Losigkeitssyndrom

19:27 Mar 27, 2012 

The expression is a little tongue in cheek if you ask me- the doctor describes it himself as simply depression (I skipped over Kim's entry, but totally agree with him). If you want to translate this "insider joke" (bad thing is they probably mean it) then Helen' proposition "lack of syndrome" comes closest - you can use lack of for all -losigkeiten mentioned in the reference text and beyond. :))
Personally I even find the definition of depression pretty difficult since in a lot of cases those symptoms described are a natural way of the soul to deal with a difficult situation which sometimes just needs time. Pills will not really help. - there are exceptions though where medication is obligatory .

18:41 Mar 27, 2012 

I did not mean to attack you in any way - my apologies if my writing came across this way. I do absolutely agree with you in principle - creative, apt translations that convey not only the meaning, but also the colour and atmosphere of a term constitute the beauty of our profession. My hesitation about "inventing" a term was only linked to the fact that we are talking about the medical domain - a reflection somewhat encouraged by Kim Metzger's reaction, who did not submit the term he found - which is the most exact and literal term that has come up here so far - because there is insufficient source to justify it.
My entry was a general relection on "Haben wir dichterische Freiheit in medizinischen Übersetzungen?"
Apart from that, up to now I prefer your suggestion! ("The fast show" picks up Kim Metzger's reference.)

16:32 Mar 27, 2012 

I my humble opinion, we are professionally bound by the laws of language, which do not exist in any pure form. Language is mutable. My obligation is to tranfer the intent, meaning and essence of a text, and if that means "inventing" terms for "invented" terms, then yes, we are entitled. MY clients have always been enthusiastic over creative, yet apt translations. the point is that it is unmistakeably UNDERSTOOD. You dig, Sis?

16:21 Mar 27, 2012 

who suggested "negative symptom" at 9.27 (Pacific Standard time) here in the discussion box is spot on. I checked with my daughter, a registered clinical psychologist, and she confirmed that this would be a good match (I would add the original German in brackets). cp. :
Negative symptoms are symptoms that are not present or that are diminished in the affected persons but are normally found in healthy persons. Examples are social withdrawal, apathy, inability to experience pleasure and defects in attention control.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_and_Negative_Syndrome_...

16:18 Mar 27, 2012 

Ramey, are we really entitled to "invent" a medical term in English for an "invented" German term? Or are we not limited to either find a sufficiently general existing term that describes what we are looking for or indeed, as you suggest, treat it like a proper noun or title, leaving it as such and adding a description in brackets? I definitely prefer the latter!

16:11 Mar 27, 2012 

lifelessness syndrom? I mean, this is not a psychological term in AE, but a generalization for deep/chronic depression or resignation and their accompanying symptoms.

14:26 Mar 27, 2012 

Perhaps 'lack-of syndrome' works better than 'lessness'? Lack of sleep, etc.

14:24 Mar 27, 2012 

since we are looking for a very general term - according to all of you, which of the terms posted is more general - personally I would put depressive syndrome and marked depression in first position (which is not very precise, I know!)

08:03 Mar 27, 2012 

You could also consider "listlessness syndrome" - but I suggest it with caution as it tends to be used to describe chronic fatigue syndrome.

04:27 Mar 27, 2012 

deficit syndrome and negative symptom syndrome are used in the context of schizophrenia.

00:03 Mar 27, 2012 

You could translate it as "lessness syndrome", but you'd need to explain it.

23:07 Mar 26, 2012 

occurrence and a literal translation of the German term by a German doctor.

23:02 Mar 26, 2012 

Well, that would seem to hit the nail on the head, wouldn't it, Kim? Do you want to propose that as an answer?

22:41 Mar 26, 2012 

There is usually no difficulty in recognizing marked depression: it can be generally described as a ... lessness syndrome; uselessness, hopelessness, sleeplessness with loss of motivation and trust. http://www.linus-geisler.de/dp/dp25_suicidal.html

22:37 Mar 26, 2012 

Would 'apathy syndrome' possibly cover all of that?

22:34 Mar 26, 2012 

Thanks. Yes, I did Google it, but I seemed to miss it. But I am still a bit unsure as to how to translate it.

22:29 Mar 26, 2012 

Presumably you've Googled this word, found out what it means (which is easy to do), and are now looking for an English equivalent?
'Die Erkennung einer ausgeprägten Depression bereitet in der Regel keine Probleme. Sie imponiert als generelles "Losigkeitssyndrom" (Mutlosigkeit, Hoffnungslosigkeit, Trostlosigkeit, Antriebslosigkeit, Schlaflosigkeit usw.)'