MENTAL ILLNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mental illness mean? 

• MENTAL ILLNESS (noun)
  The noun MENTAL ILLNESS has 1 sense:

1. any disease of the mind; the psychological state of someone who has emotional or behavioral problems serious enough to require psychiatric intervention

  Familiarity information: MENTAL ILLNESS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MENTAL ILLNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any disease of the mind; the psychological state of someone who has emotional or behavioral problems serious enough to require psychiatric intervention

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

mental disease; mental illness; psychopathy

Hypernyms ("mental illness" is a kind of...):

mental condition; mental state; psychological condition; psychological state ((psychology) a mental condition in which the qualities of a state are relatively constant even though the state itself may be dynamic)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mental illness"):

megalomania (a psychological state characterized by delusions of grandeur)

insanity (relatively permanent disorder of the mind)

psychosis (any severe mental disorder in which contact with reality is lost or highly distorted)

Antonym:

mental health (the psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment)

 Context examples 

Once mental illness develops, it becomes a regular part of your child's behavior and is more difficult to treat.

(Child Mental Health, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)

It can also be part of some mental illnesses or dementia.

(Delirium, NIH)

Don't keep guns in your home if someone in your family has a mental illness, severe depression, or potential for violence.

(Gun Safety, NIH)

A life-threatening condition that may be caused by certain drugs used to treat mental illness, nausea, or vomiting.

(Neuroleptic malignant syndrome, NCI Dictionary)

Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness.

(Bipolar Disorder, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)

NM-MRI signal was found to be a marker of dopamine function in people with schizophrenia and an indicator of the severity of psychotic symptoms in people with this mental illness.

(Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI identified as a potential biomarker for psychosis, National Institutes of Health)

The findings may have important implications for understanding why people with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia hear voices.

(Talking to Ourselves And Voices in Our Heads, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Personality disorders are a group of mental illnesses.

(Personality Disorders, NIH)

Mental illnesses are serious disorders which can affect your thinking, mood, and behavior.

(Mental Health, NIH)

An institute within the National Institutes of Health with the mission to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery and cure.

(National Institute of Mental Health, NCI Thesaurus)