The concept of "delusional"?

[Ronnmacc80]

I am having alot of trouble with this term and a few others. I think mainly because modern psychiatry hasn't caught on in many areas of the spanish speaking world (not necessary a bad thing!).

It is fairly easy to find translations for alot of medical problems, but with psychiactric disorders, you usually will need to rely on some idiom.

In english, we assign the word "delusional" to someone who can function enough to survive, yet does not have a firm grasp of reality, like their worldly view has no basis on what is actually taking place in reality. In english, we say this person is "delusional". In spanish?

Also, in spanish, how might you describe a person with mental illness - I know "loco" is a broad meaning that can include this, but doesn't do it any dignity (in the medical sense). To me, loco is a word closer to "sinverguenza".

Thanks in advance.

[aleCcowaN]

The term for delusional is delirante, but terms rather describe illnesses and symptoms in Spanish, but not ill people. I had once a student, una esquizofrénica altamente funcional, and this last term describes the patient who can do some work and care for him/erself. I have a nephew with Asperger's and without any medication he engages now and then in compulsive behaviour for a while -running or going to church to pray-. None of them is "un delirante".

A person with a mental illness is "un/a enfermo/a mental" or "un/a paciente psiquiátrico/a".

[JPablo]

I agree with AleC.
Also you have "delusivo" (engañoso) as well as "delusión" that you can check in DRAE.

The Diccionario de uso del Español by Moliner gives a whole "catalogue" of synonyms for "loco". In a non-colloquial register I'd use "demente"... but here is the list, (majority colloquial terms, some, like the ones I made bold are some of the "less colloquial")

Fuera de su acuerdo,
tocado del ala,
alienado,
anormal,
atreguado,
barrenado, ido
[mal o tocado] de la cabeza,
como una cabra,
como un cencerro,
chalado,
como una chiva,
como una chota,
chiflado,
colgado,
débil mental,
deficiente mental,
demente,
desentido,
desequilibrado,
desquiciado,
destornillado,
enajenado,
endemoniado,
esquizofrénico,
faltoso,
grillado,
guillado,
ido,
fuera de su juicio,
locatis,
lunático,
majara [o majareta],
maniaco,
maniático,
megalómano
mochales,
monomaniaco,
como una moto,
orate,
perturbado,
pirado,
como una regadera,
tarado,
tocado,
trastornado,
tronado,
venado,
venático,
vesánico,
zumbado.

[CrOtALiTo]

This can be considered as a metal disorder.

Loco is common, but sound something rudeness, then I go for the mental disorder in an illness.

Sincerely yours.

[JPablo]

Originally Posted by CrOtALiTo

This can be considered as a metal disorder.

¡Epa!
A "metal disorder" is for example... "la oxidación"

[Elaina]

Originally Posted by Ronnmacc80

I am having alot of trouble with this term and a few others. I think mainly because modern psychiatry hasn't caught on in many areas of the spanish speaking world (not necessary a bad thing!).

It is fairly easy to find translations for alot of medical problems, but with psychiactric disorders, you usually will need to rely on some idiom.

In english, we assign the word "delusional" to someone who can function enough to survive, yet does not have a firm grasp of reality, like their worldly view has no basis on what is actually taking place in reality. In english, we say this person is "delusional". In spanish?

Also, in spanish, how might you describe a person with mental illness - I know "loco" is a broad meaning that can include this, but doesn't do it any dignity (in the medical sense). To me, loco is a word closer to "sinverguenza".

Thanks in advance.

I agree with you in that it is difficult to translate some psychiatric terms to Spanish.

We use "enfermo mental" usually when we are referring to a person that has been diagnosed with the major diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar, borderline pd, etc.

Never, ever......do we use the word "loco".

Delusional, of course is "delirante"....la persona delirante está viendo lo que no esta allí, escuchando lo que no se escucha por todos, y creyendo lo que esa persona cree y no es cierto.

For the other diagnoses, depression or anxiety related, I don't use mental illness eventhough being an affective disorder can affect your mood, thoughts, emotions, etc.

[Ronnmacc80]

I myself have little faith in modern psychiatry and many areas of modern medicine. In the U.S., these are convenient ways of labeling for the ultimate aim of profit, and for neatly cataloging people who are just "colorful" or eccentric.

The finer points of the human nature cannot be neatly categorized with clinical standards. For this reason, I feel that those colloquial terms do more to reflect the true nature of deviations, that are best regarded on a case-by-case basis. Thanks so much for the answers.

[JPablo]

I agree with you. (You can see in You Tube "Marketing of Madness" in its original English version and Spanish subtitles...)