Ricorso ai termini psichiatrici nel linguaggio della rete: rispecchio della realtà o "prestiti" poco felici?

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to discuss the entrance of psychiatric terms in everyday Italian language. In this article, the authors make an attempt to answer the following questions: why does a man make use of such terminology (once reserved only for scientific field and now deeply-rooted in everyday language)? What are the linguistic and psychosocial consequences of it? It is stressed that a great deal of psychiatric terms, which comprise a wide range of diseases, are used improperly in everyday language. Furthermore, it will be proved that their meaning is often reduced to the level of insults or injuries.