Conservative estimates suggest that mental illness affects >13% of the world’s population. Alarmingly, mental illness can be covertly present among otherwise high-functioning individuals; overall, it is underdiagnosed and receives insufficient attention despite its substantial contribution to the nonfatal disease burden, chronic nature, and estimated 20-year reduction in life expectancy. Unlike their healthy counterparts, individuals with mental illness tend to have adverse lifestyle patterns (e.g., poor diet quality, physical inactivity, smoking) and to be in worse physical condition, especially in terms of overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). In that context, we summarized the available prospective epidemiological evidence for T2D risk associated with mental illness in the general population. The study focused on the following DSM-5 categories: anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, depressive disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, sleep-wake disorders (non-breathing related), and trauma- and stressor related disorders.

The findings showed that the current epidemiological literature regarding T2D disproportionately prioritizes depression, often at the expense of other debilitating mental conditions. This imbalance underscores the urgent need for expanded research efforts, improved diagnosis, and targeted initiatives to reduce stigma and shame. Likewise, there is a clear need for mental health-focused T2D prevention initiatives that integrate lifestyle and psychological support with metabolic risk reduction, particularly for populations with elevated psychiatric burden.

Speaker

Dr. Valentina Andreeva, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Unit, University of Paris XIII, Bobigny, France