I don't know why I get so much hate for saying this and people find it so hard to accept, but I'll say it again. The term for a formal disease of the mind, as

I don't know why I get so much hate for saying this and people find it so hard to accept, but I'll say it again. The term for a formal disease of the mind, as used by the medical practice, is currently "mental disorder." Not too long ago, the term doctors used was "mental illness." Therefore when you say someone has a mental illness, you have to think about how the entire medical profession has used that term in the past, and how that may influence perceptions. It is a term that potentially brings in connotations that the individual has been diagnosed with a specific disorder in the DSM-V and this may be leading to doctor prescribed drugs, therapies, different outcomes in court cases, and many other things. I'm sure many people including OP don't intend to imply that when they use the term. And this is also why you would never call "work stress" a mental illness. Work stress is cause that can absolutely make you unhealthy. It may or may not be exacerbating a mental disorder which a doctor may or may not have formally diagnosed yet. We can have compassion for somebody who's suffering without jumping to the conclusion that they've been diagnosed with a DSM-V disorder. As non-doctors, we should! These distinctions matter. It's merely paying respect to the facts on the ground, as well as the person in question when we describe their situation accurately.