The law defines the following conditions as a serious mental illness:

• Schizophrenia
• Paranoid and other psychotic disorders
• Bipolar disorders (hypomanic, manic, depressive, and mixed)
• Major depressive disorders (single episode or recurrent)
• Schizoaffective disorders (bipolar or depressive)
• Pervasive developmental disorders
• Obsessive-compulsive disorders
• Depression in childhood and adolescence
• Panic disorder
• Post traumatic stress disorders (acute, chronic, or with delayed onset)

Pervasive Developmental Disorder
These disorders are characterized by severe deficits and pervasive impairment in multiple areas of development. These include impairment in reciprocal social interaction, impairment in communication, and the presence of stereotyped behavior, interests, and activities. Listed below are the codes and names:

• 299.0 Autistic Disorder: childhood autism, infantile psychosis, Kanner's syndrome
• 299.1 Childhood Disintegrative Disorder: Heller's syndrome
• 299.8 Other Specified Pervasive Developmental Disorders: Asperger's disorder, Atypical childhood psychosis and Borderline psychosis of childhood
• 299.9 Unspecified Pervasive Developmental Disorder: Child psychosis, not otherwise specified; pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified; schizophrenia, childhood type, not otherwise specified; and schizophrenic syndrome of childhood, not otherwise specified
• There will be a fifth digit to these 299 codes:
• 0 is for current or active
• 1 is for residual state

Some of the Non-Serious Mental Illness diagnoses (non-inclusive list) are:

• Personality Disorders (histrionic 301.50, borderline dependent 301.83, for ex)
• Dysthymia Disorder 300.4 a chronic depressed mood that occurs most of the day more days than not for at least 2 yrs.
• Cyclothymic Disorder301.13 numerous periods of hypomanic symptoms fluctuating with numerous periods of depressive symptoms
• Seasonal Affective Disorder (sad)
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder 300.02
• Anxiety Disorder non-specific origin 300.00
• Acute Stress Disorder, adjustment disorders 308.3
• Adjustment Disorder with depressed mood 309.0
• Bulimia Nervosa 307.51
• Anorexia Nervosa 307.1
• Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder 314.9
• Social Phobia 300.23
• Dissociative Identity Disorder 300.14