Are severe mental illnesses expensive for society?
Schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness are expensive diseases. The cost of schizophrenia alone is comparable to the cost of arthritis or coronary artery disease (D.J. Kupfer and F.E. Bloom, eds., Psychopharmacology: The Fourth Generation of Progress, 1995): schizophrenia costs $33 billion per year; arthritis costs $38 billion per year; and coronary artery disease costs $43 billion per year. The costs included both direct costs of treatment as well as indirect costs such as lost productivity.
Schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness are expensive diseases. The cost of schizophrenia alone is comparable to the cost of arthritis or coronary artery disease (D.J. Kupfer and F.E. Bloom, eds., Psychopharmacology: The Fourth Generation of Progress, 1995): schizophrenia costs $33 billion per year; arthritis costs $38 billion per year; and coronary artery disease costs $43 billion per year. The costs included both direct costs of treatment as well as indirect costs such as lost productivity. Severe psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness are costly three times over: Society must raise and educate the individual destined to become afflicted; people with the illnesses are often unable to contribute economically to society; and many require costly services from society for the rest of their lives.
