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MI dying young

getbetterSenior Contributor04 May 2017, 7:14 pm AEST

MI dying young

This may be a bit of a controversial topic but I have been reading articles about people with a serious/severe mental illness dying about 25 years earlier than the healthy population, it appears it's not due to suicide but common causes of death like heart desease, cancer and other causes, the articles talk of needing to address this as a major health concern, sane has or did have a project running on this topic, I guess it depends on the severity of the MI, its timeframe and quality of life, but with my long term illness, I can think of nothing worse than having doctors say to me, ok we can not cure your mental illness, but we better try to make sure you live 25 years longer with it, I guess it is what we do as a society, aim to maximise longevity, but for me the pressing issue is being able to better treat the mental illness before we even consider longevity, as sad as it sounds, I pray every night that I don't wake up, even though I have good help and a medication that gives some relief during the day, is it fair to extend the torture for another 25 years?

4 replies

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In response to: MI dying young

CherryBombSenior Contributor05 May 2017, 6:23 pm AEST

Re: MI dying young

Hi @getbetter,

This a quite a though provoking post. Thanks for bringing it up, it certainly got me thinking.

I think quality of life, irrespective of illness, is important. I hope that no one (and this includes people with cancer, heart conditions, terminal illness, chronic pain sufferers, and people with mental illness) has to live a long life with prolonged suffering. In this sense, I think any type of intervention (e.g., medical, psychiatric) that can help improve quality life by relieving suffering is helpful.

I wonder what other people's thoughts are - @utopia @Shaz51 @Appleblossom?

In response to: MI dying young

utopiaSenior Contributor05 May 2017, 7:51 pm AEST

Re: MI dying young

@getbetter. People living with MI are more likely to die from cancer - including from smoking - violence - drug abuse -heart attack - stroke etc.<br>Not all die though. Some might have permanent problems from a stroke - or need dialysis due to kidney problems caused by over medicating or drug addiction - physical disability due to alcoholism etc.<br>So it is important that something is done to improve the quality of life - even if that life is shortened. At the same time as improving outcomes for longer life - others will still be researching ways of treating, reducing or curing mental illness. <br>I hope that both can be achieved at the same time.<br>I also think it's important to recognise that for some people, living with a MI is in itself a torture. And they should have the right to decide when enough is enough.

In response to: MI dying young

Shaz51Senior Contributor05 May 2017, 8:21 pm AEST

Re: MI dying young

Hello @getbetter, @utopia, @CherryBomb

This is why hubby wants to try to go off his meds because of what the doctors say he could get inthe long term , but when he does , he needs to go back on them , soo he feels you are dam it you take the meds and dammed if you don`t

In response to: Re: MI dying young

Unknown userMember05 May 2017, 10:07 pm AEST

Re: MI dying young

Hi, interesting discussion. Having a MI can be very stressful and stress causes problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cancer etc. Also medications can have an adverse effect on liver and kidneys which in turn may shorten your life span. In the past I have had to change meds because what I prescribed was causing me liver damage. I don't drink so there was no other reason for it. Healthy mind = healthy body and the same for the reverse?

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