One of the most important principles I try to uphold when speaking on a medical topic  to a public audience  is to mentally try to refrain from using medical jargon which will only serve to confuse the audience and lead to blank stares. Too often, we doctors get carried away by our lingua franca that we forget the lay audience speak good old plain English!

Therefore, I was really impressed with a psychiatrist colleague who answered the question:

“Doc, what is the difference between a psychotic and a neurotic?”

with the following answer:

“Well, a psychotic thinks two plus two is five,

while a neurotic knows two plus two is four, but this really bothers him!”