Defining Mental Illness
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Defining Mental Illness Defining mental illness: An interview with a Mayo Clinic specialist
A Mayo Clinic psychiatrist offers answers to frequently asked questions about mental illness, including causes, classifications, treatments, the effects of stress and more.
Daniel Hall-Flavin, M.D.
Mental illnesses have been recognized for thousands of years. Today, advances in science are helping researchers better understand the origins of mental illness and find more effective treatments. But much remains to be learned. Here, Daniel Hall-Flavin, M.D., a psychiatrist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., offers a modern interpretation of mental illness, including a look at how mental disorders are defined, the use of
ications, the role of psychotherapy and how stress affects well-being.
What is mental illness?
Mental illness is a term that refers to all the different types of mental disorders, including disorders of thought, mood or behavior. To be classified as a mental illness, the condition must cause distress and result in a reduced ability to function psychologically, socially, occupationally or interpersonally.
This means that someone who has a mental illness may have trouble coping with emotions, stress and anger, for instance, and trouble handling such things as daily activities, family responsibilities, relationships, or work and school responsibilities. You can have trouble, to a greater or lesser degree, with one area or all of them. And you can have more than one type of mental illness at the same time.
How is the classification of mental illness evolving?
Today, we classify mental illness based on the symptoms a person experiences and the clinical features of the illness, such as feeling hopeless or having delusions. But as we continue to gain a clearer understanding of how specific genes interact with illnesses or behaviors, we may be able to develop a much more sophisticated classification system that is directly linked to a biological cause of mental illness, rather than just symptoms. This can help us better tailor treatment to individuals. For instance, some disorders have similar symptoms and clinical features but are actually very different in terms of their underlying biology. To treat them similarly simply because they share the same symptoms may not be appropriate. We suspect, for example, that there are different types of schizophrenia, with different causes, and that they possibly respond differently to different treatments.
What are the classes of mental illness?
Our evolving understanding of genetics and how the brain works may eventually change how we classify mental illnesses. For now, we think of several main classes of mental illness:
No, not all of them. We know that many serious mental illnesses do have a strong biological basis. But that's not the entire story.
Some people, for example, might have an inherited, biological tendency to develop depression. They can experience serious depression even though no specific event triggers it. Others, however, have no known inherited tendency for depression. But if something happens, such as the death of a loved one, it can trigger major depression.
We don't yet know if the underlying neurochemical aspects of these two depressive reactions are the same. In other words, one person may have a mental illness because of their nature — their genetic vulnerabilities and, their neurochemical functioning. And another person may have a mental illness because of nurture — an environmental cause that perhaps changes their neurochemistry. Most of the time, however, it's probably a complex interaction of both nature and nurture.
With so many medications available to treat depression and other mental illness, is psychotherapy still a good option?
Yes, there is still a major role for psychotherapy in treating mental illness. Among the many forms of psychotherapy are brief therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and family or couples therapy. Psychotherapy remains a very important part of treatment for many individuals, couples and families and often is the treatment of choice.
Medication might be all that some people need to restore their brain chemistry to a more normal state. But it's psychotherapy and education that can help change coping behaviors and offer strategies to help understand and modify risk factors for illness. In some cases, medication is entirely ineffective and psychotherapy alone is helpful. In other cases, someone may not be able to take psychiatric medications, for health or other reasons. But very often, a combination of medication and psychotherapy is most effective in treating mental illness.
Is mental illness more common these days?
More people seek help today than in the past. But is that because more people have a mental illness? Or is it because now it's more acceptable to seek help, and help is more readily available? Also, the world is more complicated and fast paced than it once was. Does this change in environment contribute to increased mental illness? We don't know the answers to those questions.
Is mental illness simply whatever a culture or society defines it as?
Behaviors that are approved of or frowned upon can vary greatly from culture to culture. But research shows a surprising consistency in the prevalence of serious mental illness across all cultures. Schizophrenia, for instance, occurs in about 1 percent of all populations worldwide. Major depression also has a consistent prevalence in countries around the world. This information supports the idea that serious mental illnesses have a biological basis common to all humans.
How does stress affect mental illness?
Going through a stressful event doesn't necessarily mean that you'll develop a mental illness, such as depression or an anxiety disorder. But it can increase your risk of developing a mental illness. Stress runs the gamut, from daily hassles, such as traffic jams and financial worries, to major life events, such as the breakup of a relationship or the death of a loved one. People who have experienced depression in the past are more vulnerable to depression after a major loss. People with an active, problem-solving style are less likely to experience mental illness such as depression than are those with a passive, emotion-focused style.
Many people are hesitant to get treatment for mental illness. How can they take that first step?
People may be hesitant to seek treatment for a number of reasons. They may think that their depression, for instance, will go away on its own. Or they may consider it a sign of weakness. In addition, some people fear the stigma that's sometimes attached to mental illness. But it's important to understand that biological factors play a major role in the development of mental illness, just as they do with other medical disorders. Effective treatment is available that can eliminate or minimize symptoms, improve a person's ability to function and ultimately improve the quality of their life.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mental-illness/HQ01079
Hope this helps some. I found it interesting.
But, I was also SURPRISED and a bit appaled that this doctor considers nicotine addiction a mental illness!
Hmmm.... I've really got to think about that one! LOL! 
Shalom!
A Mayo Clinic psychiatrist offers answers to frequently asked questions about mental illness, including causes, classifications, treatments, the effects of stress and more.
Daniel Hall-Flavin, M.D.
Mental illnesses have been recognized for thousands of years. Today, advances in science are helping researchers better understand the origins of mental illness and find more effective treatments. But much remains to be learned. Here, Daniel Hall-Flavin, M.D., a psychiatrist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., offers a modern interpretation of mental illness, including a look at how mental disorders are defined, the use of
ications, the role of psychotherapy and how stress affects well-being.
What is mental illness?
Mental illness is a term that refers to all the different types of mental disorders, including disorders of thought, mood or behavior. To be classified as a mental illness, the condition must cause distress and result in a reduced ability to function psychologically, socially, occupationally or interpersonally.
This means that someone who has a mental illness may have trouble coping with emotions, stress and anger, for instance, and trouble handling such things as daily activities, family responsibilities, relationships, or work and school responsibilities. You can have trouble, to a greater or lesser degree, with one area or all of them. And you can have more than one type of mental illness at the same time.
How is the classification of mental illness evolving?
Today, we classify mental illness based on the symptoms a person experiences and the clinical features of the illness, such as feeling hopeless or having delusions. But as we continue to gain a clearer understanding of how specific genes interact with illnesses or behaviors, we may be able to develop a much more sophisticated classification system that is directly linked to a biological cause of mental illness, rather than just symptoms. This can help us better tailor treatment to individuals. For instance, some disorders have similar symptoms and clinical features but are actually very different in terms of their underlying biology. To treat them similarly simply because they share the same symptoms may not be appropriate. We suspect, for example, that there are different types of schizophrenia, with different causes, and that they possibly respond differently to different treatments.
What are the classes of mental illness?
Our evolving understanding of genetics and how the brain works may eventually change how we classify mental illnesses. For now, we think of several main classes of mental illness:
- [*]
No, not all of them. We know that many serious mental illnesses do have a strong biological basis. But that's not the entire story.
Some people, for example, might have an inherited, biological tendency to develop depression. They can experience serious depression even though no specific event triggers it. Others, however, have no known inherited tendency for depression. But if something happens, such as the death of a loved one, it can trigger major depression.
We don't yet know if the underlying neurochemical aspects of these two depressive reactions are the same. In other words, one person may have a mental illness because of their nature — their genetic vulnerabilities and, their neurochemical functioning. And another person may have a mental illness because of nurture — an environmental cause that perhaps changes their neurochemistry. Most of the time, however, it's probably a complex interaction of both nature and nurture.
With so many medications available to treat depression and other mental illness, is psychotherapy still a good option?
Yes, there is still a major role for psychotherapy in treating mental illness. Among the many forms of psychotherapy are brief therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and family or couples therapy. Psychotherapy remains a very important part of treatment for many individuals, couples and families and often is the treatment of choice.
Medication might be all that some people need to restore their brain chemistry to a more normal state. But it's psychotherapy and education that can help change coping behaviors and offer strategies to help understand and modify risk factors for illness. In some cases, medication is entirely ineffective and psychotherapy alone is helpful. In other cases, someone may not be able to take psychiatric medications, for health or other reasons. But very often, a combination of medication and psychotherapy is most effective in treating mental illness.
Is mental illness more common these days?
More people seek help today than in the past. But is that because more people have a mental illness? Or is it because now it's more acceptable to seek help, and help is more readily available? Also, the world is more complicated and fast paced than it once was. Does this change in environment contribute to increased mental illness? We don't know the answers to those questions.
Is mental illness simply whatever a culture or society defines it as?
Behaviors that are approved of or frowned upon can vary greatly from culture to culture. But research shows a surprising consistency in the prevalence of serious mental illness across all cultures. Schizophrenia, for instance, occurs in about 1 percent of all populations worldwide. Major depression also has a consistent prevalence in countries around the world. This information supports the idea that serious mental illnesses have a biological basis common to all humans.
How does stress affect mental illness?
Going through a stressful event doesn't necessarily mean that you'll develop a mental illness, such as depression or an anxiety disorder. But it can increase your risk of developing a mental illness. Stress runs the gamut, from daily hassles, such as traffic jams and financial worries, to major life events, such as the breakup of a relationship or the death of a loved one. People who have experienced depression in the past are more vulnerable to depression after a major loss. People with an active, problem-solving style are less likely to experience mental illness such as depression than are those with a passive, emotion-focused style.
Many people are hesitant to get treatment for mental illness. How can they take that first step?
People may be hesitant to seek treatment for a number of reasons. They may think that their depression, for instance, will go away on its own. Or they may consider it a sign of weakness. In addition, some people fear the stigma that's sometimes attached to mental illness. But it's important to understand that biological factors play a major role in the development of mental illness, just as they do with other medical disorders. Effective treatment is available that can eliminate or minimize symptoms, improve a person's ability to function and ultimately improve the quality of their life.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mental-illness/HQ01079
Hope this helps some. I found it interesting.
But, I was also SURPRISED and a bit appaled that this doctor considers nicotine addiction a mental illness!
Hmmm.... I've really got to think about that one! LOL! Shalom!
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