When someone has mental illness they are suffering from a mental disorder, hence, you will see the terms interchangeably.

The posts about Mental Disorders will explain the topic in more detail, but for now we will repeat what it says there so you understand the definition:

A mental disorder is characterized by a behavior or multiple behaviors, as well as thought patterns that causes distress, pain or disability in interpersonal relationships, work and/or within the self.

A lack of healthy functioning has to last for a length of time (depending on the issue) in order for it to be diagnosed as a mental disorder. The amount of time is an important consideration: many people have daily mood swings, outbursts and difficulties that are a NORMAL part of life. To be diagnosed with a mental disorder, those difficulties have to consistently interfere with a person’s ability to function well in the areas mentioned above – basically socially, cognitively and emotionally.

The causes for a disorder are often unclear. Many theorists believe that mental illness stems from a variety of factors:

the way you are raised

the chemicals within your brain

your past experiences

Now that you have read about mental health, you may want to learn more about mental illness by jumping on over to those posts!