Severe mental illness cuts lifespan by 15-20 years — SkimNews
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- Rethink Mental Illness found adults under 75 with severe mental illness die 15-20 years earlier than the general population, with 4.8x higher mortality risk driven largely by preventable physical conditions.
- The charity's NHS data analysis shows those referred to specialist mental health services face 6.3x higher liver disease deaths, 6x respiratory, 3.8x cardiovascular, 2.3x cancer and 14.6x suicide rates compared with the wider population.
- Cardiovascular disease and cancer deaths among working-age adults with mental illness each exceeded 24,000 in 2022-2024 — the highest levels since records began, the charity calculated.
- Cancer, cardiovascular, liver and respiratory diseases together accounted for 56.5% of deaths among 18-74 year olds with severe mental health problems in England, while suicide comprised 7%.
- The report identifies poverty, poor housing, higher smoking rates, medication-driven weight gain, physical inactivity and fragmented care as drivers — and singles out "diagnostic overshadowing," where physical symptoms are wrongly attributed to mental illness.
- Mark Winstanley, Rethink's chief executive, called the gap "a scandal" and said opportunities to treat physical illness are being missed despite frequent NHS contact; Prof Subodh Dave of the Royal College of Psychiatrists said the inequality is "unacceptable."
- The findings land ahead of the government's independent review of mental health, autism and ADHD expected this week; the Department of Health and Social Care said it is opening 100 new community mental health centres and developing a new service framework.
Why it matters: With cardiovascular and cancer deaths among working-age adults with severe mental illness at record highs — over 24,000 each in 2022-2024 — the government's imminent mental health strategy now faces pressure to mandate physical health checks and dismantle diagnostic overshadowing that the report says is costing lives across NHS services.
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