Thesis title:
Investigating the effects, and most effective use, of metaphors for depression in mental health support.
Mental illness is extremely challenging to discuss without the aid of figurative language due to its inherent focus on emotional, personal and, abstract mental states, making metaphor a valuable linguistic resource in healthcare. This project aims to improve mental health support through the use of metaphor, both by exploring and promoting the diversity of metaphors available in depression discourse, and testing the effects and potential usefulness of applying metaphors to reframe depression.
Research Area
- Applied Linguistics
- Linguistics
Conferences
Researching and Applying Metaphor (RaAM) - June 2023
- 'Modern melancholia: a corpus analysis of depression online' presentation
Midlands4Cities Research Festival (M4C ResFest) - October 2023
- 'Modern Melancholy: Understanding and Treating Depression Through Metaphor' presentation
- Panel chair
Birmingham Linguistic Postgraduate Conference (BLP) - April 2024
- 'Marrying Approaches to Metaphor Identification - With Strings Attached!' presentation
BAAL SIG Language & New Media / Health & Science Communication Collaborative Seminar - May 2024
- 'Modern melancholia: a metaphor analysis of depression forums' presentation
Researching and Applying Metaphor (RaAM) - June 2024
- 'How do autistic and non-autistic (allistic) people employ metaphor when describing positive and negative emotional experiences?' co-presentation
- Research poster 'Investigating relevant metaphorical scenes' on own developing methodology
Public Engagement & Impact
Postgraduate Research Almanac (UoB Graduate School) - November 2023
- Contributed an exhibit and gave a talk to the public research showcase at Westmere House
The Arts Matter: Meet Our Researchers (College of Arts and Law Graduate School and Arts and Law Alumni team) - March 2024
- PetchaKucha presentation showcasing research to demystify Arts and Humanities research and encourage alumni engagement
Other Research Interests
- Representation, diagnosis, and long-term support of those experiencing mental illness and/or neurodivergent conditions
- Neurodiversity, particularly Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Recognising and addressing the language of emotional/psychological abuse
- Embodied and cultural experiences and how they affect language, communication, and metaphorical thinking
- The use of entertainment and gaming media in shaping and diversifying perspectives, encouraging healthy social engagement, and other such ways of generally supporting people's wellbeing
- Contructing and negotiating identity in role-playing spaces, especially with potential for helping to reconcile real-world identity issues or achieve therapeutic effects
- Studying metaphors in unconventional or lesser-investigated creative spaces and media to gain insight into experiences of diverse thinking and/or illness
