Sociology / Unit 9 Soc 1597 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Mental Disorder and Mental Illness, and Serious Mental Illness
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The idea
Mental disorder and mental illness are used interchangeably here; serious mental illness, or SMI, names the subset causing substantial functional impairment.
In practice
A diagnosed anxiety disorder may need only outpatient care, while an SMI diagnosis disrupts a person's work and daily functioning severely.
Where people slip
The genuine severity distinction is mental illness versus SMI, not mental disorder versus mental illness.
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