Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: This study investigates the use of metaphor in the dissociative disorder depersonalization/derealization – the feeling of unreality or detachment from the senses or surrounding events. While the debilitating experience of depersonalization/derealization is prevalent, it is also under-acknowledged, such that it is often expressed through metaphor, with more typical metaphor described in diagnostic criteria. Using naturally occurring text from two prominent English language depersonalization/derealization support fora, in the current study a systematic survey is made of metaphor to communicate the experience of depersonalization/derealization in context. It is concluded that metaphor described in the formal diagnostic criteria for depersonalization/derealization does not completely represent metaphor use in the contexts investigated. A summary is made of metaphor for the experiences of depersonalization, and derealization, and depersonalization/derealization more generally, across both the contexts investigated, that may support vital understanding and diagnosis of this debilitating, under-recognized experience, across a wider demographic.
Source: Language and Cognition
Author: Jane Dilkes
Institution: The Open University
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,255
OpenAlex ID: W4386031397