Can Bipolar Cause Death?

In the past 20 years, an increasing body of research has found that bipolar disorder is associated with premature mortality,¹² including an almost 2-fold risk of cardiovascular disease mortality¹³ and 15-fold suicide mortality¹⁴ compared with the general population.

Does bipolar shorten your life?

The average reduction in life expectancy in people with bipolar disorder is between nine and 20 years, while it is 10 to 20 years for schizophrenia, between nine and 24 years for drug and alcohol abuse, and around seven to 11 years for recurrent depression.

What is the life expectancy of a person with bipolar disorder?

The authors found that the pooled life expectancy for patients with bipolar disorder, after removal of 1 outlier study, was 67.4 years (95% CI 65.2-69.7), with no evidence of publication bias. Life expectancy was significantly shorter in men (64.6) compared to women (70.5).