It is sometimes assumed that mental illness and intellectual disability are the same. This is simply not true. The terms psychiatric disability and mental illness are sometimes used interchangeably. More precisely, mental illness refers to the actual disorder, while psychiatric disability refers to the impairment the individual experiences as a result of mental illness. Not every person who has had a mental illness will experience a disability.
Many people recover from an episode of illness and enjoy long periods of complete health.
Psychiatric disability is seldom permanent, and the level of disability experienced often fluctuates. Students being treated for a psychiatric disorder may be on quite large doses of psychotropic medication. All drugs have side effects, but psychotropic medications have a reputation for impairing concentration, causing drowsiness, blurred vision, stiffness, shakiness, and a dry mouth. Quite often the observable signs of a psychiatric disability are a result of the treatment, not of the condition itself. In these leaflets we have chosen to use the term psychiatric disability, as our concern is with the impact of the illness on students' functioning in the university environment.