Mental illness can be described as :-
'Extreme differences or difficulties in the way a person thinks, observes the world and experiences feelings. These can be brief or occur over a long time. They can cause difficulties in a person's ability to care for themselves, to have relationships, make friends, make decisions, work or have any leisure activities'.
This definition highlights the fact that mental illness is not necessarily permanent, but when present it can have far reaching consequences in a person's life. Before considering individual types of mental illness, it is important to emphasis that:
Mental illness is common. Depending on the definition used, 1 in 4 to 1 in 10 of the adult population experiences at any one time.
Anyone can experience mental illness, especially if they are going through a stressful time in life.
Mental illness can present differently in different cultures; when people are assessed, attention must be given to their ethnic and social backgrounds.
The term, 'severe mental illness' is reserved for people who have a longstanding condition, which results in difficulties in one or more areas of their life (e.g. work, relationships). About 1% of the population have a severe mental illness.
Violence and Mental Illness
The stereotype of someone with mental illness is a person who is violent, dangerous and out of control. This is an inaccurate description, as only a fraction of people with mental illness are violent.
