Policy brief: Helping people with severe mental disorders live longer and healthier lives

Overview

People with severe mental disorders, which include schizophrenia and related conditions, bipolar disorder and moderate and severe depression, die on average 10-20 years earlier than the general population, mostly from preventable physical diseases.

This policy brief describes practical actions to address the health disparity in people with severe mental disorders. It provides different stakeholder groups including policy-makers, health-programme managers, health-service providers, NGOs and service users and carers with concrete steps they can take to ensure that people with severe mental disorders live healthier and longer lives.