Mental Illness
Mental Illness - Related Videos
35:03
Mental Status Examination
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2023
Source: Carmen Black, Matthew Goldenberg, and Jaideep Talwalkar; Yale School of Medicine The mental status exam is a clinical evaluation of emotional, perceptual, and cognitive functioning that spans both the fields of psychiatry and neurology. Developing skill in the psychiatric portions of the examination are important to describe salient aspects of the patient's mental state that may be observed during routine history and/or physical exam. Proficiency in the cognitive portions of this...
05:56
Mental Rotation
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2023
Source: Laboratory of Jonathan Flombaum—Johns Hopkins University Visual mental imagery refers to the ability to conjure images in one’s mind’s eye. This allows people to process visual material above and beyond the constraints of a current point-of-view; for example, a person could imagine, using their mind’s eye, how something might look in a different color, or what it would look like if it were made from a different material or rotated and seen from a different perspective. Mental imagery...
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Classification of Illness
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2023
The meaning of illness is individualized to each person who experiences an alteration in health. In contrast, disease is a medical term indicating a pathological change in the structure and function of the body or mind. It is a condition that has specific symptoms and boundaries. An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic. Acute illness is severe and...
01:18
Factors Affecting Illness
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2023
When a person's physical, emotional, intellectual, social development or spiritual functioning is compromised, this deviation from a healthy normal state is called illness. Illness creates stress that in turn harms individuals. Irritation, anger, denial, hopelessness, and fear are behavioral and emotional changes an individual experiences in the phases of illness. A variety of factors influence a person's health and well-being. For instance, risk factors are connected to illness, disability,...
01:24
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
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2026
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) serves as the primary classification system for mental health disorders, providing standardized diagnostic criteria for clinicians and researchers. First published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1952, the DSM has undergone several revisions to reflect evolving psychiatric understanding. The fifth edition, DSM-5, was published in 2013, followed by its text revision, DSM-5-TR, in 2022. This revision incorporates...
FAQs
Mental illness reflects complex interactions rather than a single cause. Biological factors may intersect with psychological processes, developmental experiences, and social or environmental conditions, shaping changes in mood regulation, perception, cognition, or behavior. This framework encourages psychology and public health research to examine how mind, brain, development, and context jointly influence symptoms and functioning.
Psychologists examine changes in several connected areas, including mood regulation, perception, cognition, and behavior. They also consider how these changes affect a person’s ability to function. Looking across these domains helps research and assessment describe how mental illness influences experience and behavior, rather than focusing on a single symptom or isolated psychological process.
Development is one of the factors that can interact with biology, psychological processes, and social or environmental experiences. Considering development helps psychologists study how mental illness relates to changing patterns across a person’s life. It also supports research that connects individual experience with broader explanations of how the mind, brain, and context shape behavior.
Psychological assessment draws on clinical interviews, observation, and standardized measures. These approaches provide structured information about a person’s symptoms, thoughts, emotions, behavior, and functioning. The resulting information can guide diagnosis and help researchers and practitioners examine mental illness systematically, linking observable experiences with psychological processes relevant to care and investigation.
Clinical interviews gather information directly through a structured psychological conversation, while observation provides information about behavior as it occurs. Standardized measures add consistent ways to evaluate relevant symptoms or experiences. Used as components of psychological assessment, these approaches contribute information that supports identification of symptoms and guides diagnostic decisions.
Research on mental illness supports evidence-based therapies, prevention strategies, and interventions intended to improve well-being. It also helps clarify relationships among mind, brain, and context, strengthening the psychological and public-health understanding of these conditions. In addition, research can contribute to reducing stigma by replacing unsupported assumptions with systematically studied evidence about mental health.