Serious Functional Impairment

Mental health is defined as the state of satisfactory use of mental function, which results in productive activities, interactions, adjustment to change and coping with challenges (Healthy People 2020, 2012). It is fundamental to one's personal well-being, his interpersonal relationships, and fruitful participation in, and contribution to, society in general. Mental illness or mental disorder refers as a whole to all diagnosable disturbances of the mind. These disturbances are characterized by changes in thinking, mood, and/or behavior, which produce pain, discomfort, abnormal functioning or death. Mental illnesses are serious medical conditions, which cannot be overcome by simple will power. They are not caused by personality weakness or intelligence (Healthy People 2020; NAMI, 2012).

According to Merriam-Webster, mental health illness is described as a broad range of medical conditions (such as major depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, or panic disorder) that are marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, or emotions to impair normal psychological functioning and cause noticeable grief or disability and that are usually related with a disruption in standard judgement, feeling, mood, behavior, interpersonal interactions, or daily functioning. Mental health is described as a level of psychological comfort, or the absence of a mental illness. It is the "psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment from the perspective of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an person 's capability to enjoy life, and produce stability connecting life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. The World Health Organization, suggests mental health illness includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, inter-generational dependence, and self-actualization of one 's intellectual and emotional potential, among others. The WHO further states that the well-being of an individual is encompassed in the recognition of their capabilities, managing with normal stresses of life, constructive work and involvement to their community. Ethnic differences, prejudiced evaluations, and competing professional

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness a mental illness can be defined as “a condition that impacts a person 's thinking, feeling or mood and may affect his or her ability to relate to others and function on a daily basis.” Mental illness can be the result of multiple factors such as lifestyle, socioeconomic status, and genetics. There are a few mental illness that we primarily associate with people that commit these malicious acts such as; Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, Dissociative Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Schizophrenia.

A mental disorder, also known as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a diagnosis by a mental health professional of a behavioral or mental pattern that may cause suffering or a poor ability to function in life. Mental disorder consists of a wide range of things that affect mood thinking and behavior. Some of the more common forms of mental illness are major depression, anxiety disorder. Two of the more severe forms are bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Depression and bipolar disorder fall under the category of mood disorders. These disorders involve persistent feelings of sadness or periods of feeling overly happy, or fluctuations from extreme happiness to extreme sadness. Schizophrenia Is a psychotic disorder that causes a person

As described by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental illness is a biologically-based brain disorder; as many as 57.7 million Americans are struck down by mental illness on any given year. (National Alliance on Mental Illness) “Mental Illness is the second leading cause of disability in major market economies such as the United states,

Growing up as a child, I always thought that any individual you displayed any behavior that didn’t seemed what we called “normal” should be institutionalized regardless of the diagnosis. Mental illness is an extensive term and can include some of the following, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe depression and stress, psychotic disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

MENTALL ILLNESS A mental disorder, also known as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a diagnosis by a mental health professional of a behavioral or mental pattern that may cause suffering or a poor ability to function in life. Mental disorder consists of a wide range of things that affect mood thinking and behavior. Some of the more common forms of mental illness are major depression, anxiety disorder. Two of the more severe forms are bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Mental illness involves mental health disorders that affect people's mood, thinking, as well as behavior. Mental illness varies from depression, anxiety disorders, addictions, and schizophrenia. Everyone has a mental concern at one point in his life, but it becomes a concern when there are continuous signs or symptoms that cause stress affecting the functioning ability of a person. Mental illness makes people miserable and inhibits their ability to operate effectively either at work or in school. Medical practitioners describe mental illness in different ways, including conditions characterized by the impairment of a person's normal cognitive nature, psychological, emotional or behavioral functioning. A

Mental illness refers to all diagnosable mental disorders defined as “health conditions that are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood or behavior (or some combination thereof) associated with distress and/or impaired functioning.” (Williams & Torrens, 2008, p. 221) With one in every five American adults experiencing mental illness, the resulting economic burden exceeds $300 billion per year to include approximately $100 billion in direct health care expenditures, $24 billion in disability benefits, and $193 billion in lost earnings. (Insel, 2008) This estimate is conservative as it excludes the components of incarceration, homelessness, comorbid conditions, early mortality and the incalculable costs to families that absorb much of the financial and emotional burdens of these illnesses. Despite the fact mental illness contributes over 6% to the nation’s health care spending; the United States (U.S.) mental health system has historically lacked integration with physical medicine and public policy support. (Insel, 2008)

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) states that "mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion or income" and defines mental illness as "a medical condition that disrupts a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning... that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life."

Mental Health problems and Illnesses The nature of the problem There is a wide variety of mental disorders for example the more widespread disorders such as Anxiety, Depression and Bipolar, there are also disorders called Substance Use Disorder or SUD, that involves more than one substance used at a time, for example alcohol and cocaine, that leads to a clinically significant impairment or distress. There are many different severities to mental illnesses from a low to a high, that can be determined from the diagnosis, intensity and duration of the symptoms, and the degree of disability. Mental illnesses can also impacts their ability to function properly, be social with others, their emotional stability and their mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning.

People with serious mental health illnesses were considered to be the vulnerable and at risk for having positive outcomes through transitions from secondary education to higher education and adulthood (Haber, Karbur, Deschenes & Clark, 2013). Mental illness was noted to be the cause of more disabilities than any other disability category in the United States (Odds and Ends, 2010).

Mental disorders can affect individuals in different ways. They can cause changes in an individual’s mood, behavior, and especially in their thoughts. This can greatly affect how an individual might relate to others, and also factor into the life choices that they make. Individuals who suffer from severe mental illnesses (SMI’s) are at a greater disadvantage than other individuals. Severe mental illness is defined at the federal level as “having, at any time during the past year, a diagnosable mental, behavior, or emotional disorder that causes serious functional impairment that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.”1. These can include mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, bipolar

A mental disorder is defined as, a condition indicated by a notable disruption in a person's cognitive, emotional, or behavioral ability that projects deviance in intellectual, biotic, or educational actions repressing psychiatric functions (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Furthermore, the American Psychiatric Association (2013), has five distinct classifications for mental health conditions, including: (a) impairments of the brain and nervous system, (b) interior illnesses, (c) exterior illnesses, (d) neurological cognitive impairments, and (e) further disorders, which cause discrepancies in one’s, however it does not fulfill all diagnostic standards. A mental health condition is not a reaction to ordinary aggravations or bereavements.

A severe mental illness (SMI) is an assembly of mainly psychotic conditions that are, by description, extensive and related to compromised societal functioning. As stated by the surgeon general’s report of 2010, one out of five adults, or nearly 40 million Americans, suffer from some type of psychological disorder annually. In addition, about five percent of the U.S population suffers from chronic mental disorder for instance, bipolar, major depressive disorders, schizophrenia and