Mental illnesses are biologically-based disorders which interfere with an individual's ability to think, feel, act, and relate within the standard norms of society. The American Psychiatric Association identifies hundreds of mental disorders ranging from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to Violent/Self-Destructive Behaviors. Mental illness can be physical as well as psychological and emotional, and some are classified as "major mental illnesses" because of their propensity to seriously impair an individual's ability to function. Severe mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. Mental illness can strike any person at any time (one in five Americans and Australians, and one in six Canadians, will be affected some time in their life), account for more hospital admissions than any other single disease, and cost U.S. society more than $150 billion annually.

Mental illness afflicts people of every age, race, creed, and socioeconomic background. It can...