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Adults with mental illness are more likely to have chronic physical illnesses.

According to the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), adults aged 18 and older who had any mental illness, serious mental illness, or major depressive episodes in the past year had increased rates of high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

"Behavioral Health is essential to health. This is a key SAMHSA message and is underscored by this data," said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. "Promoting health and wellness for individuals, families and communities means treating behavioral health needs with the same commitment and vigor as any other physical health condition. Communities, families, and individuals cannot achieve health without addressing behavioral health."

According to the research, for instance, 21.9 percent of adults experiencing any mental illness (based on the diagnostic criteria specified in the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)) in the past year had high blood pressure. In contrast, 18.3 percent of those not experiencing any mental illness had high blood pressure. Similarly, 15.7 percent of adults who had any mental illness in the past year also had asthma, while only 10.6 percent of those without mental illness had this condition.

Adults experiencing major depressive episodes (periods of depression lasting two weeks or more in which there were significant problems with everyday aspects of life such as sleep, eating, feelings of self-worth, etc.) had higher rates of the following physical illnesses than those without past-year major depressive episodes: high blood pressure (24.1 percent vs. 19.8 percent), asthma (17.0 percent vs. 11.4 percent), diabetes (8.9 percent vs. 7.1 percent), heart disease (6.5 percent vs. 4.6 percent), and stroke (2.5 percent vs. 1.1 percent).

The report also shows significant differences in emergency department use and hospitalization rates in the past year between adults with past-year mental illness and those without. For example, 47.6 percent of adults with serious mental illness in the past year used emergency departments as opposed to only 30.5 percent of those without past-year serious mental illness. Adults with past-year serious mental illness were more likely to have been hospitalized than those without past-year serious mental illness (20.4 percent versus 11.6 percent respectively).  

The report entitled, Physical Health Conditions among Adults with Mental Illnesses is based on SAMHSA's 2008-2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data.