Mental disorder

A substantial disorder of the emotional processes of a person, thought, cognition or memory. Mental disorder is distinguished from:

• Conditions that are primarily those of drug abuse, alcoholism or intellectual disability, unless, in addition to one or more of these conditions, the person has a mental disorder.
• The declining mental abilities that directly accompany impending death.
• Character and personality disorders characterized by lifelong and deeply ingrained antisocial behavior patterns, including sexual behaviors that are abnormal and prohibited by statute unless the behavior results from a mental disorder.