Is autism considered a mental illness?

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Is autism considered a mental illness?

No, though it is commonly referred to as a 'mental disorder'.

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Unapologetically, Norny.
-chronically drunk

Agreed; its a disorder, not an illness. Don't know the exact explanation, though.

In the US, it is considered a developmental disability, meaning you had this from birth. It was always present, maybe not recognize early on, but still there. There are no know cures for it.

It is placed in the same category as blindness and deaf. There is really nothing that will get these function back to *normal*.

Mental illness may come and go. There is medications can get you back to a normal/absence of symptoms.

The important part, my husband's company only had to hold his job for 6 months for a mental illness diagnosis. They could not fire him for a developmental disability, but punted him to early retirement.

Yes it is. It's classified in the official "bible" of brain disorders, the DSM.

I thought it was considered a learning disability, developmental disability, neurological disorder, mental problem, metal health issue, a disorder. I have seen autism under these categories.

Most likely a developmental disorder.

It's not an illness, but people will think that it is.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder. But many people, including some professionals, may consider it to be a mental illness.

Illness means something that is acquired and can potentially be cured. People who want a cure for autism, might be more inclined to think of it as an illness.

Technically it's also not really a mental disorder. "Mental" means that a disorder has a psychological nature or origin. Autism does not have a psychological cause.

The term "mental illness" is debatable in many circumstances, for instance when people who have vitamin deficiency or heavy metal toxicity present with psychosis. I would not find it appropriate to label that as a mental illness because the psychosis has a physiological origin, not a psychological origin. But many doctors would indeed label that as a mental illness.

Autism is classified as a pervasive developmental disorder.

I'm not sure why threads like this pop up all the time asking what it's classified as, or debating various classifications.

Who really cares if it's called pdd, mental illness, neurological whateverblahblah as all are various labels for the same thing: Autism, which simply is what it is & that's that.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

It's curiosity.

Autism is a developmental disorder. It's a different way of being. It's not a mental illness or disease.