Criminal justiceResearch paperForensic psychology

Mental illness vs mental disorder Adam Lanza paper

Write a three-page paper comparing three similarities and three differences between mental illnesses and mental disorders, speculating on violent video games as a stressor in the Adam Lanza case and on his treatability, suggesting a preventive action, and differentiating functional disorders, neuroses and manic-depressive behaviour.

Aug 14, 2026

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 14, 2026

Written by

Aaron Bishop

MA, Education

assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines

Reviewed by

Dr. Nathan Cole

PhD, Rhetoric & Composition

Argumentation and thesis development

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Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

A terminology question wearing a case study

The first task is the one that decides the grade and it is a terminology question. In current clinical usage mental illness and mental disorder are close to interchangeable, with disorder the term diagnostic manuals actually use and illness the term that survives in law, policy and ordinary speech. So the honest structure is to say that, then draw the three similarities from what both terms denote — a condition affecting cognition, emotion or behaviour, associated with distress or impairment, and diagnosed against criteria rather than by observation of oddness — and draw the three differences from usage rather than from substance: which term appears in a manual against which appears in statute, the breadth each covers in common use, and the connotation illness carries towards severity and towards a medical model. Every one of the six needs its own example, which the brief specifies, so build them as you go.

The Lanza sections need discipline of a different kind, because the brief invites speculation and speculation still has to be evidence-bound. On violent video games, the responsible answer reports what the research base actually supports: the evidence for a causal link to mass violence is weak and contested, and official reviews of that shooting emphasised a long history of untreated and under-treated conditions, profound social withdrawal and access to firearms rather than gaming. Say what you think, but say it against the evidence. The treatability question is answerable from the record — he had been assessed and diagnosed years earlier, and treatment recommendations were not followed — which makes the preventive action question concrete: continuity of care, engaging families in follow-up, and the transition point where paediatric services end. The final classification section is straightforward definitional work, and criticising the notion that one disorder is more severe than another is easiest if you argue from impairment rather than from label.

Likely learning objectives

Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.

01
Distinguish clinical and lay usage of mental illness and mental disorder.
02
Support each comparison with a specific illustrative example.
03
Evaluate a claimed causal link against the strength of the research base.
04
Identify continuity of care as a preventive mechanism rather than a slogan.
05
Differentiate functional disorders, neuroses and mood disorders by criteria.

Assignment instructionsQuoted verbatim

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

According to the text, mental disorders may be caused organically or via chemical or genetic causes. In either case, if left untreated the cost is usually dire. In this case study, you will explore a mental disorder that was not properly controlled via the case of Adam Lanza. Read the article titled “Adam Lanza”, located at http://www.biography.com/#!/people/adam-lanza-21068899#synopsis. Next, view the article that discusses Lanza’s psychiatric treatments titled “Lanza’s Psychiatric Treatment Revealed In Documents”, located athttp://articles.courant.com/2013-12-28/news/hc-lanza-sandy-hook-report1228-20131227_1_peter-lanza-adam-lanza-nancy-lanza. Write a three (3) page paper in which you: Compare and contrast three (3) key similarities and three (3) differences between mental illnesses and mental disorders. Provide one (1) example of each similarity and difference to support your response. Speculate whether or not Adam Lanza’s engagement with violent video games was a stressor that caused him to act out his obsession with mass murders. Next, hypothesize whether or not Adam Lanza would have been a good candidate for treatment of his mental illness if he had not committed suicide. Justify your response. Since Lanza was diagnosed at a young age with a mental illness, suggest one (1) action psychologists should have suggested that could have prevented the assault that occurred at Sandy Hook elementary. Support your response. Differentiate between the key characteristics associated with functional mental disorders, minor mental disorders (i.e., neuroses), and manic-depressive behavior. Next, support or criticize the notion that one disorder is more severe than the other. Justify your response. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar type Websites do not qualify as academic resources. Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements: Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Recommend improvements to societal stigmas associated with physical disabilities. Evaluate the importance of reconciling and distinguishing both physical and mental disabilities and how they are perceived by society. Use technology and information resources to research issues related to the criminal mind. Write clearly and concisely about the criminal mind topics using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

Turn the brief into deliverables

01
Three similarities between mental illnesses and mental disorders, each with an example.
02
Three differences, each with an example.
03
A reasoned position on violent video games as a stressor in this case.
04
A judgement on whether Lanza would have been a good candidate for treatment.
05
One preventive action psychologists could have suggested.
06
A differentiation of functional disorders, neuroses and manic-depressive behaviour.
07
At least three quality academic sources, APA formatted.

Definitions, the case, prevention, then classification

What each term denotes

Establish clinical and lay usage before comparing.

Three similarities, with examples

Set out shared features and illustrate each.

Three differences, with examples

Draw differences from usage, breadth and connotation.

The case, weighed against evidence

Address stressors, treatability and what the record shows.

Prevention and classification

Propose a preventive action and differentiate the three categories.

Clinical sources for a criminal justice paper

Recommended databases

National Institute of Mental Health
StatPearls via NCBI Bookshelf
PsycINFO
The two articles supplied with the assignment
PubMed

Search sequence

1.
Read both supplied articles and note what is documented against what is inferred.
2.
Find how a current diagnostic manual defines mental disorder.
3.
Search for reviews of the video game and violence literature, not single studies.
4.
Look up the historical meaning of neurosis before comparing it to current terms.
5.
Draft all six comparisons with examples before writing the case sections.

Reference shortlist

These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.

Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.

01
Mental Illness
National Institute of Mental Health · 2024
Official definitions and prevalence data, and the terminology the government itself uses.
02
Psychosis
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2024
Clinical account of psychotic illness, for the functional disorder classification.
03
Delusional Disorder
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023
A worked example of a disorder defined by criteria rather than by severity.
04
Adolescent Mental Health
World Health Organization · 2024
Evidence on early diagnosis and continuity of care, which the prevention question turns on.

Review before submission

Common mistakes

Inventing a substantive clinical distinction where usage is the real difference.
Giving six comparisons without the examples the brief requires for each.
Asserting that violent games cause mass violence without engaging the evidence.
Treating the case as a morality argument rather than a clinical one.
Proposing prevention that no psychologist could have initiated.
Using Wikipedia or similar sites, which the brief excludes explicitly.

Submission checklist

Three similarities and three differences are each supported by an example.
The usage distinction between clinical and legal language is stated.
The video game claim is weighed against research rather than asserted.
The preventive suggestion is something a clinician could act on.
All three classification terms are defined and compared.
At least three academic sources are cited and formatted to APA.

Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.