Fact Sheets Index.
Mental illness is a disorder of the functioning of the mind.
It is a term which refers to a whole group of illnesses which can be very different from each other. Neuroses may be called names like anxiety, phobia, obsession and neurotic depression. They may have difficulty making sense of what is going on around them, and react inappropriately. Psychoses include schizophrenia, manic-depressive illness and psychotic depression. Psychotic people are not crazed killers - they are no more likely to be violent than anyone else in the community.