Watch this webinar and more on our YouTube channel MQ Mental Health Research
People with a serious mental illness pass away, on average, 20 years earlier than the general population.
This isn’t just due to suicide, although that is a factor, but also the links between physical and mental health, the increase in risky and self-destructive behaviours that some illnesses bring, and other associated illnesses such as addiction and alcoholism.
We recently sat down with Professor Rory O’Connor from the Suicide Research laboratory at Glasgow university, Dr Ruchika Gajwani, a clinical psychologist and MQ Fellow researching Borderline Personality Disorder, and MQ Ambassador Harry Corin. We discussed whether there were currently any better treatments and interventions in place and how they may prevent more people from being gone too soon.
Harry spoke about losing his father to suicide at a young age and how that affected him growing up.
“I tried my best to deal with the ripple effect... of those who are left behind. Try and solve some of the pain, the unanswered questions and the guilt I had as a 12-year-old child. You try to make sense of your loss.”
You can watch the full episode here. You can also visit our blog titled, "A roadmap to prevent people being gone too soon", which details the paper that has been published calling for action on a global scale to put an end to the growing mortality rates of people with mental illness and distress.
