The word sick is an adjective of a qualifying type that is used to designate the state of health of a person that is altered by the presence of some disease, pathology or ailment. The word sick is usually associated with flu states or physical ailments, but in correct terms, the word can be applied to any alteration to health, be it physical, social or mental. In colloquial language, the term can be used derogatorily to refer to a person who is not in his right mind.
According to the World Health Organization, the state of health is the complete and integral well-being of a person, which means that any alteration to the physical, mental or social state of a person can represent a state of disease. It is clearer to associate the notion of disease with a physical problem such as the flu, but in practice a mental health disorder, such as paranoia, can also be framed within the framework of the disease and would allow at least technically a person with that state of health can be considered sick.
For science and medicine it is easy to establish the disease state of a person according to the parameters that it presents or to the symptoms that the disease itself can show in the person. Thus, it is easy to diagnose a viral disease according to the symptoms that the body presents. In the same way, the way of expressing themselves and the experiences of a person also allow us to know the state of his mental health. However, many times science does not find answers to various disease states in which the person visibly cannot be considered healthy but for which a safe diagnosis cannot be made depending on the specific and particular combination of symptoms.
Also depending on the type of disease that is being discussed, the person may continue to be ill for a variable period of time. Thus, physical, mental or social illnesses can be chronic or acute, the former being those that the person will have to face for the rest of their life and the latter those that can be effectively cured and disappear.
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