The health of the population is challenged by the economic crisis dramatically affecting many European countries. People with mental disorders suffer from a poorer physical health than the general population, and they show higher morbidity and mortality. Although this gap is well known since several decades, the possibility to address the physical health of people with mental disorders seems to be taken now more seriously. On the one hand, this means carefully considering the adverse effects of drugs when prescribing them and to introduce effective strategies to modify lifestyle habits, and on the other hand it means that the social and economic determinants of health should be recognized and better addressed. New responsibilities of professionals, users and policy makers are therefore identified, in a perspective which encourages empowerment, personal responsibility, critical thinking about pharmacological and psychosocial care and resource allocation.

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