Briefing - What is severe mental illness?

What is a severe mental illness? What are the signs and symptoms of psychosis? What causes a psychotic illness? How many people experience psychosis? and how do people recover from severe mental illness? Read on to find out.

What is a mental illness?

Everyone’s mental health varies from time to time - mental health problems are three times more common than cancer 1. People who have a mental illness experience a range of symptoms. For example, some may experience anxiety as a generally uneasy feeling, while for others it can be so severe it disrupts their whole life.
Mental illness in England costs over £77 billion a year when the costs of mental health care, loss of earnings and poor quality of life are combined 2. People with a mental illness have the highest levels of unemployment of any disabled group 3.

What is severe mental illness?

There is no universal understanding of what severe mental illness is, because it tends to be seen differently by the person experiencing it, their family and friends and doctors. The term usually refers to illnesses where psychosis occurs. Psychosis describes the loss of reality a person experiences so that they stop seeing and responding appropriately to the world they are used to.

Schizophrenia, manic depression, schizo-affective disorder and clinical depression are the severe mental illnesses explained in the accompanying media briefing. This does not mean that other conditions are not regarded as serious. People’s diagnosis may change because:

  • Their symptoms tend to change over time
  • They may have more than one condition at the same time
  • Their underlying condition is 'masked' by the use of street drugs or alcohol
  • Distinguishing between psychotic disorders is not always an exact science.

Signs and symptoms of psychosis

Violence is not a symptom of psychosis or mental illness. The Rethink media briefing on violence provides more facts about this common misconception. The two most common types of symptoms are hallucinations and delusions -

  • Hallucinations
     Having hallucinations means that someone may hear their own thoughts as if they are coming from a source outside their own body. They may also see, smell or taste things that appear to be real but which are not being experienced at that time by anyone else.
  • Delusions
     People who have hallucinations often try to find an explanation for them, and may attribute them to beliefs that others may see as strange and which are called delusions. They may believe that the voices they can hear are coming from the television, speaking directly to them, or coming from someone who is plotting against them. The voices may be critical or abusive. This kind of distorted thought pattern may cause very severe anxiety called paranoia.

What causes a psychotic illness?

The exact causes are not known. There may be a genetic vulnerability in some people that can be triggered by environmental and emotional factors such as bereavement, moving home or a breakdown in relationships. Yet there is no obvious genetic link in other people. It is now known that families do not cause mental illness, though they can play a key role in helping the person recover.
Getting the right help at the right time gives people the best chance of recovery.

How many people experience psychosis?

At any one time around 630,000 people in England and Wales are in contact with a specialist mental health service 4. Around 50,000 people are treated under a Section of the Mental Health Act very year 5. About one in hundred people experience at least one acute episode of psychosis at some point in their lives. Some people will only experience one 'psychotic episode' and about a quarter of people make a full recovery. Others will have recurring periods of problems, perhaps at times of particular stress in their lives. The majority have long periods during which they are quite well, while some remain very disabled.

How do people recover from severe mental illness?

Many people who experience severe mental illness can and do recover a meaningful and fulfilling quality of life. Treatments and support that address all the person’s needs are need for the best chance of recovery. This includes medicines, talking therapies, appropriate housing and financial independence.

References

  1. Creating Accepting Communities, Mind, 1999
  2. The Economic and Social Costs of Mental Illness, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, 2003
  3. Office for National Statistics ‘Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity in Great Britain, Report no 3, Economic Activity & Social Functioning of Adults with Psychiatric Disorders’, Stationery Office, 1995
  4. Reforming The Mental Health Act, Stationery Office, 2000
  5. Statistical Bulletin,`In-patients formally detained in hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983 and other legislation, England: 1991-92 to 2001-02, Department of Health, 2002.

Further information