Severe Mental Illness and Cardiovascular Disease

People with severe mental illness, consisting of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression, have a high burden of modifiable cardiovascular risk behaviors and conditions and have a cardiovascular mortality rate twice that of the general population. People with acute and chronic cardiovascular disease are at a higher risk of developing mental health symptoms and disease. There is emerging evidence for shared etiological factors between severe mental illness and cardiovascular disease that includes biological, genetic, and behavioral mechanisms. This state-of-the art review will describe the relationship between severe mental illness and cardiovascular disease, explore the factors that lead to poor cardiovascular outcomes in people with severe mental illness, propose strategies to improve the cardiovascular health of people with severe mental illness, and present areas for future research focus.