Mortality in the Lundby study. Natural death in different forms of mental disorder in a total population investigated during a 25-year period.

There is an increased mortality among persons who are or who have been under psychiatric care. In any normal population many individuals suffer from mental disorders without coming into contact with psychiatric services, and our knowledge of the mortality pattern of these groups is limited. The Lundby cohort comprises 3,563 persons from a total population, followed concerning mental disorders during 15 and 25 years. In the present study we have investigated the mortality from nonviolent, natural causes among persons in the Lundby cohort with a history of mental disorders, irrespective of contact with psychiatrists or other physicians. The relative death rate from natural causes compared with the standard population was found to be 1.5 among men and 1.2 among women with backgrounds of mental disorders. Neurotics had no excess mortality in this study.