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The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Physical Health (Firth et al, 2019) has demonstrated the increased physical health risks that people with severe mental illness (SMI) are subject to. We know that people with SMI have an increased risk of physical disease, as well as reduced access to adequate health care, with disparities observed across all mental illnesses in all countries. Causes of an estimated fifteen to twenty year excess mortality, many of which have been discussed here, include cardiovascular disease and a doubling of rates of respiratory disease.
While concerning, these physical conditions offer opportunities to intervene to reduce their likelihood and impact. There has therefore been an increasing…