Chronically Mentally Ill Law & Legal Definition
Chronically mentally ill is a term used to describe a major mental disorder based on a diagnosis by a licensed medical health professional which shows that such a person has serious problems in the areas of work, family and also has frequent variations in his/her thinking or mood.
The following is an example of a federal statute defining chronically mentally ill.
“Chronically mentally ill means a condition of schizophrenia or major affective disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), based on a diagnosis from a licensed mental health professional, with at least one documented hospitalization for this condition sometime in the last 2 years or with documentation of a formal assessment on a standardized scale of any serious symptomology or serious impairment in the areas of work, family relations, thinking, or mood.” [38 CFR 61.1]
