Mental Health Very Much Connected to Physical Health

Imagine living your life constantly battling a mental illness. Now imagine living your life battling a mental illness and dealing with a physical condition. This is a war on two fronts, and fighting this war every day will slowly deteriorate a human being. According to an article posted by Canturberry, there was a study carried out by University of East Anglia chose the Kent and Medway National Health Service (NHS) and Social Care Partnership Trust. This study found that “Life expectancy among severely mentally ill patients are being dramatically reduced by up to 25 years due to poor physical health”.

Specifically, about 2/3 of the entire population of people with mental illness suffer from physical diseases such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc. Much blame is put on health professionals like nurses and care takers. According to Professor Grey from UEA, care takers should promote physical health and take more initiative towards making a plan with their mental health patients to improve and maintain their health. Patients with mental illnesses simply cannot take care of themselves alone.

This is a result of ignorance and neglect towards not only the subject of mental illness, but the people who suffer from mental illness alone. This is why more articles and studies should be put out there to reduce stigma, and also connect to the audience on a personal level so that way they can begin to care about mental illness. How would you feel if you realized that someone you loved, suffering from a mental illness will have a quarter of their lives reduced because of physical health?