Arun K Chopra1, Gillian A Doody. 1. Mental Health Unit, Derby City General Hospital, Uttoxeter Road, Derby DE22 3NE. arun2111@hotmail.com
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether schizophrenia is a commonly used 'illness as metaphor', to compare the use of schizophrenia and cancer as illnesses as metaphor, and to determine if there is a difference in such usage between the UK and USA. DESIGN: An examination of articles published in the British press. SETTING: 600 articles from six British newspapers: the Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, the Mirror, the Sun and the Daily Mail. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Use of schizophrenia and cancer as metaphors. RESULTS: Schizophrenia was more likely to be metaphorized than cancer (P<0.001) in the UK press, but was less likely to be used as metaphor in the UK press than in the US press (P<0.001). 11% of articles containing the term schizophrenia used the word as a metaphor. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians need to be aware that patients, carers and the public might have a different understanding of the word we use as a diagnosis.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether schizophrenia is a commonly used 'illness as metaphor', to compare the use of schizophrenia and cancer as illnesses as metaphor, and to determine if there is a difference in such usage between the UK and USA. DESIGN: An examination of articles published in the British press. SETTING: 600 articles from six British newspapers: the Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, the Mirror, the Sun and the Daily Mail. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Use of schizophrenia and cancer as metaphors. RESULTS:Schizophrenia was more likely to be metaphorized than cancer (P<0.001) in the UK press, but was less likely to be used as metaphor in the UK press than in the US press (P<0.001). 11% of articles containing the term schizophrenia used the word as a metaphor. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians need to be aware that patients, carers and the public might have a different understanding of the word we use as a diagnosis.
Authors: Y Ono; Y Satsumi; Y Kim; T Iwadate; K Moriyama; Y Nakane; T Nakata; K Okagami; T Sakai; M Sato; T Someya; S Takagi; S Ushijima; K Yamauchi; K Yoshimura Journal: Psychiatry Clin Neurosci Date: 1999-06 Impact factor: 5.188
Authors: Robert Goulden; Elizabeth Corker; Sara Evans-Lacko; Diana Rose; Graham Thornicroft; Claire Henderson Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2011-10-12 Impact factor: 3.295