Department of Philosophy, Linguistics, and Theory of Science, Faculty of Humanities, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
International Research Centre for the Advancement of Health Communication, Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
BMC Psychol. 2024 Feb 1;12(1):57. doi: 10.1186/s40359-023-01492-w.
While clinical diagnosis of mental health issues focuses on factual details represented by literal language (e.g., the onset and process of the triggering event and duration of symptom), the relationship between metaphorical language and psychopathological experiences remains an intriguing question. Focusing on psychological trauma triggered by the 2019-2020 Hong Kong social unrest, this study explored the correlations between trauma victims' quantitative metaphor usage patterns and their experience of specific Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) symptoms.
Forty-six individuals with trauma exposure within 28 days were recruited through convenience sampling. Each completed a 20- to 30-minute semi-structured interview and filled out the Chinese version of the Stanford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire (SASRQ; 1). Metaphors in the interviews were identified using the discourse dynamic approach (2), and clinically interesting categories related to trauma and emotion expression, as revealed by previous literature, were sorted out. Standardized frequencies of the categories were correlated with participants' SASRQ scores of five major ASD symptoms, and the correlational patterns were interpreted from a discourse analytic perspective.
The study reveals how metaphor usage patterns can reflect the speakers' differentiated experiences of psychopathological symptoms. Compared with individuals who experienced less trauma, those more disturbed by the re-experiencing symptom were more inclined to use emotion-related metaphors and to metaphorize about the self and the self-society relationship. Individuals who experienced more severe anxiety and hyperarousal showed a heightened awareness of self-related issues and diminished attention to others. Those who suffered from more severe impairment in functioning produced more metaphors in the negative valence. Dissociation and avoidance, which were less experientially salient and intense than the others, were not significantly correlated with metaphor usage patterns.
This study establishes symptom-level metaphor usage patterns as a previously overlooked but interesting avenue in trauma evaluation, treatment, and research. While the study is confined to a single context, it nevertheless reveals the potential for metaphor research findings to be incorporated as useful materials in psychology education and therapist training.
临床诊断心理健康问题时主要关注语言表达的客观事实(如触发事件的开始和过程以及症状持续时间),而隐喻语言与精神病理学体验之间的关系仍是一个有趣的问题。本研究聚焦于 2019-2020 年香港社会动荡引发的心理创伤,探讨了创伤受害者定量隐喻使用模式与其特定急性应激障碍(ASD)症状体验之间的相关性。
通过方便抽样招募了 46 名在 28 天内有创伤暴露的个体。每位参与者完成了 20-30 分钟的半结构式访谈,并填写了斯坦福急性应激反应问卷中文版(SASRQ;1)。使用话语动态方法(2)识别访谈中的隐喻,并整理出与创伤和情感表达相关的临床有趣类别,这些类别是根据以往文献揭示的。对这些类别的标准化频率与参与者在五个主要 ASD 症状上的 SASRQ 得分进行相关性分析,并从话语分析的角度解释相关模式。
研究揭示了隐喻使用模式如何反映说话者对精神病理学症状的不同体验。与经历较少创伤的个体相比,那些受再体验症状困扰更严重的个体更倾向于使用与情感相关的隐喻,并将自我和自我-社会关系隐喻化。那些经历更严重焦虑和过度警觉的个体更关注自我相关问题,而对他人的关注度降低。那些功能障碍更严重的个体产生的隐喻则更倾向于负面。与其他症状相比,分离和回避症状体验不那么明显,也不那么强烈,因此与隐喻使用模式没有显著相关性。
本研究确立了症状层面的隐喻使用模式作为创伤评估、治疗和研究中一个以前被忽视但很有趣的途径。虽然该研究仅限于单一背景,但它揭示了隐喻研究结果可以作为心理学教育和治疗师培训中有用的材料被纳入的潜力。