Many many years ago I saw a cartoon or heard a joke about a little girl who, when asked to give the comparative forms of ill, gave the answer, "ill, sick, dead."

Sickness does not confine itself to physically ill, as we say, "There is a certain sickness in that society." Disease is not usually used to say that someone has a disease. It is more often used to describe a process: diseases of the brain, skin, etc. And process was the term used by the doctor with whom I discussed this many years ago.

I'm not sure how I fit illness in here. I tend to think of it as generic, "I'm suffering from an illness." Translation: I don't feel good and until we diagnose it I can't put a real name on it.


TEd