Adults with severe mental illness die 15 to 20 years earlier from diseases such as cancer
Source: Guardian Health ↗
Adults with severe mental illness are dying dramatically earlier than the rest of the population, with NHS data showing they are nearly five times more likely to die before age 75 from serious physical diseases. The Rethink Mental Illness charity’s analysis defines severe mental ill health as individuals referred to specialist secondary mental health services and finds that these adults die 15‑20 years sooner, primarily from preventable conditions. Their risk of death is 6.3 times higher for liver disease, sixfold for respiratory illness, 3.8 times for cardiovascular disease, 2.3 times for cancer, and an astonishing 14.6 times higher for suicide, resulting in an overall 4.8‑fold increase in mortality before 75 compared with those not referred. In the 2022‑2024 reporting period, more than 24,000 deaths among working‑age adults with severe mental illness were attributed to cardiovascular disease and cancer, the highest numbers on record, while cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver disease and respiratory disease together accounted for 56.5 % of deaths in the 18‑74 age group; suicide contributed 7 % of these early deaths.
The report attributes this excess mortality to a combination of socioeconomic and systemic factors. Poverty, inadequate housing, higher smoking rates, medication‑induced weight gain, physical inactivity and fragmented health‑care delivery all exacerbate physical health risks for this group. Crucially, the authors highlight “diagnostic overshadowing,” where clinicians attribute physical symptoms to mental illness and consequently fail to investigate or treat underlying conditions properly. These drivers mean that, despite frequent contact with health services, opportunities for early detection and intervention are routinely missed, turning otherwise preventable diseases into fatal outcomes.
The findings arrive just before the government’s independent review of mental health, autism and ADHD, which is expected to call for a more holistic approach to patient care. Rethink’s chief executive, Mark Winstanley, called the situation a scandal and urged the upcoming cross‑government mental‑health strategy to prioritize physical health checks, mental‑health‑informed interventions and peer support. The president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Prof Subodh Dave, echoed the call for action, noting that evidence‑based solutions such as smoking cessation programmes and routine physical examinations already exist but lack coordinated implementation. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson announced plans to develop a modern service framework, open 100 new community mental‑health centres and create an integrated system aimed at earlier response and reduced waiting times, signalling a governmental commitment to address the stark health inequalities highlighted by the report.
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The U.S.'s central bank rate currently stands at 3.75%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The U.S.'s economy is growing at 2.3% with inflation at 3.2%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the U.S.'s own central bank rate closely. With the U.S.'s unemployment at 4.4%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the U.S. depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
The UK's central bank rate currently stands at 3.75%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The UK's economy is growing at 0.8% with inflation at 3.2%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the UK's own central bank rate closely. With the UK's unemployment at 5.6%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the UK depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
France's central bank rate currently stands at 2%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. France's economy is growing at 0.9% with inflation at 1.8%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track France's own central bank rate closely. With France's unemployment at 7.9%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is already under strain. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in France depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
Romania's central bank rate currently stands at 6.5%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. Romania's economy is growing at 0.7% with inflation at 7.8%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track Romania's own central bank rate closely. With Romania's unemployment at 6%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in Romania depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
The UAE's central bank rate currently stands at 3.65%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The UAE's economy is growing at 3.1% with inflation at 2.5%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the UAE's own central bank rate closely. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the UAE depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.