Mental Illness & Heart Disease
November 15, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Mental illness is associated with many issues. People with mental illnesses are often marginalized in society, pushed aside and ignored, or ridiculed. Some people with mental illness manage well with the proper medical and psychosocial support, but sadly, it’s still a big problem for so many.
Often, the effects of mental illness contribute to physical illness and behaviors such as smoking, not eating well, or physical inactivity. Unfortunately, these are also prime risk factors for developing heart disease as well. Not long ago, we learned that people with mental illness die, on average, 25 years earlier than their peers who do not have mental health issues. Now, we’ve learned that many of these early deaths are due to heart disease.
Researchers studied 147,193 patients in the VA medical system. Some had no 
mental illness while others were diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, other psychotic disorders, major depressive disorder or other depression diagnosis. They looked at many factors, such as socioeconomic levels, demographics, and lifestyle.
The results showed that after taking many things into account, the patients with psychiatric disorders were more likely to die of heart disease than those who didn’t have mental illnesses.
These findings do show the importance of trying to control some of the behaviors that contribute to heart disease among those with mental illnesses.
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Images: iStock.com, MorgueFile.com
my Friend has mental illness it makes me real sad.
In the United States I feel that people with mental diseases are not accepted in society by most people but are supported in many ways by the people who do care and are concerned. My heart goes out to all people with mental diseases and have mental disorders but everyone does not feel that way. In public there are a number of people, mostly kids or teens, who stare at people with mental diseases as if they are some kind of animal. What they don’t realize is that they are human just like us. Their feelings are real and they are smart. The only difference is that they learn at a different level and have different thoughts.