, failed businesses, etc that you mention.
3) As someone with depression, it seems worth fixing.
4) Mental illness is just that, an illness.Why do you draw a distinction between cancer and mental illness. How is someone with cancer "healthy"?
Why do people insist on studying, helping, fixing the mentally ill or the drug abusers?
Healthy human compassion.
What about those who are "healthy" but run into unfortunate events (car crash, cancer, getting laid off)?
We care for them too.
If we're going to treat society as a single organism, wouldn't we want to give to the most capable rather than the least?
That would be a false dilemma. If the two options were mutually exclusive, what you said would make sense. As it is, what you said is just idiotic.
Where is this constant need to fix people coming from?
Again, basic human compassion. You should try it sometime...
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
but it is the lesser of two evils when compared to a healthy person.
That may be true on a statistical level however I personally know 4 people (plus their immediate family members) who lives were turned upside down by a combination of Zoloft (anti-stress) mixed with regular, but not excessive, alcohol consumption (anti-inhibitor). One of them (a 60yr old male with no police record) ended up in jail for attacking some cops, another (40yo male) was arrested and thrown into the local lock-up for threatening neighbours and the police who turned up to investigate.
The problem (from this layman's POV) is that unintentional abuse is easy and GP's hand out behaviour modifying pills like jelly beans. Humans needs some stress to function in a human society, take away the bodily symptoms of stress (adrenalin rush, etc) and you have basically removed the person "social filter". Lying, cheating, etc, no longer makes their heart beat a little faster so their brain is left wondering what "everybody else's" problem is, and why are they are suddenly being "picked on" by everybody. Whatever selfish bullshit pops into their head (ie: old fashioned "temptation") is simply acted upon without guilt. In other words a human's "moral compass" does not (and cannot) operate normally without stress. OTOH, I have known (or known of) many more than 4 people where such drugs have worked as advertised but mostly because their loved ones were on watch for behaviour changes and they read the warnings about mixing them with alcohol.
Stress is normal, panic attacks are not. There's a huge difference between the two that is quite often ignored by GP's in a ten minute consultation. Chronic panic attacks can almost always be traced back to a traumatic experience or more commonly an abusive and erratic parent.
Disclaimer: My ex-wife was treated with zoloft in the late 90's for life long panic attacks brought about by her soiciopathic (and incestuoes) father, she was the proverbial "swan" - plenty of social graces but peddling like crazy under the water. She was on the pills for about 3yrs, the change in personality did not happen overnight, it was subtle and gradual, or at least it was too subtle for me to connect it with the pills. However I can tell people from experience that when it gets to the point where your partner of 20yrs starts lying to your face like a chocolate drenched two year old, blaming the pills that were prescribed a year ago is not the first reaction. Our first grandchild was born about 5yrs ago, the ex threw away the pills and cut down on the wine, she has since apologised profusely to our kids and myself for her behaviour and gone back to being a swan. Thing is, once a family has been broken it tends to stay broken, given a 10-15yr of "water under the bridge" we all have the capacity to forgive the most egregious transgressions in a loved one, but very few of us have the amnesic ability to simply forget a "life changing" experience such as a "bitter" family break up , to paraphrase "Drops of Jupiter" - the return of a life long friend from the "soul vacation" of mental desperation is as good as it ever gets.
The following advice for treating stress/depression comes from personal hindsight, seek professional help if you need medical foresight.
1. Visit a GP to get a referral to a qualified psychologist.
2. DO NOT fill a prescription from the GP without first consulting the qualified psychologist you acquired in step 1.
3. DO NOT mix mind altering recreational drugs such as alcohol or weed with mind altering prescription drugs.
4. RTFM.
5. If everyone seems to be treating you like an arsehole, then it's a safe bet you're behaving like one.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.