In 2012, the Schizophrenia Commission published ‘Schizophrenia — the Abandoned Illness’ and called for an integrated approach to care. In the realms of wound healing, this is essential to enable ownership and improve outcomes. Lifestyle ‘choices’ are frequently referred to when examining risks of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in this group of people. However, are these really a choice or a consequence of illness and medication? Understanding the effects of the illness on brain function, how medication contributes to physical disease and how it can manifest itself in delayed healing is an important step to breaking down the invisible healthcare barrier faced by people with a serious mental illness.