please explain
2007-08-28 04:12:02 · 11 answers · asked by smilingontime 6 in Health ➔ Mental Health
They can be interchangeable, at least in popular usage. "Crazy" and "mentally disturbed" are never used as official mental health terms, but "insane" is used in a legal context.
Crazy is a slang term and it can mean the same thing as funny, silly, goofy, etc. I never heard of a psychiatrist using this term unless it was to make a joke or something.
I worked in mental health for 20 years and I never heard of a psychiatrist describing anyone as "mentally disturbed." That seems to be more of a term in popular usage to mean someone has a mental illness. Sometimes it's used in the same way as "crazy"; I have heard of comedians on TV being described as "deeply disturbed."
Sometimes the term "insane" is used, but only in court proceedings where someone is judged to be unable to tell the difference between right and wrong. "Incompetent" is used to refer to someone who is unable to make his own decision and will need a legal guardian to be appointed.
2007-08-28 05:12:53 · answer #1 · answered by majnun99 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It's the same, by and large.
But the order in which you put suggest an increase in intensity.
Thus mentally disturbed might describe a mild for of neurosis or a compulsive obsessional disorder; insane, the same but at a severe level; and crazy, dementia or when someone is unable to act in a normal manner.
Note that crazy is familiarly used to describe someone's excessive behavior or acts though truly not relevant mental disease. A person who ride at a speed of 150mph on a highway will be said to be "crazy" though he is not insane at all; it is just the expression of a reckless behavior done by a normal person. In that case, that is when popularly used by non-specialists, mentally disturbed and insane suggest authentic forms of madness.
2007-08-28 04:28:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think there is a difference in those terms. Mentally disturbed means the person has a mental condition that can be successfully treated with the correct medication, such as bi polar or manic depressive.
Insane refers to those who have more serious conditions and should be institutionalized where they can have constant care.
Crazy is a term I use for people who act irrationally and often dangerously. They appear to have no control over their bad behavior.
2007-08-28 04:29:47 · answer #3 · answered by back from the dead 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are the same thing just mentally disturbed sounds better than insane and crazy sounding the worse.
2007-08-28 04:15:59 · answer #4 · answered by hsmommy06 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not in my book. I think it's a matter of what's policically correct to call somebody who is mentally ill.
2007-08-28 04:16:09 · answer #5 · answered by Tasha 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They are all terms describing psychiatric conditions.
Their meanings do not differ, only level of political correctness/offensiveness.
2007-08-28 04:14:59 · answer #6 · answered by michele 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they are only varying levels of political correctness
p.s. 'elaynekickass' got there 4 seconds before me.... great minds???
2007-08-28 04:19:28 · answer #7 · answered by hippie 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
each one is less politically correct than the one mentioned before it.
2007-08-28 04:19:24 · answer #8 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you're gonna be one, you might as well be all three...
2007-08-28 04:16:14 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
all the same
2007-08-28 04:16:02 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋