Typically there is a range in how mental illness affects individuals and their ability to function with day to day activities. In addition, for some, the recovery process is an easier road than it may be for others. This can be due to a variety of factors individual to that person, their situation and environment. Due to the broad range of mental illness and its impact on the individuals suffering from the symptoms of the conditions, there tends to be a differentiation between mental illness and serious mental illness. Serious mental illness substantially interferes with an individual’s ability to perform major life activities. A definition of Serious Mental Illness as found in the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Illness can be found below:

Adults with a serious mental illness are persons age 18 and over, who currently or at any time during the past year, have had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified within DSM-III-R (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders), that has resulted in functional impairments which substantially interferes with, or limits one or more major life activities. Examples of diagnoses which would meet these criteria include: major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder.*

 

* President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America. Final Report. DHHS Pub. No. SMA-03-3832. Rockville, MD: 2003)