The report, which examines the public health systems in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Utah and Arizona, said people with serious mental illnesses die at an average age of 51, compared with the national average age of 76.
USA Today reports lead author Joseph Parks, director of psychiatric services for the Missouri Department of Mental Health, said the gap has widened since the early 1990s, when it was 10 to 15 years.
The report, which is scheduled to be released Monday at a meeting of state hospital directors, claims that certain anti-psychotic medications can cause drastic weight gain that ultimately leads to diabetes and heart disease.
People with mental illness often get little exercise and many take a newer type of anti-psychotic drugs which, they believe, is the main cause for the early deaths. People with mental illness are also more likely than others to smoke and have alcohol and drug-abuse problems.
