"the effects of these illnesses on families can often be more...

"the effects of these illnesses on families can often be more devastating than severe physical illness.."

Piotrvip, your comment above is just what I was referring to in my post last night i.e. that what is referred to as mental illness is actually a physical illness also but we differentiate it because it concerns the brain. By doing that it immediately stigmatises the illness by invoking an image of madness etc which is totally wrong but can have the effect of discouraging sufferers from seeking help. As per my post, I just wish another term could be developed to replace 'mental illness'. Afterall, we don't refer to someone who's had a heart attack as suffering from physical illness, we refer to it by its' specific name.