14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers at University College London (UCL) have found in a new statistical study that people who suffer from mental illnesses, or have a history of such conditions, tend to live shorter lives than healthy peers who do not have similar problems.
Details of the new study are published in the latest issue of the prestigious British Medical Journal (BMJ). UCL investigators carried out the research together with colleagues at the University of Edinburgh, also in the United Kingdom.
The group analyzed data from the Health Survey for England, a study conducted between 1994 and 2004 on 68,000 adults above the age of 35. All participants were surveyed about their mental health problems, and the severity of their symptoms quantified.
Scientists then cross-referenced these symptoms with the number of people who died during the 10-year investigation. It was found that, on average, people who suffered from more severe mental problems were more likely to die.
In the study, experts compensated for deaths from external sources, or from conditions including cancer and heart problems. Lower life expectancy was especially present in people suffering from severe anxiety and major depression.
“These associations also remained after we did our best to take into account other factors, such as weight, exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, and diabetes,” Dr. David Batty explains.
“Therefore this increased mortality is not simply due to people with higher levels of psychological distress having poorer health behaviors,” adds the expert, a research fellow at the Wellcome Trust.
Batty, who holds an appointment with the UCL Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, was also the senior author on the new BMJ study. He says that researchers should now focus on determining whether therapies against anxiety and depression can increase life expectancy as well.
“People with mental health problems are among the most vulnerable in society. This study highlights the need to ensure they have access to appropriate health care and advice so that they can take steps to improve the outcome of their illness,” adds John Williams, PhD.
The expert holds an appointment as the head of Neuroscience and Mental Health at the Wellcome Trust, PsychCentral reports.