Originally written as a newsletter on August 25, 2026, this post is a reflection on my teaching.

level up from intermediate to advance: feel the subtle meaning in conversation

上次跟學生聊天，她說她臺灣那邊的親戚有一個人有憂鬱症
Last time I was chatting with a student, she told me that one of her relatives in Taiwan has depression.

後來就聊起心理健康這個話題，那時候我問：

We ended up talking about mental health, and at one point I asked,

「請問她有沒有去看身心科？」

“Does she see a ShenXinke?”

我們就開始討論起這個字。
That’s when we started talking about the term 身心科.

到底什麼是「身心科」呢？
So, what exactly is 身心科?

身心科就是治療任何心理疾病的科。
It’s the medical department that treats mental health conditions.

身
Body

心
Mind

科
Department

However, Is it really "correct" to say 「身心科」?

如果你有點憂鬱，你可以去看「身心科」。
If you’re feeling a little depressed, you can go see a psychiatrist.

當然還有另一個字也很好、很常見的字是「心理諮商」。
Of course, there’s another very common term:

心理諮商 counseling.

其實「正確」的字應該是要說「精神科」

Actually, the more traditional term is 精神科 psychiatry.

(how do you feel when you hear the word "psychiatry?" )

你知道嗎？ Did you know?

早期我爸媽那個年代就是用這個字——精神科。
That’s the term people used when my parents were growing up.

他們一聽到有人去看「精神科」，眉頭馬上一皺

they would immediately frown

if they heard that someone was seeing a psychiatrist.

如果有醫生要建議他們去看精神科，他們可能還會生氣，

If a doctor suggested that they see one, they might even get angry 然後說：「我腦袋又沒有問題，為什麼你說我需要去看精神科！我又不是神經病。」

and say, “There’s nothing wrong with my head!
Why are you telling me I need to see a psychiatrist? I’m not crazy!”

我有種難過的感覺

I can’t help but feel a little sad about it.

在我爸媽的年代，他們平常必須壓抑自己的情緒

In my parents’ generation, people were often expected to suppress their emotions

(直到有天爆發 until one day, they finally reached a breaking point.)

你能感受到文字的重量嗎嗎?

Can you "feell the weight behind the word" in a conversation?

在臺灣，「精神病」這個詞有帶點負面意思。

In Taiwan, the term 精神病 has a somewhat negative connotation.

在臺灣被污名化了。
Mental illness has been stigmatized in Taiwanese society.

為了鼓勵就醫，加上社群媒體推廣之下，

To encourage people to seek professional help, and partly thanks to awareness raised through social media,

所以現在的診所、臺灣社會的風氣是比較偏向用「去看身心科」、「去看心理諮商」這個說法，

people in Taiwan nowadays tend to say

去看身心科 or 去看心理諮商

聽起來比較不嚇人，帶給我們臺灣人的感覺是身體會生病，心理也會生病，所以去看醫生。
instead. These terms sound less intimidating. They give us the idea that just as our bodies can get sick,

our minds can too—and when that happens, it’s okay to see a doctor or counselor.

我知道很多在海外長大的華裔學生學華語

I know many of you are heritage learners and and you're learning Taiwanese Mandarin

是為了跟臺灣的家人更深層的表達自己

to express deeper thoughts with your family,

所以用這個字的時候要注意一下，這三個用詞的差別意思：）

so I hope this helps you understand the nuance between these three terms and know when to use them. :)

Bonus:

跟學生討論完之後，我開始思考：

After talking with my student, I started wondering:

疑?臺灣人平常真的會直接說自己很憂鬱嗎？

Hmm,do Taiwanese people actually say directly that they’re feeling depressed?

Would we say, “我最近有點憂鬱”? (I've been feeling a bit depressed.)

我自己是覺得其實還好，不太會。很少直接說

In my humble opinion: not necessarily. We rarely say it directly.

通常為了不想要「嚇到人」，我們用另個說法，現在蠻常用的。

Usually, because we don’t want to “scare” people or make them worry too much,

we tend to use another expression, which is quite commonly used these days.

你可以說：You can say:

**(“I haven’t been doing so well lately”. 狀態 condition and state)**

當我朋友說出這個的時候，我馬上感受到這句話的重量。

When a friend says this to me, I can feel the weight behind those words immediately.

我感覺到他可能需要被關心

I could tell that they might need some care and support.

口說小撇步

Speaking tips:

下次觀察臺灣人在聊天的時候，

Next time you’re listening to Taiwanese people talk, see if

試試看能不能聽出這個微妙的感覺和重量。

you can pick up on this subtle feeling and the weight behind this seemingly simple sentence.

如果能感受到對話中的微妙感和重量，之後能幫助你精確的表達你的感受

If you can sense the subtlety and weight in a conversation, it can help you express your feelings more precisely later on.

as a teacher, one of the indicators that distinguishes intermediate learners from advanced learners

is their ability to understand the nuances and subtle meanings of words.

I have a feeling that what makes Taiwanese Mandarin so special and gentle-sounding is exactly this subtlety.

P.S.

最近有學生跟我說跟我上課很像也是在看心理諮商

Recently, a student told me that taking classes with me feels a little like going to counseling.

對我來說可能是最高的榮耀吧。
Honestly, that might be the highest compliment I could ever receive.

其實我也是被治癒的那個人。
Actually, I’m the one who feels healed, too.

謝謝你們。
Thank you all.

我希望臺灣社會也可以對談論這部分能更開放些。
I hope Taiwanese society can become even more open to talking about mental health.

希望你們身心都健康。
I hope you’re all healthy, both mentally and physically.

♡

I wanted to mention what Dr. James Hollis says about the psyche. The word “psyche” means “soul” in Greek. When you feel stuck in life, it’s because your soul is trying to communicate with you. Your soul is asking questions. I was introduced James Hollis work by one of my newsletter susbcriber. It’s so helpful. I’m grateful for that.

謝謝
Thank you

Can you feel the weight behind words ? ( why we switch from 精神科 to 身心科?) 你能感受到語言背後的重量嗎?