Mental illness

A mental illness is a disorder of the brain that results in a disruption in a person's thinking, feeling, moods, and ability to relate to others. Mental illness is distinct from the legal concepts of sanity and insanity.

Controversy over its nature

The subject is profoundly controversial. For example, homosexuality was once considered such an "illness" (see DSM-II), and this perception varies with cultural bias and theory of conduct.

Related Topics:
Homosexuality - DSM-II - Cultural bias - Theory of conduct

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Neurochemical studies have proven that there are systemic lacks of certain neurotransmitters in the brains of certain individuals. Also, some structural differences between brains of people with behavioral differences can be detected in brain scans. Some mental illnesses tend to run in families, and there have also been strongly suggestive, but not conclusive, links between certain genes and particular mental disorders. Routine tests for these conditions are, however, not generally required for prescription of drugs, and are not always employed in law either.

Related Topics:
Neurotransmitter - Brain scan - Gene

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It is not clear whether these differences in brain chemistry are the cause or the result of mental disorders. Traumatic life experiences may exceed an individual's coping ability and result in lasting changes in brain chemistry. Patterns of learned behavior can also alter brain chemistry, for better or for worse. Cognitive behavior therapy focuses on changing patterns of thinking through learning, which may ultimately restore so-termed "healthy" brain chemistry.

Related Topics:
Cognitive behavior therapy - Brain chemistry

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Drug therapies for severe mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and clinical depression, which are consistent with biochemical models, have been remarkably effective, and there are reports of increasingly effective treatments for schizophrenia. Some argue that drugs merely mask the symptoms of mental suffering by physically crippling the brain's emotional response system. Studies have shown that many patients' symptoms return once drug treatment is ceased. Others reply that many physical conditions, such as diabetes, must also be controlled with use of medications for an indefinite period of time.

Related Topics:
Bipolar disorder - Clinical depression - Schizophrenia

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It is important to note that the existence of mental illness and the legitimacy of the psychiatric profession are not universally accepted. Some professionals, notably Doctor Thomas Szasz, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Syracuse, are profoundly opposed to the practice of labelling "mental illness" as such. The anti-psychiatry movement often refers to what it considers to be the "myth of mental illness" and argues against a biological origin for mental disorders, or else suggests that all human experience has a biological origin and so no pattern of behavior can be classified as an illness per se.

Related Topics:
Thomas Szasz - Psychiatry - Anti-psychiatry

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Other arguments against psychiatry include controversial treatments, such as Electroconvulsive therapy, or the practice of placing patients in a mental institution with other mentally ill people. This does much to increase the emotional stress levels of the patient by influence of the other patients, causing the mental illness to worsen.

Related Topics:
Electroconvulsive therapy - Mental institution

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See the topics anti-psychiatry and causes of mental illness for a fuller treatment of these topics.

Related Topics:
Anti-psychiatry - Causes of mental illness

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