EPA-0141 – Physical Health in Schizophrenia: Call to Action

Abstract

People with schizophrenia suffer from physical illness much more than persons who do not have schizophrenia. On average, several studies showed, people with schizophrenia will live as much as ten years less than the rest of the population.

The reasons for this situation are numerous. People with schizophrenia are likely to be so preoccupied with symptoms of schizophrenia that they neglect self-care and do not seek medical care when they also have a physical illness. Health services in most instances provide care of lesser quality for people who have a diagnosis of a mental illness. People with schizophrenia are also frequently so poor that they cannot afford the expenses of seeing a doctor or receiving treatment: this fact is of particular importance in countries in which a majority of the population does not have health insurance. Finally it cannot be excluded that both schizophrenia and physical illnesses have common constitutional causes, an increased vulnerability to all types of diseases, physical and mental. The presentation will discuss these facts and propose action that could reduce comorbidity with physical illness and mortality of people with schizophrenia.