Abstract

The present article aims at identifying and analysing the linguistic metaphorical behaviours of people living with depressive disorders. To this end, four online fora dealing with mental illnesses were selected in order to gather data on how individuals metaphorically describe their depressive states. The data were interpreted by means of Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Self-determination Theory. Combining a linguistic theory with a psychological one allows to deepen our comprehension of depression and helps diagnose it: linguistic behaviour paves the way for accessing the psychological dimension of individuals while revealing a potential tendency towards harmonic or problematic mental states.

Highlights

  • The purpose of this article is to explore how the symbolic perceptions of depressed individuals are organised in order to understand what they reveal about the nature of their mental states

  • The theoretical framework of Self-determination Theory (SDT) exposes the essence of human nature and is fundamental to understand that the metaphors associated with depression show that this disorder entails a progressive withdrawal of the depressed individual from what most makes him/her vital

  • Four online fora dealing with mental disorders were selected and data gathered in order to investigate whether and how their users represent depression through the use of metaphors

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Summary

Introduction

The purpose of this article is to explore how the symbolic perceptions of depressed individuals are organised in order to understand what they reveal about the nature of their mental states. Mental states influence perceptions and the resulting view of reality may be communicated via metaphors. Demjén (2014: 1) mentions that the language choices made while speaking and/or writing are not random, but provide important clues about the nature of people’s perceptions, experiences and attitudes. The study behind my article contributes to identifying prevailing metaphorical conceptualisations that signal a tendency towards a deteriorated psychological dimension typical of depressive states. Language can communicate an alteration in people’s perceptual dimension, as well as an ongoing psychological change (Levitt et al 2000).

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