Mental Illnesses There are many types of mental illnesses that affect people every day. When some people think of mental illnesses they think of ones that could also cause people physical symptoms, but this is not true, there are many others that you would never know someone has if you saw them on the street. As defined by the 2008 encyclopedia “a mental illness is any disease of the mind or brain that seriously affects a person's abilities or behavior. Symptoms of mental illness may include extreme moods, such as excessive sadness or anxiety, or a reduced ability to think clearly or remember well.” A mentally ill person has severe symptoms that impair the person's ability to function in everyday activities and situations. Every nation and every economic level can be affected by mental illness. In the United States alone approximately 3% of the population suffers from serious mental illness and in addition to that number approximately 40% of people will experience some type of mental illness at least once in their lives. Some cases of mental illness may go away on their own, but some cases are so severe that they require professional treatment. There is much more available to help people recover from symptoms than ever before. Most people with a disease can return to living a normal, productive life after receiving the appropriate treatment. Mental illnesses may sometimes be referred to as mental disorders or psychiatric illnesses. But these terms are mainly used by professionals. There are also the terms neurosis and psychosis. These words can be used to describe the severity of the disease. The term neurosis is a mild disorder that causes distress but does not interfere with a person's daily activities. The term Psychic... in the center of the paper... If a person has a personality disorder, parts of their personality make it difficult for them to live with themselves or other people. They often feel unhappy or distressed and find that other people upset them or try to harm them. About one in ten people suffer from a personality disorder, but many will not be severe. There are treatments but they are usually not effective because they are usually very complicated. I really enjoyed doing the research for this project. Mental illnesses are something that really fascinated me and by writing about many of these illnesses I learned quite a bit. I never realized that some of these mental illnesses could be so similar and yet affect their lives so differently. Many people would not be able to live happy lives if it were not for the help of their loved ones and the doctors who provide their treatments.