I’m freaking out because I found out recently the average age of death for schizophrenics is 55 and I’m in my 40s.
Is there anybody over the age of 55 here who can give some hints and tips on how to beat the average?
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60 here, smoker, hard labor all my life so think that might have what has kept me going, just live as best you can, think most of it comes down to how well you picked a family with good genes before you were born
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WTF Really!?!?
This means I have 3years to go!!
Terrifying news!
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@Wave, no! It’s an average, please don’t look at it as a prediction! It takes into account people who have killed themselves, people who have died violently, etc.
Best recommendations: regular checkups with your GP, keep an eye on your blood sugar, weight and cholesterol, don’t smoke or drink to excess, eat healthy foods and get exercise.
@Jayster, @martinhersey1, @PinCushion are examples off the top of my head.
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I did some digging around and found this article on pubmed.
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risk of death from schizophrenia stuff goes away at 60
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the age group that brings down the statistics is the 20-40 age group
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Yeah, @everhopeful , I’m 72 and have heredity on my side. My mother died at age 90 and my father, 86. And they both had mental ills although not seriously diagnosed. I had 3 aunts who all died when they were 98 and their husbands were in their 80’s when they died. My paternal grandmother died at 94. Go figure 
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I’m 58 myself. I think that statistic is a little misleading, because so many sz’s live on the street. I think the lives of sz’s do tend to be shorter than average, but if you took the number of sz’s living on the street out of the equation our life expectancies would significantly increase.
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I’m 71 going on 15. I’ve managed to give up alcohol and weed and cigarettes for years now. In each case I let the side effects make me decide to quit because they become unmanageable.
So, my only advice would be … Listen to your body!
I don’t have any reason to believe it’s good advice but that’s what happened to me.
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in less than 5 years, Hedgehog will be 55, I think
I’m 62 and still going strong. The dogs and I just got back from a hike around Crane Lake.
I have 38 more years to go.
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I’m 54 and just stopped smoking three months ago. I hope I live a while longer but I don’t want to get “too old” where my health and quality of life go down.
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I’m 60. Have definitely aged in the last 10 years.
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I will be 57 in a couple of weeks. I haven’t smoked in 34 years. I didn’t inhale anyway. My weight is now within normal limits. Although I was obese for 25 years. I count my calories now. I never drank much. Nothing more than a couple of beers on the weekends. I now do yoga for 20-40 minutes every single day. I’ve been doing yoga consistently for the last 11 years. I now meditate for 15 minutes twice a day. I’ve been doing that for the last 4 months. I’ve never done any illegal drugs any harder than marijuana. And, I only did that occasionally on a recreational basis. I always ate a lot of sweets though. That was always my downfall. And I always drank tons, and I mean tons of diet cola all of my life. As of the last year, I no longer drink cola of any kind. I only drink plain water and plain black coffee with no additives. My father died at 73. My mom died at 79.
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I think you are mistaking life expectancy and longevity. Life expectancy is low because so many schizophrenic commit suicide. So if an 18 year old commits suicide it lower life expectancy a great deal rather than if a schizophrenic get diabetes from meds and live 5 years shorter. That’s my guess at least.
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I plan to live to be 100. I am almost 48. I am 5’5" and 135 and in very good physical health except my thyroid. I agree that it is highly likely that suicides and extenuating circumstances bring down the average. It is inspiring to see all the people on here who are older than me and still doing well. I was 122 pounds and in fantastic physical shape before becoming mentally ill (a year and a half ago) but I quit working out and got on meds. I need to get back in the gym.
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everhopeful. i am turning 59 in two weeks. i think i beat the odds by listening to the docs.
exercise and eating right helps as well.
also, i always give socialization an effort.
judy
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I don’t want to scare you more, but I happened to see a new study which shows that the avergae life expectancy of men and women with schizophrenia is 15 years and 12 years shorter respectively
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I’ll be 56 on March 11th. I don’t smoke drink or do drugs. I eat healthy.
Besides, averages often lie.
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