Difference between Psycho and Mental

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On the contrary, ‘mental’ just means the mind or something related to the mind. Eventually it became related to ‘having a mental illness’ to someone who is ‘slightly daft’, ‘out of one's mind’, or deemed crazy. Basically, it is generally acceptable that if one is depicting abnormal behavior or behavior that is not considered to be normal, then they would be called mental. The common usage of the term does not imply that the person does not have a mental illness or is actually crazy, as diagnosed by a psychologist. In fact, it is quite common for friends to refer to each other or a specific friend as being mental.

Hence, in common parlance the two person are nearly synonymous and can be used interchangeably. However, it should be noted that the implication of the term ‘psycho’ is more severe than ‘mental’. The term ‘mental’ is milder and can be used in jest, whereas ‘psycho’ would be used less commonly in jest. The implication of ‘psycho’ is that the person is ‘psychotic’ or crazy, whereas, the term ‘mental’ might imply that they are just abnormal or weird.

Another difference between the two terms is that while the term ‘mental’ is an actual word, i.e. related to the mind; psycho is technically not, it should for ‘psychopath.’

Comparison between Psycho and Mental:

	Psycho	Mental
Definition (Dictionary.com)	a psychopathic or psychotic person. a crazy or mentally unstable person.	of or relating to the mind of, relating to, or affected by a disorder of the mind providing care for persons with disordered minds, emotions, etc. performed by or existing in the mind pertaining to intellectuals or intellectual activity
Informal Definition (Dictionary.com)	crazy; mentally unstable	slightly daft; out of one's mind; crazy
Behavior	Disturbing or dangerous behavior	Nonsensical, irrational, or wild behavior.
Examples	He’s a total psycho. Are you a psycho?	He’s mental. It’s mental, I tell you!

Reference: Dictionary.com (Psycho and Mental), Vocabulary.com (Psycho and Mental) Image Courtesy: imdb.com, reaction.club

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