Mental Illness

Synonyms

Psychiatric illness; Psychological disorder

Definition

Mental illnesses are particular ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving that are typically associated with distress or impairment and that are not accepted as normal by the dominant local culture. The concept remains controversial, and there is ongoing debate about how best to describe and understand the experiences often subsumed under this term.

Description

Classification of Mental Illnesses

Mental illnesses are made up of clusters of symptoms (abnormal or statistically infrequent behavior, emotion, or thoughts) and are typically classified according to different categories, or diagnoses, so that a particular mental illness is considered as either present or not. There are many different forms of mental illnesses, and people may be classed as displaying several at any one time (known as comorbidity). The key manuals used to diagnose mental illnesses are the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related...