At what point is a mental illness considered severe?

spacedog

just interested

Former Member

apparently a mental illness that interferes with a person's life and ability to function is called a serious mental illness (SMI) but that doesn't make sense to me because how can you have a mental illness that doesn't interfere with your life??? isn't that like impossible bcs then it's not a mental illness if it's not that bad rigjt? idk

JJLemon18

Xee wrote: »

apparently a mental illness that interferes with a person's life and ability to function is called a serious mental illness (SMI) but that doesn't make sense to me because how can you have a mental illness that doesn't interfere with your life??? isn't that like impossible bcs then it's not a mental illness if it's not that bad rigjt? idk

That that I'd assume 🤔

Millie2787

From what I’ve learnt Severe mental Illness (SMI) is diagnosed when a persons mental Illness has a significant impact on their occupational (Eating , drinking , cooking , washing etc) and social activities despite input from professionals . I think they also take into account how long someone’s been diagnosed for and what treatments they have had to try and manage their condition.

Azziman

Hey @IainJammyboy - echoing what @Millie2787, what makes a mental illness severe is, well, the severity! Mental illness is showing a set of symptoms for a particular period of time; what makes it severe is the extent to which it impairs your ability to lead your usual life. The more severe the impact is on your life, the more severe the condition is, and thus it requires greater intervention/effort to be able to remedy the "impairment", so to speak.