What is the difference between mental illness and physical illness?
Following Hippocrates' classification of the disease, over 2000 years physicians are diagnosing and treating their patients with the knowledge of their time. By the last quarter of 18'th century, the main thought about insanity was basically different from other illnesses where it was considered as a disease of the mind not the body.
Today most commonly accepted classifications are based on WHO's (World Health Organization) ICD report namely "International Classification of Diseases" and APS's (American Psychiatric Association) DSM report namely Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. The used terminologies are mental disorders, mental and behavioral disorder.
The ongoing assumptions include that mental disorders are the disorders of the mind other than the body and they are basically dissimilar from other illnesses. The fact is that minds and bodies don’t develop illnesses. Only human beings are developing the illnesses. And when they develop illness both mind and body takes roles. For example when we consider pain, it is typically an aspect of a illness of the body is merely psychological abnormality. On the other hand panic, fear and other mental states are among the causing factors of hypertension, MI ( myocardial infarction), asthma and so on; where physical changes of the body like anorexia, fatigue are examples of psychiatric disorders. Psychiatric disorders like depression represents the impossibility of differentiating between mental and physical illnesses. The answers of the questions about the differentiation of the two terms rely on the 1994 edition of the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) where it indicates; “ The term mental disorders involves a differentiation between “mental” disorders and “physical” disorders and “physical” disorders that is a simplifying misreplacement of body/mind deception.
Although there is a problem regarding the literatures having the terminology of "mental" in "physical" disorders and "physical" in "mental" disorders, DSM-IV continues to use the term "mental disorders" because of the lack of the best alternative description.
Most of us probably had a serious physical illness at a one point of time. Although the physical illness we experienced may have affected how we feel, it is not a mental illness case. We have to understand the differences between these two disease conditions.
Although mental illness is similar in some ways to physical illness, there are several important differences. Understanding these differences will help you appreciate the challenges health care providers face when diagnosing and treating mental illness. In addition, you will also understand how and why the mental health care industry has evolved into such a unique environment.
In treating mental illness, the mental health care team cannot limit their focus to a specific organ or disease. Rather, mental illness often permeates the fabric of a patient’s life, affecting relationships with family and friends, employment, feelings about self and others, and the ability to carry out daily activities. For this reason, although medication is often a cornerstone of treatment, effective treatment also involves addressing and supporting many other patients needs. Other factors that distinguish mental illness from physical illness are listed below. While mental illness has acute (short-term) phases that must be treated, it is largely a chronic illness. For treatment to be effective, both phases must be addressed.
- The nature of mental illness renders patient reports of symptoms subjective. Also, symptoms may vary among patients with the same disorder and within the same patient at different times.
- Diagnosis and treatment of mental illness is often complicated by comorbidity, the coexistence of more than one mental disorder.
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