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Patients with severe mental illness should receive an annual physical health check to prevent thousands dying from preventable physical illnesses each year, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
It comes as new analysis suggests that more than 26,000 adults with severe mental illness, including psychosis, post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia, die prematurely each year from diseases like cancer and heart disease which could have been prevented with earlier detection and treatment or lifestyle changes.
While adults with severe mental illness are more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviours like smoking and drinking alcohol excessively, they are also less likely to access screening and treatment for a range of reasons including stigma associated with having a mental illness.
Dr Adrian James, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “I know from the people I see that having a severe mental illness can make looking after your physical health much more difficult. As a psychiatrist, I urge everyone who knows someone with severe mental illness to look out for them and ensure they receive professional support for both their physical and mental health problems.
“Having a severe mental illness shouldn’t be an early death sentence. We’re calling on the government to ensure reducing premature mortality is a major priority in the forthcoming Major Conditions Strategy. This commitment should be part of a longer-term ambition to cut premature morality across the UK by one-third by 2030, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages.”
Severe mental illness and preventable deaths
While cancer is the leading cause of premature death among those with a severe mental illness, it also significantly increases the risk of dying before the age of 75 across a range of physical health conditions. Adults with severe mental illness are on average:
- 6.6 times more likely to die prematurely from respiratory disease
- 6.5 times more likely to die prematurely from liver disease
- 4.1 times more likely to die prematurely from cardiovascular disease
- 2.3 times more likely to die prematurely from cancer.
The mortality gap between those living with severe mental illness and the rest of the population is widening. Over a three-year period from 2015 to 2017, these adults were 4.6 times more likely to die before the age of 75 than those without a severe mental illness. This increased to 4.9 times in the following three years from 2018 to 2020.
As of March 2023, there were 535,204 adults with a diagnosed severe mental illness in England.
The College is also calling on the government to close the mortality gap and provide full annual health checks to everyone with a severe mental illness, comprising blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipids tests plus BMI weight, alcohol status and smoking assessments.
Andy Bell, Chief Executive of the Centre for Mental Health, host organisation of Equally Well UK, added: “It is unacceptable that so many lives are being lost too soon because people with a mental illness get inadequate help for their physical health. This shocking inequality in health is getting worse and it’s time for concerted action to close the gap. The Government must take action now by setting a clear target to reduce early deaths among people with a mental illness and enabling health and care services to meet it.”