What is mental illness? Mental illnesses are clinical manifestations of cognitive, emotional, volitional, and behavioral disorders resulting from brain dysfunction caused by a variety of biological, psychological, and socio-environmental factors.

Mental illnesses are caused by dysfunctions of the thalamus and brain in humans, resulting in abnormalities in perception, thinking, emotions and behavior. There are various types of common mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, affective disorders and organic brain disorders. Different types of mental illnesses have different clinical manifestations and treatments.

Mental illnesses usually occur in youth and middle age, with some intermittent episodes and others continuing to develop and becoming chronic, with high rates of relapse and disability. If left untreated, mental decline and personality changes may occur, making it difficult to adapt to social life and fulfill one's responsibilities to family and society. However, if detected early and treated promptly, patients can also recover completely and live, study and work normally.

Most patients with mental illness have a long duration of illness, fluctuate and are prone to relapse, requiring continuous and regular medication to control symptoms and prevent relapse. Many studies have shown that improving adherence to treatment in psychiatric patients is the key to controlling psychiatric symptoms and improving the prognosis of mental illness.

Although the new generation of antipsychotics and new antidepressants have been shown to be effective, with fewer side effects, and have been widely welcomed, awareness of and adherence to these medications by psychiatric patients remain important issues in clinical treatment and care in psychiatry.