One Description of Mental Health and Disorder

Introduction  This report pertains to a description of mental health and disorder with emphasis upon a continuum of severity. The continuum being reported is called Functional Disability. Our aim is to make quantitative inroads upon clinical descriptions.Recent extensive reviews in the field of mental health^2-5 suggest that there are 2 fields of research and practice in which major progress depends upon a continuum of mental health: the epidemiology of mental disorder and the evaluation of the effects of psychotherapy. Many studies referring to the epidemiology of mental disorder note such a need, especially for the "definition of a case." Similarly, the evaluation of psychological treatment depends upon some basis for defining improvement as movement along a scale of severity of mental disorder. Both fields will be helped substantially by a satisfactory description of a mental health continuum.

Theoretical Description  The continuum of mental