Synonyms and antonyms of Specific mental illnesses and general words for mental illness in British Thesaurus

agoraphobia (noun)

a fear of going outside and being in public places

ASPD (noun)

anti-social personality disorder: a mental health condition that leads the person to exploit other people and treat them as if they were not important

automatism (noun)

a defence used in criminal cases where the accused's mental state leads them to commit a crime without knowing they are doing it. Insane automatism is when a person is mentally ill and commits the crime. Non-insane automatism is when the accused was temporarily affected, for example while sleepwalking or suffering from a fit or concussion.

bipolar disorder (noun)

a serious mental illness in which someone experiences extreme changes in mood, sometimes feeling very excited and sometimes very unhappy

breakdown (noun)

a nervous breakdown

claustrophobia (noun)

a fear of being in a small or crowded space or in a place that seems difficult to get out of quickly

combat fatigue (noun)

a mental illness caused by a reaction to fighting in a war

delusion (noun)

medical a mental condition in which you believe things that are not true

dementia (noun)

a serious illness affecting someone’s brain and memory in which they gradually stop being able to think or behave in a normal way. Most forms of dementia usually affect only old people.

depression (noun)

a medical condition in which a person is so unhappy that they cannot live a normal life

GAD (noun)

generalized anxiety disorder: a mental illness that causes someone to feel anxious on a daily basis

generalized anxiety disorder (noun)

a mental illness that causes someone to feel very anxious most of the time

hypochondria (noun)

a mental condition in which someone worries a lot about their health and thinks that they are ill when they are not

instability (noun)

a condition in which someone’s mental state often changes

kleptomania (noun)

a mental illness that makes someone want to steal things

madness (noun)

offensive severe mental illness

mania (noun)

a mental illness that makes someone behave in an extremely excited and active way

manic depression (noun)

a serious mental illness in which you experience extreme changes in mood, sometimes feeling very excited and sometimes feeling very unhappy. Many people now prefer to use the word bipolar disorder.

megalomania (noun)

a mental illness in which someone believes they are very important and powerful when they are not

melancholia (noun)

an old or literary word for depression

mentally handicapped (adjective)

old-fashioned someone who is mentally handicapped is not able to learn or develop skills at the same rate as most other people because they have a problem with their brain. It is now considered more polite to say that someone is learning disabled or that they have special needs or learning difficulties.

Munchausen’s syndrome (noun)

a condition in which someone pretends to have a serious illness in order to get treatment and sympathy from medical workers

nervous breakdown (noun)

a mental condition in which you are so upset or unhappy that you cannot look after yourself

nervous shock (noun)

a psychiatric illness caused by witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event, often used as the basis for a legal compensation claim

neurosis (noun)

a mental illness that makes you behave in an unusual way or makes you worry all the time about something unimportant

obsessive compulsive disorder (noun)

a mental illness that makes you keep repeating an action such as washing your hands, in order to avoid painful thoughts

OCD (noun)

obsessive compulsive disorder

paranoia (noun)

a mental illness that makes people believe that other people do not like them and want to harm them

persecution complex (noun)

a mental illness in which you believe that everyone is unfair or cruel to you

personality disorder (noun)

a mental or emotional condition that makes it difficult to have good relationships with people in social situations and at work

postnatal depression (noun)

British a mental illness in which a woman feels very sad after her baby is born

post-traumatic stress disorder (noun)

a mental illness caused by having or seeing a very frightening experience, for example fighting in a war

psychosis (noun)

a serious mental illness that affects your ability to know what is real and changes your personality and behaviour

PTSD (noun)

post-traumatic stress disorder: a mental illness caused by having or seeing a very frightening experience, for example fighting in a war

schizoid (adjective)

typical of schizophrenia

schizophrenia (noun)

a serious mental illness in which the way that you think and feel is not connected with what is really happening

schizophrenic (adjective)

typical of schizophrenia

shell shock (noun)

a mental illness that affects soldiers who have fought in a war and makes them extremely nervous or confused

split personality (noun)

a tendency to have extreme and unexpected changes of emotion or behaviour

split personality (noun)

informal schizophrenia

Tourette’s syndrome (noun)

a condition in which a person makes frequent repeated sounds or movements that they cannot control