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A mental health disorder can be defined as a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion, or behavior reflecting dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental mental processes. The criterion to distinguish a mental disorder from normal life stresses and everyday lapses in functionality is when the syndrome causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important activities. In the diagnostic process, the relative severity and weight of each diagnostic criteria and their contribution to a diagnosis require clinical judgment and can be especially helpful in determining a patient's need for treatment.

 

For further information about mental disorders, see here. To read the DSM-5 definition of a mental disorder, see here.