Mortality was investigated in 356 DSM-IIIR schizophrenics admitted to a university psychiatric hospital over a 12-year period. Observed death was compared with mortality among the general population in Iowa. Schizophrenics had nearly a 3-fold increase in overall mortality, primarily attributable to unnatural causes of death. The rate of suicide was more than 23 times greater than expected. Mortality was greater among schizophrenic patients younger than 40 & during the early portion of follow-up.