This medical Spanish lesson focuses on screening your Spanish speaking patients for depression using the SIG E CAPS acronym: Sleep, Interests, Guilt, Energy, Concentration, Appetite, Psychomotor, Suicide.
The immigrant populations living in our communities face the kinds of things that can cause anxiety and depression; those types of situations and scenarios such as insecurities, financial stresses, housing issues, or even traumatic events during the migration process are potential stressors that can lead to anxiety and depression in the immigrant community here in the United States.
Several providers in the community health setting, particularly with Spanish speakers, talk about patients coming in with unexplainable pain and symptoms that are likely linked to psychological disorders. It’s difficult to openly and directly about depression with your Spanish-speaking patients because there are many cultural factors that make it a less than acceptable condition. However, applying the SIG E CAPS acronym will help talk around the issue.
Thinking of this, we are going to see some common ways to phrase questions and good vocabulary and verbs for these questions. Here is the SIG E CAPS lesson I taught to the Facebook group:
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Note: Notice we are not using the “ing” form in Spanish at all (ando, iendo) because it is not that common in Spanish as it is in English, so it is recommended using the Present Tense to ask these questions.
Note: You might not have caught it, but the correct pronunciation is Arrepiente and not Arrepienta. Although the two words exist in Spanish, I want to share some examples to let you know how to use them properly:
Él no se arrepiente de nada (related to the present)
¿Disfruta la comida más o menos igual como / que antes?
Are you enjoying the food more o less than the normal?
¿Recientemente come más o menos de lo normal?
Recently are you eating more or less than the normal?
¿Ha bajado o subido de peso recientemente?
Have you gained / lost weight recently?
Note: Although “igual como antes” is perfectly understandable for any Spanish speaker, it’s more accurate to use “que” when you are comparing two things: igual que, menor que, mayor que, etc.
PSYCHOMOTOR
Questions
Meaning
¿Tiene dolor sin razón?
Do you have pain without any reason?
¿Se siente inquieto o ansioso?
Do you feel restless or anxious?
¿Ha notado una falta de coordinación recientemente?
Have you noticed a lack of coordination recently?
¿Le cuestan las actividades diarias como caminar, cepillarse los dientes, vestirse?
Are the daily activities such as walking, brushing your teeth or dressing difficult for you?
SUICIDE
Questions
Meaning
¿Ha pensado reciente que tal vez la vida no vale la pena?
Have you though recently that maybe the life is not worth it?
¿Ha pensado en suicidarse / quitarse la vida?
Have you thought about committing suicide / killing yourself
¿Piensa asà a menudo?
Do you think like that often?
¿Ha pensado en hacerse daño / lastimarse?
Have you thought about hurting yourself?
¿Ha pensado en dañar / lastimar a otra persona?
Have you thought about hurting another person?
Study this depression screening vocabulary and phrases in Spanish with these flashcards
I put together a vocabulary list and set of notes that includes this information in an easily downloadable .pdf – Get your copy for free today!
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Rory is passionate about the Spanish language, an expert instructor, and specifically energized by the practical use of language in industry & community settings.
4 thoughts on “Screening your Spanish speaking patients for depression”
Gwendolyn
Thanks for writing out these questions, I have been looking for more natural ways to translate my counseling material for my Spanish-speaking clientele.
One thing that its misleading is your use of “le” in the concentration category. Le is “directional” in that it is related to the verb and doesn’t simply function as a specifier for your subject. So, ¿Le es difÃcil enfocarse? is not correct, but “se le dificulta enfocar?” would be. In English it sounds like, “does it to you become difficult to focus?” Similar to the way that “se me olividaron las llaves en el carro” means, “the keys were forgotten unto me in the car,” rather than “I forgot the keys in the car.”
In Spanish we have the reflexive verbs and their meaning change depending on which one you are using and the context you are using them. “Enfocar” and “enfocarse” don’t have the same meaning, even though both means “to focus” in English. To be more precise, “Enfocar” means to focus something (a camera, for example) on something else you want to see clearly. “Enfocarse”, on the other hand, means to focus yourself on doing something specific (to concentrate).
Thanks for writing out these questions, I have been looking for more natural ways to translate my counseling material for my Spanish-speaking clientele.
One thing that its misleading is your use of “le” in the concentration category. Le is “directional” in that it is related to the verb and doesn’t simply function as a specifier for your subject. So, ¿Le es difÃcil enfocarse? is not correct, but “se le dificulta enfocar?” would be. In English it sounds like, “does it to you become difficult to focus?” Similar to the way that “se me olividaron las llaves en el carro” means, “the keys were forgotten unto me in the car,” rather than “I forgot the keys in the car.”
Hola Gwendolyn,
The use of “le” in this case is correct. It is a educated way to refer to “usted” without using the pronoun. You can say, for example:
¿Le es fácil caminar? – Is it easy for you to walk?
¿Le es difÃcil ir a su cita médica? – Is it difficult for you to attend your medical appointment?
In Spanish we have the reflexive verbs and their meaning change depending on which one you are using and the context you are using them. “Enfocar” and “enfocarse” don’t have the same meaning, even though both means “to focus” in English. To be more precise, “Enfocar” means to focus something (a camera, for example) on something else you want to see clearly. “Enfocarse”, on the other hand, means to focus yourself on doing something specific (to concentrate).
Making literal translations is not always recommended because they don’t always work. Following this idea, “se me olvidaron las llaves en el carro” means “I forgot the keys in the car”, but a Spanish speaker can also say “dejé las llaves olvidadas en el carro” or “olvidé las llaves en el carro”. All of them means the same.
Hope this clarification helps!
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