Excess mortality in subjects with severe mental illness: A matter of serious concern.

If anyone dies - the question is when and what the cause is, and how the quality of life has been. Patients with bipolar disorder and patients with schizophrenia, most often comprising the group of patients defined as severe mental illness (SMI), have an increased mortality rate in comparison to the general population (1,2). Despite differences between disorders there are similar patterns of increasing relative mortality rates over time for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia (2). Current data supports the largest gap in mortality rate in younger persons with SMI as compared to the background population, as in this age group death is a relatively uncommon event in the general population (1).