People with a severe mental illness, such as depressive, neurotic, and stress disorders, alcohol and drug use, and schizophrenia, die more than 10 years earlier than the general population, finds mortality data from 255,000 patients.
https://news.uq.edu.au/2026-09-why-do-people-mental-illness-die-younger-research-reveals-mental-health-inequality
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People with a severe mental illness die more than 10 years earlier than the general population, research led by The University of Queensland has found.
Researchers have found that while the mortality rate has improved over the past 14 years for mental health patients, inequality is still prevalent.
Lead author [Dr Mike Trott](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/42628), from the [Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences](https://about.uq.edu.au/faculties-institutes/hmbs), said they tracked Queensland hospital data over 14 years to assess the mortality rates of those with severe mental illness, such as depressive, neurotic, and stress disorders, alcohol and drug use, and schizophrenia.
“What we found was both encouraging but worrisome at the same time,” Dr Trott said.
>We found the mortality gap is improving and people with severe mental illnesses are living longer than they were 14 years ago, which shows the health care system is on the right track.
“However, the mortality rate for patients with psychoses such as schizophrenia have flatlined, which is concerning as this highlights that the sickest people aren’t benefitting from better care.
“There have been some improvements, but the gap is still there in life expectancy rates – males with mental health disorders die 12 years earlier than the general population, and females die 10 years earlier.”
Researchers analysed hospital mortality data from about 255,000 patients.
Dr Trott said this is the first time data had been examined in Australia in two decades.
“This research also shows patients are dying younger from preventable physical health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease,’’ he said.
“Patients with severe mental illness tend to require more complex care, and often medication side effects such as weight gain and reduction in physical activity can lead to poorer physical health.
“We found physical illness is the principal driver of excess mortality, so prioritising physical health for these patients as well as mental health could be essential in closing the gap for people with psychotic disorders.”
[https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanwpc/article/PIIS2666-6065(26)00182-3/fulltext](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanwpc/article/PIIS2666-6065(26)00182-3/fulltext)
That is super insightful. Is anyone able to give an answer or hypothesis as to why?
I have ADHD and I’ve already done all the reading. People like me die from suicide and alcohol abuse way earlier than our peers.
We constantly have low lying depression and suffer from social rejection at an early age. Our bodies don’t supply us with normal dopamine, so when we accomplish goals we don’t feel proud, just relieved.
No wonder we kill ourselves, we’re good at making people laugh though.
Alcohol use disorder, or just alcohol use?
Individuals who have severe mental illness are more likely to commit suicide. Many severe mental illnesses first occur in the late teens/ early twenties – leading to young deaths in many cases. This would bring the average age of death of a person with a severe mental illness down. So this really isn’t a surprise.
Edit: in the case of preventable deaths (like cardiovascular disease) individuals with severe mental illness have a hard time meeting their basic needs and are more likely to have substance abuse disorders. This can lead to a lot of physical manifestations of that neglect or abuse.
We die sooner in the US because many of us realize we can’t afford the physical care after trying to receive mental care earlier in life.
no way i thought we’d live 10 years longer
My mother was schizophrenic but lived to be 91. She was meds compliant her entire life except for the last 5 years. Sometimes people are ok.
What about [obvious confounding variable]? (Didn’t read the study)
I’m not sure what the health care system is like in Australia where this study was conducted, but the completely out of reach nature of medical care in some places would certainly be a major contributing factor in many cases. Any kind of for-profit health care systems would drive those numbers up by quite a bit.
I’d like to see how it is in Canada. All my psych meds are free.
The only thing that worries me for schizipohrenia is if my central nervous system and/or neurons are being attacked by my immune system. Some of that stuff probably doesnt grow back.
People with no will to live die early. Riveting discovery
Considering that the people ruling the world right now are disgusting cockroaches, I’ll count that as a blessing.
thank god. shaving 10 years off this nightmare.
Stress. It’s a hell of a drug. Absolutely pro-inflammatory and immune suppressant.
Everyday is a pain.I hope this ends early
well that’s not gonna help… like, even a little…