Mental Illness Takes a Toll on the Body

The importance of diagnosing and treating mental illness is clear to everyone. What gets emphasized less are the physical health challenges of people suffering from mental illness.

In fact, the cruelest thing about bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses is the way they completely wreck the mind while leaving the body without a scratch. (Excepting the more than 30,000 per year who commit suicide.) That way, other people can't tell, or don't believe, that someone is sick. But physical illness is often not far behind. (A long article in the New York Times Magazine this week is called "Depression's Upside." Anyone in the throes of depression will agree that there is none.)

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, just launched a wellness campaign called "Hearts & Minds" in an attempt to roll back some of the startling statistics on mortality among those with mental illness. People who are battling depression or a host of other debilitating conditions are at risk, unfortunately, for even more health challenges. Those affected will die, on average, 25 years sooner than people without mental illnesses.

Research has shown that people suffering from mental illnesses are more likely to have diabetes and heart disease. Much of this can be attributed to poor eating habits, cigarette smoking or alcohol addiction that provide the patient a measure of short-lived relief. The effects can also be compounded by the use of anti-psychotic medications. On top of all this, patients with mental illness have had difficulty getting adequate care in the past.

Thanks to the Obama administration's recent directive requiring insurance parity in the treatment of mental health and substance abuse, as well as increasing acceptance rates for those suffering, the future is bright for patients looking to get their mental illness treated and to begin work on their physical ailments. For more info, check out NAMI's Hearts & Minds roadmap.

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