Socioeconomic burden of schizophrenia: a targeted literature review of types of costs and associated drivers across 10 countries

Recommendations for the assessment of sexual and gender minority status in serious mental illness research and clinical care.

“…This stigma extends to medical settings, where people with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders regularly have their physical health symptoms ascribed to their mental illness and do not receive adequate treatment (Thornicroft et al, 2007). People with schizophrenia have been found to reside in areas high in social deprivation, have lower socioeconomic status, and experience significant financial costs related to their diagnosis (Byrne et al, 2004; Dohrenwend, 1998; Kotzeva et al, 2023). Further, people diagnosed with bipolar disorders experience widespread stigma across health care, work, school, and social settings (Hawke et al, 2013).…”

“…Limited assessment of SGM status in these diagnostic groups is problematic, as base rates of SMI diagnoses are low (American Psychiatric Association, 2022), which heightens the importance of consistent collection and reporting of SGM status that may serve larger meta- or secondary analyses, which could better inform future clinical approaches. Moreover, unique stressors in SMI groups, including lower socioeconomic status (Byrne et al, 2004; Dohrenwend, 1998; Kotzeva et al, 2023) and experiences of stigma (Corrigan, 1998; Hawke et al, 2013; Thornicroft et al, 2007), may be linked to greater disparities in diagnostic rates and symptom severity between SGM and non-SGM groups than other diagnostic categories. This highlights the pressing need to understand the mental health experiences of SMI groups exposed to minority stress related to an SGM identity, as an understanding of these mental health disparities may lead to important research and clinical progress in appropriately assessing and intervening on symptoms.…”

Serious mental illness—Psychology’s call to action: If not us, who? If not now, when?

“…Indirect costs typically include lost productivity from unemployment, early retirement, or death of the affected persons, their family and caregivers, as well as social service costs such as supported housing, shelters and staff assistance. Additional funds are required for policing and criminal justice activities, including housing costs of incarceration and federal (Social Security Disability Insurance) and state (Supplemental Security Income) disability payments (Cloutier et al, 2016; Desai et al, 2013; Kadakia et al, 2022; Kotzeva et al, 2023; Schizophrenia and Psychosis Action Alliance, 2021).…”

Neuroinflammation and microglial expression in brains of social-isolation rearing model of schizophrenia

“…Despite the availability of antipsychotic drugs for several decades, personal and societal costs remain expensive. It was estimated that the direct costs of schizophrenia range between 7% and 12% of the gross national product in Western countries ( Kotzeva et al, 2022 ). There are many antipsychotic drugs available for the management of schizophrenia; however, they often produce adverse severe side effects and are slow-acting ( Boyda et al, 2020 ).…”