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. Usually the word sick is 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 disparagingly to refer to a person who is not in their 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 illness with a physical problem such as a flu, but in practice an alteration to mental health, such as paranoia, can also be framed within the framework of the disease and would allow at least Technically, a person with this 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 he presents or 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 their state of mental health. However, science often does not find answers to various disease states in which the person cannot visibly be considered healthy but for which a certain diagnosis cannot be made depending on the specific and particular combination of symptoms.
Also depending on the type of illness 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 must face for the rest of his life and the latter being those that can be effectively cured and disappear.
