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Mental Illness Reduces Lifespan As Much as Smoking

Posted by timothy on from the both-at-once-is-just-asking-for-it dept.

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.]

11 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. An opinion from a layman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:An opinion from a layman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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 would also add that mental illness & stress also reduce the ability of those afflicted to care for themselves, resulting in unhealthy lifestyle choices, and drives away those who might want to help as well.

    2. Re:An opinion from a layman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      As someone with untreated clinical depression and a sleep disorder (or just with one and the other as a symptom) I agree with the parent and his smart grandparent. "Mental illness" can be extremely stressful. I see too many choices and it takes a long time to come up with the best choice. Deciding takes too long which eats up my already shortened time. As my time disappears more and more tasks start piling up Too many tasks makes me feel overwhelmed and I break down and use escapism to avoid my seemingly impossible things to do (each task for you would take 10-30 minutes to complete). I was at least able to stop playing video games, but now I'm watching way too much TV (currently on Red Dawn and slowly moving backwards through highly rated scf-fi TV shows after finishing all the well known shows).

      I get very little accomplished with all that procrastinating, which makes me feel even more depressed. I do try and get out with people, but after a night of dance club I cry myself to sleep from the stress of dealing with people and all the mistakes I made screwing up dance moves I should have known, knowing I'm a loser because I was standing on the side lines waiting for someone to ask me to dance instead of having the confidence to ask them, or people telling me I should smile more. Really please stop that. The last thing I need you to tell me is that I'm making everyone around me feel bad because I don't look happy enough. That reduces my confidence even further because then I believe everyone is bothered by me and doesn't want me around. True or not, it increases escapism and reduces healthier activities.

      How would you like to walk barefoot through a large area converted with poisonous snakes? That's what it's like all the time with crippling social anxiety. Anything you do and your inactions must be perfect or you'll be destroyed by those around you. Since just being in such a situation is extremely stressful in and of itself, you'll make mistakes.

    3. Re:An opinion from a layman by Lotana · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It is very hard. I am convinced that changing the way a person thinks is one of the most challenging things in life.

      What is helping me improve my social anxiety and depression is seeing a psychologist. Combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and medication gives me a small edge to help me cope.

      I sympathize with your struggles. I hope you will find what works for you to avoid sinking deeper into that abyss.

    4. Re:An opinion from a layman by Megol · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Listen to me please: your writing indicates a typical depressed thought pattern, trust me, I've been there - I've been worse than that. I've talked with people with depression and noticed the same things/patterns.

      Guess what? Anti-depressants aren't intended to treat the _cause_ of depression. They aren't meant to be a "lucky pill" (a common meme) - they don't make one happy and aren't intended to. What they do is enabling the brain to work more as it is intended to and enable one to do other things to improve ones situation. However they need to be taken long term in order to do anything so taking them for a month and then quitting because "they don't do anything" that some people do isn't so smart.

      If one is very depressed and want a quicker acting help I'd recommend ECT - Electroconvulsive Therapy. I've had it in several rounds and talked with people that also had it periodically, some for many years (chronic depression). It is extremely quick acting compared to pills, some people claim to feel better already after waking up from the (for civilized nations) mandatory sedation.
      Is it risk free? No, _no_ treatment is risk free. People have died from complications when treating ingrown nails. ECT isn't good if one have very high blood pressure for instance as the pressures increase sharply, there are a number of other contraindications too. But ECT is the treatment with the most FUD around. It doesn't change one's personality, one doesn't suffer total memory loss, one doesn't get severe brain damages.
      Memory loss is a common side-effect though but it is mostly short term and is compensated by the practitioner adjusting placement of electrodes and the parameters for the next treatment. Another is muscle ache however that is compensated for using a mild muscle relaxant in conjunction with the sedation.

      About anti-depressants destroying the brain I'll not comment on directly however do you realize that depression _does_ destroy the brain? That is one reason for the faulty thought patterns and is easily verifiable by MRI on deeply depressed people. Anti-depressants and ECT have been shown to regrow lost brain matter.
      These are verified findings from 3rd party BTW so not some company PR.

      For your own sake I hope you do seek treatment, it can improve your quality of life drastically. I'm not talking about everything getting perfect over night, it will most likely take long time and well, is there anybody with a perfect life? ;) But it can be much better.

      PS if you have problem discussing your problems (AFAIK pretty common for depressed people) I recommend writing them down on a paper when seeking treatment and giving it to the psychologist. In this way he/she can then easier ask relevant questions.

  2. so true :| by jtrainor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:so true :| by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The rhetoric of "choice" and "responsibility" is quasi-religious anyway, with no basis in science.

      The human mind is very far from rational, and what little neurological evidence we have suggests we may make decisions before we have even become consciously aware of them - it's just really good at tricking itself into thinking it is a magically rational computer.

      Rather than an artificial, binary divide between the capable and the incapable, it would be much better if we thought on a sliding scale in terms of some people being programmed to manage certain affairs better than others, and recognised that there is no fault beyond birth.

  3. in addition to poor choices associated with ... by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  4. Nonsense. by evilviper · · Score: 4, Insightful

    it's not clear how mental disorders could be causing early deaths.

    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.

    The reasons are "are little understood and likely to be complex," say Dr. Hoang and colleagues, but "are likely to be influenced by adverse lifestyle and social factors associated with the presence of mental illness such as alcohol and illicit drug use, and exposure to poor housing."

    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  5. Schizophrenics are HEAVY smokers by gelfling · · Score: 5, Informative

    Doctors have done studies for years confirming that smoking tends to moderate SOME symptoms of schizophrenia. How rain on your wedding day is that?

  6. Re:why the focus on being your brother's keeper? by sleepypsycho · · Score: 5, Informative

    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"?