The Forums › Forums › What is it? › The History › Why is it labeled a "disorder" instead of a "mental illness"? › Re: Why is it labeled a “disorder” instead of a “mental illness”?
Interesting question. To me, an illness is something organic that will either get better or will kill you. A disorder is just a difference – but that’s just my view today. But, if you search web sites many seem to use the terms interchangeably.
Sadly I looked up the definitions in Wikipedia. For physical illness it says an illness is a patients perception of a disease – the section on mental illness is as follows and it seems that ADHD is classed as a specific illness but also called a disorder – so it’s all semantics:
From Wikipedia:
“Mental illness (or Emotional disability, Cognitive dysfunction) is a broad generic label for a category of illnesses that may include affective or emotional instability, behavioral dysregulation, and/or cognitive dysfunction or impairment. Specific illnesses known as mental illnesses include major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to name a few. Mental illness can be of biological (e.g., anatomical, chemical, or genetic) or psychological (e.g., trauma or conflict) origin. It can impact one’s ability to work or go to school and contribute to problems in relationships. Other generic names for mental illness include “mental disorder”, “psychiatric disorder”, “psychological disorder”,“abnormal psychology”, “emotional disability”, “emotional problems”, or “behavior problem”. The term insanity is used technically as a legal term. Brain damage may result in impairment of mental function.”
So I prefer to think of it as a disorder but who knows…..
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