information for practice

It is difficult to find an all-inclusive definition for ‘mental illness’. Cultural and societal norms mean that there is no clear consensus as to what it means. In addition, further confusion often surrounds the ways and contexts in which terms like ‘mental health problems’, ‘mental illness’ and ‘mental health’ are used.
Mental Illness
According to the charity, The Mental Health Foundation: ‘When someone experiences severe and or enduring mental health problems they are sometimes described as mentally ill’ [1]. This is the definition used in this factsheet. However, there are many problems associated with the term. These include: the lack of any universal agreement as to the point at which normal behaviour becomes mental illness; the stigma attached to the label ‘mental illness’; the fact that the existing ways of categorising mental illnesses do not always match people’s experiences; and the fact that some people think the term implies that all mental health problems are the result of underlying biological causes, when most are caused by a combination of factors, and are often triggered by situations in a person’s life.