Deceased public mental health clients had lost decades of potential years of life; averages varied from 13 to more than 30 years depending on the state and year (Table 2). For the years studied, nationwide life expectancies or mean survival ages of living cohorts extended into the 70s and older (11-16,18). Public mental health clients died at younger ages than their cohorts. Clients' average death ages ranged from 49 to 60 in six of the seven states; Virginia public mental health clients who were in state psychiatric hospitals had higher mean ages in the 70s at time of death than the clients in the six other states. Male public mental health clients died at younger mean ages than their female counterparts, except in Virginia during 2000 (Table 2). The longer average life for female clients ranged from 4 to 16 years in all states but Virginia. Vermont data were not available.
