mental illness

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noun

any of the various forms of psychosis or severe neurosis.

Origin of mental illness

First recorded in 1960–65

Also called mental disorder, mental disease.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mental illness

insanity, schizophrenia, depression, derangement, lunacy, madness, mania, neurosis, phobia, craziness, psychopathy, maladjustment, paranoia, psychosis

British Dictionary definitions for mental illness

mental illness

noun

any of various disorders in which a person's thoughts, emotions, or behaviour are so abnormal as to cause suffering to himself, herself, or other people

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

mental illness in Medicine

mental illness

n.

Any of various psychiatric conditions, usually characterized by impairment of an individual's normal cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning, and caused by physiological or psychosocial factors.mental disease mental disorder

mental illness in Science

mental illness

[mĕn′tl]

Any of various psychiatric disorders or diseases, usually characterized by impairment of thought, mood, or behavior.