10 Ways Women with SMI Are Overrepresented and Underserved

Compared with men with the same psychiatric diseases and with women in the general population, women with conditions such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and major depression are:

• More likely to be arrested, incarcerated, victimized, suicidal, and to suffer from multiple medical conditions or substance abuse
• Less likely to be employed, housed or to live a normal life span

Serious mental illness (SMI) costs taxpayers more than any other disease in direct costs for services and indirect costs for lost productivity. Women with SMI pay for mental illness with their health and with their lives.