People with psychotic disorders consume more alcohol, cigarettes and drugs compared to the general public, according to University of Southern California researchers.
Researchers of University of Southern California conducted this study to better understand why people with mental disorders die faster than other people. They were surprised to find that the use of alcohol, cigarettes and drugs are higher among people who are mentally ill, according to a press statement.
"These patients tend to pass away much younger, with estimates ranging from 12 to 25 years earlier than individuals in the general population," said first author Sarah M. Hartz, MD, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University in a statement. "They don't die from drug overdoses or commit suicide - the kinds of things you might suspect in severe psychiatric illness. They die from heart disease and cancer, problems caused by chronic alcohol and tobacco use."
Researchers conducted the study on 20,000 people, out of which 9,142 were psychotic patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder. Authors of the study analyzed heavy drinking, marijuana, nicotine and recreational drug usage of all these participants. They found that 30 percent of participants with mental illnesses engaged in binge drinking compared to 8 percent of the general public.
Similarly, a whopping 75 percent of mentally ill patients were regular smokers compared to 33 percent of the normal people. Regular marijuana use was common among 50 percent of psychiatric ill patients compared to 18 percent of regular people.
"I take care of a lot of patients with severe mental illness, many of whom are sick enough that they are on disability," said Hartz. "And it's always surprising when I encounter a patient who doesn't smoke or hasn't used drugs or had alcohol problems."
Previous studies found that Hispanics and Asians have a lower rate of substance abuse than European Americans. However, in this new study researchers found that psychiatric ill patients were not influenced by race or gender when it came to drug, cigarette or alcohol consumption.
The question this study raises is whether encouraging mentally ill patients to quit smoking, drinking or using alcohol can help lengthen their lives.
"Some studies have shown that although we psychiatrists know that smoking, drinking and substance use are major problems among the mentally ill, we often don't ask our patients about those things," she said. "We can do better, but we also need to develop new strategies because many interventions to reduce smoking, drinking and drug use that have worked in other patient populations don't seem to be very effective in these psychiatric patients."
