How is Depression Conceptualized in Popular Science Articles in Psychology Today? Conceptual Metaphor Analysis (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 3,0, University of Flensburg, language: English, abstract: This project work is going to examine and analyze how depression is conceptualized in magazine articles. My analysis is based on the Conceptual Metaphor Theory established by Lakoff and Johnson. First, it will give a theoretical overview concerning Lakoff & Johnson's theory. Secondly, both the language material (corpus) and the method used to analyze it will be presented. The analysis of the language material will be presented in chapter four, followed by a summary which will conclude the findings. As stated by "Anxiety and Depression Association of America" (ADAA), 264 million people worldwide live with the mood disorder depression. According to the Oxford Learners Dictionary, depression is "a medical condition in which a person feels very sad and anxious and often has physical symptoms such as being unable to sleep".

On the other hand, according to the American Psychological Association (APA), "depression is more than just sadness. People with depression may experience a lack of interest and pleasure in daily activities, significant weight loss or gain, insomnia or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide." Metaphorical expressions are frequently used in everyday communication to refer to abstract concepts, for instance feelings or mental states. Metaphors are one of the linguistic tools that are used to frame mental health problems, verbalize and describe disease conditions.

Hence, psychological disorders can be metaphorically described as places in space where someone has fallen into or as adversaries that need to be fought against. Based on the principles of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory developed by Lakoff & Johnson, McMullen & Conway and Charteris-Black, have studied metaphors of depression. McCullen & Conway draw upon data which is collected from a study of client depression-related metaphors through psychotherapy sessions to show the pervasiveness of specific conceptual metaphors. Charteris-Black looked at metaphors of depression in interviews of people who had experienced it.