What if mental illness doesn't exist? Mental illness is not truly an illness in the medical sense. It is simply a metaphor to describe behaviors in a person's life. When we say that someone is ''lovesick,'' does he or she really have a physical disease? Of course not. It is just a metaphor to describe a feeling. It is not a true illness. We often use this type of language when describing troubled relationships between people. The phrase ''You make me sick'' is not describing a disease. ''He is a real pain in the neck'' is not a medical illness. It may be descriptive of a damaged relationship, but certainly not of an ailment. But you might ask the question, ''If there is not mental illness, then are the people well?'' The answer is yes, they are well. ''But they are not feeling good.'' They are unhappy. You see, it is possible to be well in the physical and medical sense and still be unhappy at the same time. (1/3 1-AR)