Mental illness

sickness of the mind, mental disorder

Mental disorder or mental illness are terms used to refer a psychological or physiological pattern that occurs in an individual and is usually associated with distress or disability that is not expected as part of normal development or culture. The recognition and understanding of mental disorders has changed over time. Definitions, assessments, and classifications of mental disorders can vary, but guideline criterion listed in the ICD, DSM and other manuals are widely accepted by mental health professionals. Categories of diagnoses in these schemes may include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, eating disorders, developmental disorders, personality disorders, and many other categories. In many cases there is no single accepted or consistent cause of mental disorders, although they are widely understood in terms of a diathesis-stress model and biopsychosocial model. Mental disorders have been found to be common, with over a third of people in most countries reporting sufficient criteria at some point in their life. Mental health services may be based in hospitals or in the community. Mental health professionals diagnose individuals using different methodologies, often relying on case history and interview. Psychotherapy and psychiatric medication are two major treatment options, as well as supportive interventions. Treatment may be involuntary where legislation allows. A number of movements campaign for changes to mental health services and attitudes, including the Consumer/Survivor Movement. There are widespread problems with stigma and discrimination.
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Mental illness n. Any of various psychiatric conditions, usually characterized by impairment of an individual's normal cognitive, emotional, or [more]Mental illness - Community and Resources

Noun
1. any disease of the mind; the psychological state of someone who has emotional or behavioral problems serious enough to require psychiatric intervention
(synonym) mental disease, psychopathy
(antonym) mental health
(hypernym) psychological state, mental state
(hyponym) megalomania

Synonyms and related words:
aberration, abnormality, alienation, brain damage, brain disease, brainsickness, clouded mind, crack-up, craziness, daftness, dementedness, dementia, derangement, disorientation, distraction, emotional disorder, emotional instability, folie, functional nervous disorder, furor, insaneness, insanity, irrationality, loss of mind, loss of reason, lunacy, madness, maladjustment, mania, manic-depressive psychosis, melancholia, mental deficiency, mental derangement, mental disease, mental disorder, mental disturbance, mental instability, mental sickness, mind overthrown, mindsickness, nervous breakdown, nervous disorder, neurosis, oddness, paranoia, personality disorder, pixilation, possession, problems in living, psychosis, queerness, rabidness, reaction, reasonlessness, schizophrenia, senselessness, shattered mind, sick mind, sickness, social maladjustment, strangeness, unbalance, unbalanced mind, unsaneness, unsound mind, unsoundness, unsoundness of mind, witlessness