"The fact that people call Linclon mentally ill is ridiculous.

Sorry - one last comment. Re: Lincoln - 'Rediculous." Really? Why? Because you are so prejudiced that you can't accept that someone could suffer from a psychiatric disorder and still rise to greatness? Because Lincoln doesn't fit your viewpoint of persons with mental illness as useless, dangerous, and incoherent? Because it mixes someone you admire with a label that you view with disdain and discomfort? And because accepting it would reduce his stature in your mind, when instead it should increase it to realize that he did what he did while having to overcome great personal adversity? Myself, I am not entirely comfortable with diagnosing someone who is so long ago deceased, as it's based on limited information. However, based on his numerous writings, it does look as though he was depressed. The more I learn about Lincoln, the more impressed and inspired I become. I prefer not to judge people unfairly based upon whether the illness they may have suffered was physical or mental. BTW, I don't think anything less of FDR just because he was in a wheelchair.

"In the common sense use of this term, which I consider the right one, mental illness makes you unable to function, and out of touch with common, pragmatic markers of reality."

Wow, this is a big one - A.) "In the common sense use of this term" - common sense for who? Archie Bunker? Ignorant people? People who are stuck in a 1950's era of thought? I would prefer to define common sense differently. Sadly, a lot of people in this country view things the way you do, and that's a big part of why people who are mentally ill, shun help, avoid treatment, face anxiety about disclosing their condition, and deal with predjudice and stigma when they try to get a job, go to school, or do other things, and why insurance coverage for mental illness lags behind coverage for physical illness.

B.) "which I consider the right one" - Ok, so you not only get to define what is "common sense", but you get to pick what is the "right one", or proper definition. Never mind what the medical community has to say about the definition of what is, after all, a medical term. That would smack of 'book smarts'. Better to poll the man on the sidwalk.

C.) "mental illness makes you unable to function, and out of touch with common, pragmatic markers of reality" - SOME mental illnesses do this, not all (or even most), and even then, they can usually be treated. That statement is the equivalent of saying that "The common sense definition of physical illness, the right one, btw, is a person lying in a hospital bed, on machines, and an IV." Well, it COULD be, or it could mean that you have an ear infection. Both are illnesses, both should be treated in some fashion. Neither should cause you to be looked down upon. I've already detailed the numerous problems with your definition of mental illness. It is exactly the problem.

D.) "Depression, or sadness, is suffering. But it's not illness". Ok, first off, depression is not the same thing as sadness. Both states do entail suffering however. "But it's not an illness" - ok, once again I forgot that your opinion trumps that of medical experts, university researchers, the people who write the dictionary, etc. But if you want to get technical, depression would be classified as a disorder. So you sort of win on that one. It's a disorder with several variants, degress of severity, and it's very treatable. Disorders collectively fall under the umbrella of Mental Illness, i.e. mental= of the mind, and ilness= something wrong. The fact that you have your own, prejudiced view of the world doesn't mean you get to define terms for anyone other than yourself.