What is a Mental Illness?

Mental illnesses refer to a wide range of mental disorders involving changes in emotion, thinking, or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities (APA, 2018). Many people may struggle with their mental health from time to time, but a mental health concern becomes a mental illness when ongoing signs and symptoms cause frequent stress and affect your ability to function. In most cases, symptoms can be managed with a combination of medications and psychotherapy (ABA, 2018).

A few Types of Mental Disorders include:
• Clinical Depression
• Anxiety Disorder
• Bipolar Disorder
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Dementia
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism

Mental Illness Facts from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
• 20.5% of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. have a serious mental health condition.
• 37% of adults incarcerated in the state and federal prison system have a diagnosed mental illness.
• 70.4% of youth in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosed mental illness.
• 20.6% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2019 (51.5 million people). This represents 1 in 5 adults.
• 5.2% of U.S. adults experienced serious mental illness in 2019 (13.1 million people). This represents 1 in 20 adults.
• 16.5% of U.S. youth aged 6-17 experienced a mental health disorder in 2016 (7.7 million people).
• 3.8% of U.S. adults experienced a co-occurring substance use disorder and mental illness in 2019 (9.5 million people).
• Mental illness and substance use disorders are involved in 1 out of every 8 emergency department visits by a U.S. adult (estimated 12 million visits).
• Mood disorders are the most common cause of hospitalization for all people in the U.S. under age 45 (after excluding hospitalization relating to pregnancy and birth).

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References
Mental health by the numbers. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). (2021). https://www.nami.org/mhstats.
What is mental illness? (2018). American Psychiatric Association (APA). https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness.