A Patient Diagnosed with a Serious Mental Illness Died Suddenly

A patient diagnosed with a serious mental illness died suddenly at age 52. The patient lived in the community for 5 years without relapse and held supported employment the past 6 months. The distressed family asks, "How could this happen?" Which response by the nurse accurately reflects research and addresses the family's question?

A) "A certain number of people die young from undetected diseases, and it's just one of those sad things that sometimes happen."
B) "Mentally ill people tend to die much younger than others, perhaps because they struggle to maintain their health, often smoke more, or are overweight."
C) "We will have to wait for the autopsy to know what happened. There were some medical problems, but we were not expecting death."
D) "We are all surprised. The patient had been doing so well and saw the nurse every other week."