As a healthcare provider, bridging the language barrier is critical to delivering compassionate and accurate care. When assessing a patient’s psychiatric well-being, knowing how to ask the right questions clearly and respectfully is essential.

Join Luis Almeida and me as we review essential mental health questions in Spanish to help you assess your patients with confidence. In this guide, you’ll practice key phrases for discussing emotions, sleep, energy levels, appetite, and sensitive topics like self-harm.

LEVEL – INTERMEDIATE

Evaluating Feelings & Emotional Well-Being

01:38

Use these foundational questions to check in on your patient’s current emotional state and evaluate symptoms of anxiety or depression:

• ¿Se siente triste? – Do you feel sad?
• ¿Se siente contento(a)? – Do you feel happy?
• ¿Se siente nervioso(a)? – Do you feel nervous?
• ¿Se siente inquieto(a)? – Do you feel restless?
• ¿Se siente deprimido(a)? – Do you feel depressed?
• ¿Se siente desesperanzado(a)? – Do you feel hopeless?
• ¿Se siente desamparado(a)? – Do you feel helpless?
• ¿Se siente culpable a menudo? – Do you often feel guilty?
• ¿Se preocupa continuamente? – Do you worry all the time?
• ¿Se preocupa por sus hijos? – Do you worry about your children?
• ¿Hay algo que le preocupe? – Is there something that worries you?

Assessing Energy, Concentration, and Sleep

06:52 

Sleep disturbances and severe shifts in energy are vital diagnostic indicators. Use these phrases to screen for fatigue, insomnia, or manic episodes:

• ¿Tiene más energía de lo normal? – Do you have more energy than normal?
• ¿Tiene menos energía de lo normal? – Do you have less energy than normal?
• ¿Tiene problemas para relajarse? – Do you have problems relaxing?
• ¿Tiene dificultad para concentrarse? – Do you have difficulty concentrating?
• ¿Cuánto tarda en quedarse dormido(a)? – How long does it take you to fall asleep?
• ¿Se despierta muchas veces por la noche? – Do you wake up many times in the night?
• ¿Cuántas horas duerme cada noche? – How many hours do you sleep each night?

Tracking Appetite and Weight Changes

11:16 

Fluctuations in weight and appetite often accompany underlying mental health conditions. Gather these details with the following questions:

• ¿Ha cambiado su apetito últimamente? – Has your appetite changed recently?
• ¿Está comiendo más de lo normal? – Are you eating more than normal?
• ¿Está comiendo menos de lo normal? – Are you eating less than normal?
• ¿Ha subido de peso en los últimos meses? – Have you gained weight in recent months?
• ¿Ha bajado de peso en los últimos meses? – Have you lost weight in recent months?

Screening Social and Professional Life

12:40 

Understanding how a patient’s mental health impacts their daily functionality, career, and relationships is a key part of any clinical history:

• ¿Ha tenido problemas en la escuela? – Have you had problems in school?
• ¿Ha tenido problemas en el trabajo? – Have you had problems at work?
• ¿Ha tenido problemas en sus relaciones con otras personas? – Have you had problems in your relationships with other people?
• ¿Ha tenido problemas en su matrimonio? – Have you had problems in your marriage?

Screening for Hallucinations

13:56

To evaluate potential perceptual disturbances or psychosis safely and accurately, you can ask:

• ¿Ha escuchado voces que solamente usted puede escuchar? / ¿Ha oído voces que solamente usted puede oír? – Have you heard voices that only you can hear?
• ¿Alguna vez ha visto algo que solamente usted puede ver? – Have you ever seen something that only you can see?

Crucial Questions for Thoughts of Self-Harm and Suicide

15:45

When assessing a crisis or severe depression, navigating safety risks requires direct, sensitive communication. Here are the clinical phrases to use:

• ¿Alguna vez ha pensado en lastimarse/hacerse daño a sí mismo(a)? – Have you ever thought about harming yourself?
• ¿Alguna vez ha pensado en hacerse daño? – Have you ever thought about harming yourself? (Gender-neutral option)
• ¿Ha pensado en hacerle daño a otra persona? – Have you thought about harming another person?
• ¿Tiene pensamientos suicidas? – Do you have suicidal thoughts?
• ¿Ha formado / creado / armado un plan para suicidarse o quitarse la vida? – Have you made a plan to die by suicide / take your life?
• ¿Ha creado un plan para lastimarse? – Have you made a plan to harm yourself?
• ¿Ha pensado en cómo lo haría? – Have you thought about how you would do it?

Mastering these essential mental health questions in Spanish ensures you can provide thorough, empathetic, and potentially life-saving care to your Spanish-speaking patients.

Learn Spanish for mental health through realistic clinical encounters written by a medical professionals: 

• Depression – A Clinical Dialogue in Spanish
• Evaluating Suicidal Ideation in Spanish
• ADHD in Spanish – Problemas en la escuela

Want to take your medical Spanish further? Become a member at Doc Molly to access full lesson notes, downloadable PDFs, and interactive quizzes for this history and exam course!