What is mental illness?

There are several viewpoints on this. Two are cited below.

According to the Government of India, a person suffering from "mental illness means a person who is in need of treatment by reason of any mental disorder other than mental retardation" (Mental Health Act, 1987). A distinction has been made between intellectually challenged and mentally challenged corresponding to MR ( Mental Retardation ) and MI (Mental Illness).

World Health Organization (WHO) has classified mental and behavioral disorders in World Health Report 2001(P.22) as follows

• Organic, including symptomatic disorders like Alzeimer's disease, dementia.
• Mental and behavioral disorder due to psychoactive substance use like alcohol, opioid dependence.
• Schizophrenia, Schizotypal, delusional disorder.
• Mood Affective disorders like Bi-Polar disorder.
• Neurotic, stress related and somatoform disorders like generalized anxiety disorder and Obsessive Compulsive disorder.
• Behavioral disorders associated with physiological disturbances and physical factors like eating disorders and non-organic sleeping disorders.
• Disorders of adult personality and behavior like paranoid personality disorder and transsexualism.
• Mental Retardation.
• Disorders of psychological development like specific reading disorder and childhood autism.
• Behavioral and emotional disorders like hyperkinetic disorders, conduct disorders, tic disorders.
• Unspecified disorder.

Of these, the most commonly known are Schizophrenia, Bi-polar disorder, Anxiety, Depression and OCD. The world over, Schizophrenia affects 1 to 2% of the population whereas 4% to 5% are affected by one or the other minor mental disorders

Some parts of above information are excerpts from " MENTAL ILLNESS.WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW" BY Schizophrenia Fellowship NZ. (P.O.Box, 593, Christ Church, New Zealand).