[busymomof5]

I just read that having bipolar disorder reduces your life expectancy between 9-20 years. I’m so shocked I don’t know what to think. How is this possible and how do I prevent this?

[bpcyclist]

Uh oh. Don't freak. This difference is felt to be almost entirely related to the highly elevated rate of smoking in bipolar 1 patients as well as an increased rate of hypertension and hyperlipidmia, some, possibly related to atypicals. The increase is almost totally cardiac in nature. So, heart health is the key here. Walk, run, get on the bike, swim. Eat helathfully. So on. I personally believe that there may be a slight intrinsic elevation due to bipolar, perhaps as aresult of the chronic stress we must deal with over the decades That may make some sense, but it is nowhere even close to the number you quote, in my estimation. That is all cardiac.

To be blunt, the life expectancy number typically includes

Possible trigger:

suicide

So that is how we get that "20 years" statistic. I bet the number would be smaller if we didn't include that.

[busymomof5]

Thank you so much!

[bpcyclist]

POSSIBLE TRIGGER--S:

Unfortunately, because of massive differences in what differnt studies have found, we really have a very, very poor idea of exactly what the true rate of 'successful' suicide is in patients with bipolar disorder. All we know is that there seems to be no difference between bp1 and bp 2 and that in the broadest possible terms, S is completed by somewhere between 4% and 19% of patients, which is quite obviously not a remotely helpful number at all in really describing the nature and extent of the issue.

[*Beth*]

I volunteered with NAMI for years; in my training I was told that people with severe mental illness do, in general, have lives that are shorter than neurotypicals' lives are.

Some of the reasons have been posted on this thread. Smoking. Cardiac issues from medication weight gain - same with diabetes. Definitely suicide, as the rate is high (especially for those with BD, not as high for those with schizophrenia, for example).

Unfortunately, there are other reasons, too. Social isolation. Poverty. For some, never being married or having a life partner. For some, never having had children. The toll (stress) the illness itself takes on mind and body.

Many believe that those reasons can be reversed, at least somewhat, by not smoking, by good nutrition, and by connecting socially...volunteer work, classes, support groups. (Of course now, during covid, connecting is a lot more difficult, which is why something like this forum is so helpful.)

Having a pet(s) is conducive to living a longer life, especially for those of us with mental illness, and most especially as we age.

[Nammu]

I've also hear that the shorter life span is because traditionally the MI did not get physical health care. All their symptoms were chalked up to mental issues and ignored. AP and other meds cause metabolism problems and this went untreated. This is better today with better GPs but still an issue in some ERs where they dismiss physical symptoms