Mental Illness
Mental Illness, disorder characterized by disturbances in a person’s thoughts, emotions, or behavior. The term mental illness can refer to a wide variety of disorders, ranging from those that cause mild distress to those that severely impair a person’s ability to function. Mental health professionals sometimes use the terms psychiatric disorder or psychopathology to refer to mental illness.
There are no blood tests, imaging techniques, or other laboratory procedures that can reliably diagnose a mental illness. Thus, the diagnosis of mental illness is always a judgment or an interpretation by an observer based on the speech, ideas, behaviors, and experiences of the patient.
For the most part, mental health professionals determine the presence of mental illness in an individual by conducting an interview intended to reveal symptoms of abnormal behavior. That is, the professional asks the patient questions about his or her mental state: “Do you hear voices of people who are not with you?” “Have you felt depressed or lost interest in most activities?” “Have you experienced a marked increase or decrease in your appetite?” “Have you been sleeping less than normal?” “Are you easily distracted?” The answers to these questions will suggest other questions. Eventually, the clinician will feel that he or she has enough information to determine whether the patient is suffering from a mental illness and, if so, to make a diagnosis.
Mental health professionals use a number of methods to treat people with mental illnesses. The two most common treatments by far are drug therapy and psychotherapy. In drug therapy, a person takes regular doses of a prescription medication intended to reduce symptoms of mental illness. Psychotherapy is the treatment of mental illness through verbal and nonverbal communication between the patient and a trained professional. A person can receive psychotherapy individually or in a group setting.
There are no blood tests, imaging techniques, or other laboratory procedures that can reliably diagnose a mental illness. Thus, the diagnosis of mental illness is always a judgment or an interpretation by an observer based on the speech, ideas, behaviors, and experiences of the patient.
For the most part, mental health professionals determine the presence of mental illness in an individual by conducting an interview intended to reveal symptoms of abnormal behavior. That is, the professional asks the patient questions about his or her mental state: “Do you hear voices of people who are not with you?” “Have you felt depressed or lost interest in most activities?” “Have you experienced a marked increase or decrease in your appetite?” “Have you been sleeping less than normal?” “Are you easily distracted?” The answers to these questions will suggest other questions. Eventually, the clinician will feel that he or she has enough information to determine whether the patient is suffering from a mental illness and, if so, to make a diagnosis.
Mental health professionals use a number of methods to treat people with mental illnesses. The two most common treatments by far are drug therapy and psychotherapy. In drug therapy, a person takes regular doses of a prescription medication intended to reduce symptoms of mental illness. Psychotherapy is the treatment of mental illness through verbal and nonverbal communication between the patient and a trained professional. A person can receive psychotherapy individually or in a group setting.
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