can you only contract contagious diseases?
I'm writing a paper about schizophrenia and I wasn't sure about how to phrase something. Can I write that you can contract the mental illness, even though it's not contagious? Or can you only use the term "to contract" something if it is something contagious..?
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"Can I write that you can contract the mental illness, even though it's not contagious?" -- Absolutely not! You can say (1) in men symptoms develop in the teens and early 20s; (2) in women symptoms develop in the 20s or early 30s; or you can use the word "manifest" instead of "develop".
"Or can you only use the term "to contract" something if it is something contagious..?" -- Correct. To contract an illness implies contagion.