State law says the public mental health system must provide quality services within available resources to people with a wide range of serious disorders. Here's a glossary of mental health ailments and treatments.

     Schizophrenia: Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, suspicions, withdrawal and drastic changes in behavior and personality. First episodes usually strike in the patient's 20s. Patients can hear voices ordering them to hurt themselves or, more rarely, others. Occurs in about 1 percent of the population.

      Adjustment disorders: Found in children and adolescents who cannot adapt to stressful events, and have trouble functioning at school or in social settings. Some patients have unexplained physical symptoms that can't be traced to another illness.

      Developmental disabilities: Severe, chronic mental or physical impairments that affect an individual's ability to function. Examples include retardation, cerebral palsy and autism. About 1.8 percent of the population has these conditions.

      Bipolar disorder: Also known as manic depression, characterized by severe mood swings between euphoria and grandiose feelings to severe depression. Thought to have a genetic basis, the illness affects 0.8 percent to 1.5 percent of the population.

      Major depression: A common brain disorder, affecting as many as 20 percent of women and 8 percent of men at some point in their lives. It is particularly dangerous among the 3 percent to 5 percent of people who have severe, recurrent depression - with episodes occurring as often as twice a year and lasting as long as six months. Seventy-five percent of suicides are blamed on major depression.

      Schizo-affective disorder: A combination of psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations or delusions, and major mood swings. About 20 percent of people with severe and persistent mental illness have these symptoms.

      Psychosis: A symptom of severe mental illness expressed differently in different people. Examples include hallucinations and delusions. Term generally means a loss of contact with reality.

      Substance abuse: Overuse and dependence on alcohol, prescription drugs or street drugs. Based on a survey conducted by Research Triangle Institute, state officials estimate that 343,000 North Carolinians need comprehensive substance abuse treatment, mostly for alcohol dependence.

      Atypical anti-psychotic drugs: A new class of drugs developed in the 1990s that help control hallucinations, delusions, apathy and isolation in schizophrenic men and women with fewer side effects. Among them are clozapine, risperidone and olanzapine.

Sources: NAMI North Carolina, a patient advocate group; N.C. Department of Health and Human Services; the Merck Manual of Medical Information