Verywell / Jessica Olah
A mental health diagnosis can encompass a wide range of symptoms and conditions.
What Is Mental Illness?
It is important to note that mental health and mental illness are different.
Verywell / Jessica Olah
These changes make it difficult to function and create significant distress.
Prevalence of Mental Health Conditions
Mental illnesses are incredibly common in the United States.
The DSM-5 puts illnesses into categories based on their diagnostic criteria.
Examples include major depressive disorder andpremenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).
They are characterized by impairments of personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning.
These may involve recurrent fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving atypical sexual interests.
There are currently 10 recognizedpersonality disorders.
Common sleep-wake disorders includeinsomniaandnarcolepsy.
This preoccupation is so intense that it disrupts the person’s daily life.
The most common ispost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Signs and Symptoms of Mental Disorders
Everyone experiences peaks and valleys in their mental health.
A stressful experience, such as the loss of a loved one, might temporarily diminish your psychological well-being.
But it does indicate that you may need further evaluation.
Causes of Mental Illness
There is no single cause of mental illness.
Instead, its thought that they stem from a wide range of factors (sometimes in combination).
Some mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, can have physical causes.
This manual contains descriptions and symptoms for all of the different mental illnesses.
This is known as the diagnostic criteria.
It’s not uncommon to be diagnosed withmore than one mental illness.
Some conditions increase the risk of other disorders.
For instance, sometimes an anxiety disorder can develop into a depressive disorder.
Some mental illnesses respond well tomedications.
Other conditions respond best to talk therapy.
Many conditions benefit from a combination of medication and psychotherapy.
Some research also supports using complementary and alternative therapies for certain conditions.
you might alsoreach out directly to a psychotherapist.
For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.
American Psychiatric Associations.What Is mental illness?
PEP19-5068, NSDUH Series H-54).
Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
National Institute of Mental Health.Mental illness.
American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.5th ed.
American Psychiatric Association; 2013.
American Psychiatric Association (APA).Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
5th ed, text revision.
Washington, D.C.; 2022.
American Psychiatric Association.Warning signs of mental illness.
Uher R, Zwicker A.Etiology in psychiatry: Embracing the reality of poly-gene-environmental causation of mental illness.World Psychiatry.
2017;16(2):121-129. doi:10.1002/wps.20436
