How do you define "mental illness"?

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Mental illnesses include such disorders as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic and other severe anxiety disorders, autism and pervasive developmental disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, borderline personality disorder, and other severe and persistent mental illnesses that affect the brain and disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, moods, ability to relate to others and capacity for coping with the demands of life.

Mental illnesses are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character, or poor upbringing.

Mental illnesses are biologically based brain disorders.

They cannot be overcome through "will power" and are not related to a person's "character" or intelligence.
Mental disorders fall along a continuum of severity.

Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability (lost years of productive life) in the North America, Europe and, increasingly, in the world. By 2020, Major Depressive illness will be the leading cause of disability in the world for women and children.

That's according to NAMI.org. They do not consider personality disorders or disorders related to trauma or abuse as mental illness. While these disorders can impact life in much a similar way.

Other Answers:
Not trying to say it like it is a bad thing but I would call a person with a mental illness someone a little different than some of us.

Usually by evaluation and if the person is moody and changes there demeaner often and is emotional and angry and all of the above it is almost accurate that they are mentally ill THE PRESIDENT OF NORTH KOREA.

By calling it what it is, and not an open catorgory. I tell poeple what mine is called.

I define mental illness as the phenomenon of one's thoughts / thought process causing behavioral abnormalities.

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How do you define "mental illness"?

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