By extending metaphors beyond rhetoric to cognition, Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) marks the cognitive turn in metaphor study (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980; Lakoff, 1993). By focusing on using metaphors as a cognitive tool for understanding and organizing experience (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980), CMT departed from the traditional belief that metaphors are ornamental, arguing metaphors are of conceiving one thing in terms of another (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). A cognitive linguist describes conceptual metaphors (CM) according to the formula TARGET IS SOURCE, i.e., CM allow one to conceptualize a target domain through a source domain by comparing properties and categorical relationships. This process of comparing and categorizing metaphors is also known as metaphor processing (Tong et al., 2021). Linguistic metaphors stem from CM or cross-domain mappings within one’s conceptual system. For example, DEPRESSION IS BATTLE maps the abstract concept of depression onto the concept of battle. This metaphor allows us to understand depression in terms of conflict, violence, and victory. Metaphorical expressions (ME) are prevalent in everyday life as evidence that linguistic expressions (metaphors within language) reflect certain cognitive systems (metaphors in thought) (Charteris-Black, 2012; Coll-Florit and Climent, 2019).

Researchers have questioned the legitimacy of extrapolating linguistic expressions to cognitive structures and have argued that language users may not similarly relate to these ME in their minds (Semino et al., 2004, 2016), i.e., metaphorical languages do not necessarily produce metaphorical cognition, and the same metaphor can also produce different cognitive patterns or metaphorical systems in different groups (McMullen and Conway, 2002; Reijnierse et al., 2017). Metaphor processing occurs during text comprehension, leading to the emergence of features that are not inherent in target or source domains, also known as emergent meaning (Tong et al., 2021). For example, depression is battle contains far richer shades of meaning than depression is hard. Both express a similar meaning, but the latter expression is unlikely to be as concise as the use of the word battle. Depression is a battle denotes depression is a struggle, a fight, and a test of endurance. These additional connotations add richness and depth to the understanding of depression. Language users might deliberately introduce topic shifts or perspective changes into discourses (Reijnierse et al., 2017). For instance, looking at depression from the perspective of a battle can help us see it differently, not as something to be ashamed of, but rather as a challenge to overcome. It is necessary then to include an analysis of metaphors in the communicative process (metaphors in communication) (Reijnierse et al., 2017; Coll-Florit and Climent, 2019).

As a result, metaphor research has developed a three-dimensional analytical framework: metaphors in language, thought, and communication (Semino et al., 2016; Coll-Florit and Climent, 2019; Tong et al., 2021). A direct result of this development of metaphor theory is the development of metaphor identification methods as well.

Initially, metaphor studies sought to establish a systematic correspondence between metaphors in language and thought. Metaphor identification aimed to analyze the conflict between metaphorical and literal meanings in non-textualized example sentences, leaving metaphor identification largely to subjective judgments (Gibbs and Franks, 2002; Semino et al., 2004; Kimmel, 2010). In the same way as (1), if the word freedom evokes a concept directly related to slavery and imprisonment, then its use may be considered metaphorical, whereas a more general interpretation of the concept of freedom that entails the ability to choose points to a literal meaning (Steen et al., 2010).

The MIP (metaphor identification procedure) proposed by the Pragglejaz Group (2007) provides normative steps for metaphor identification and greatly simplifies the problem by emphasizing attention to the distinction between contextual meaning and basic meaning. The basic meaning is an important concept in metaphor identification systems. It tends to be more concrete, historical, and more likely to evoke human sensory experience. Suppose a lexical unit has a more basic current meaning in other contexts than in the given context, and the contextual meaning contrasts with the basic meaning. In that case, the lexical unit is labeled as a metaphor. The basic meaning derives from the dictionary definition (Burgers et al., 2016). In (2), for example, attack denotes verbal exchange in the current context; however, this is a non-direct meaning because the basic meaning of attack in other contexts is physical activity; and through this layer of basic meaning, the current context implies the meaning of verbal exchange. Thus the attack in example (2) is a ME.

Informed by CMT, Steen et al. (2010) propose the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) for manually identifying metaphor-related words (MRWs) in a text. MIPVU’s comparison of basic and metaphorical meanings makes metaphor identification less dependent on researchers’ subjective judgment and allows for more objective identification of the role of metaphors in communication. There are also other important works for metaphor identification and interpretation. The Deliberate Metaphor Identification Procedure (DMIP) provides a useful framework for understanding how people deliberately use metaphors to introduce topic shifts or perspective changes into discourses (Reijnierse et al., 2017). DMIP presents normative procedures for metaphor identification and strengthens the function of metaphors as their purpose in communication (e.g., to persuade, to add interest). For example, DEPRESSION IS BATTLE provides a frame of reference for understanding depression in terms of conflict and victory, and its purpose is to persuade the reader that depression is a serious illness and hard to cope with. Researchers also focus on systematicity, which refers to the idea that metaphors are not just isolated figures of speech, but systematically based on underlying conceptual structures through recurrent connections between the source and the target (Sardinha, 2011; Van Stee, 2018). For example, DEPRESSION IS BATTLE is based on the underlying conceptual structure of conflict, including elements such as opponents, strategies, and outcomes. Similar metaphors, such as depression is WAR, CONFLICT, and FIGHT, are in the same part of a larger system of metaphors that conceptualizes depression in terms of conflict.

These works provide valuable insights on metaphor identification and interpretation methods, especially the lexical patterning of metaphorical language and criteria for determining metaphor use. However, they require too much manual labor and are time-consuming (Dorst et al., 2013; Marhula and Rosinski, 2017; Landau et al., 2018). Moreover, Gibbs (2008) points out that claims regarding the importance or ubiquity of particular metaphorical patterns lack empirical basis. For example, one could report the frequency of different metaphors appearing in specific texts or compare metaphor analysis with that from large corpora (p. 12).

In this respect, corpus analysis, which describes linguistic properties through large-scale data, provides explanatory power to metaphor theory, since linguistic expressions (metaphors in language) corroborate cognitive systems (metaphors in thought). As a result of using corpus analysis to quantify metaphorical patterns, CM identified by introspection in cognitive linguistic analyses are substantiated, thereby contributing to our understanding of CM’ relative salience in communication (metaphors in communication) (Semino et al., 2016; Coll-Florit and Climent, 2019; Tong et al., 2021).

There are mainly two approaches to corpus analysis of metaphors. Using a bottom-up approach requires the researcher to identify all metaphors in a text and analyze them, but the vast amount of information makes it impossible. A top-down approach begins with a list of known metaphors, then the researcher searches for those metaphors in the text and adds a metaphor that is not already there. However, identifying unusual or creative metaphors is often difficult since it only identifies metaphors already known to the researcher. Researchers have minimized the risk of overlooking potentially interesting patterns and avoided the disadvantages of both approaches. Sardinha (2011) suggests adopting a preselection procedure to limit the number of concordances. In Semino (2017), metaphors are studied qualitatively, including identification, interpretation, and explanation, and afterward, concordances are quantitatively analyzed. Charteris-Black (2012) analyses ME using keywords that previous research had shown are commonly used metaphorically by people experiencing depression, e.g., DARKNESS, DESCENT, and WEIGHT. As a next step, he determines whether these keywords had a more basic meaning using the Pragglejaz Group (2007) method in the concordance context. Coll-Florit et al. (2021) incorporate both approaches and uses working hypotheses and reference lists to identify metaphor patterns.

There is a strong focus on English instead of other languages in corpus analysis of metaphors so far. Unlike English, Chinese uses a morphosyllabic writing system in which the basic orthographic unit is the character. There is a phonological syllable in each character, which corresponds in most cases to a morpheme. Chinese words can contain multiple characters; without explicit word separators, any two or more consecutive characters can represent a single word or phrase. Chinese is also known for having relatively simple word forms, with compound words being the most common (Pritzker, 2003; McEnery and Xiao, 2004; Tay, 2015). As a result, certain word classes are also difficult to distinguish from one another (e.g., verbs and adjectives) in the absence of morphological clues. Considering the Chinese orthographic and morphological differences above, delineating units of analysis may be challenging.

Our study aims to address the problem of metaphor identification in a large-scale Chinese corpus. We seek to develop a more reliable, efficient, and replicable metaphor identification procedure for Chinese corpora, combining bottom-up and top-down approaches.

Metaphors are important for human beings to recognize, think and express. Comparing uncertain and unfamiliar experiences to familiar references helps people communicate complicated, sensitive, and emotional topics (Gibbs, 2008). A metaphor is a form of figurative language that understands a target domain (which often refers to a complex or emotional experience) by a source domain (which tends to be an object or phenomenon that is simpler and more familiar than the target domain). For example, people who suffer from depression might describe their TREATMENT TRAJECTORY (i.e., the target domain) as JOURNEY (i.e., the source domain) to convey the varied emotions they experienced at different points in the process. Healthcare professionals benefit from using metaphors in counseling and psychotherapy in challenging situations (Tay and Neimeyer, 2021). In addition to helping people understand their symptoms and treatment options, metaphors can help people cope with the emotional challenges of chronic illness. Some recent studies show metaphor use in various medical conditions, such as cancer (Semino et al., 2015; Spina et al., 2018; Hendricks et al., 2019), diabetes (Abdollahi et al., 2019), end-of-life services (Potts and Semino, 2017), and COVID-19 (Panzeri et al., 2021; Semino, 2021; Pérez-Sobrino et al., 2022).

In the mental health arena, researchers from both psychotherapy and linguistics share their insights on metaphors as a tool to facilitate clients’ communication with therapists (Tay, 2017). Psychotherapists study metaphors from a functional perspective and need epistemological and communicative competencies to achieve client compliance. Using metaphors can make client compliance more feasible by explaining the reason for diagnosis and treatment and framing the experience of illness according to the client’s needs. Alternatively, metaphors may encourage clients’ beliefs about illness and allow them to make a shared decision with their therapists. Through metaphors, clients can better understand their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors (Pritzker, 2003; Tay, 2015; Tay and Neimeyer, 2021).

Meanwhile, linguistics researchers focus more on metaphors’ identification and contextual richness (McMullen and Conway, 2002; Charteris-Black, 2012; Poppi and Kravanja, 2019). In particular, they are interested in metaphors’ target and source domains. For instance, Barcelona (1986) conducted one of the earliest qualitative studies on depression metaphors based on his experiences (Coll-Florit et al., 2021). He exhibited some metaphors that would later be documented in empirical studies to structure depression in English, including the directional metaphor HAPPINESS IS UP/UNHAPPINESS IS DOWN (e.g., “I am in low spirit”), and the perceptual metaphor HAPPINESS IS LIGHT/UNHAPPINESS IS DARKNESS (e.g., “I feel under a cloud”). Depression has been conceptualized as FORCE, BURDEN, JOURNEY, LIVING ORGANISM, ENEMY, or BOUNDED SPACE.

Researchers only began analyzing metaphors of depression through corpus analysis of larger corpora in recent decades because it is difficult to collect a large corpus of text from people with depression. McMullen and Conway (2002) analyze the therapy session recordings of 21 people diagnosed with major depression and find that the dominant conventional metaphor for depression is DESCENT. It is often described as an expression of physical descent, and the destination is envisioned as a container (such as a well). According to Semino (2017), the most frequent domains for clinical depression are UP/DOWN, ENCLOSED SPACE, JOURNEY, and PHYSICAL ENTITY. Depression sometimes equates with ENEMY and depression sufferers are conceptualized as MALFUNCTIONING MACHINES. Charteris-Black (2012) analyze 38 interview discourses to determine whether depression is gendered, and they find the dominant conventional metaphor of depression is DESCENT. Men and women use similar metaphors (DESCENT, WEIGHT, PRESSURE, DARKNESS, and LIGHT). Within their corpus, containment metaphors rank second in frequency. The result is a model for depression in which the self is “contained” within the depression, but also “contains” the trapped, sad feelings.

Furthermore, most current research pertains to English culture, when other cultures are also worthy of scholarly interest. An individual’s culture profoundly affects how they perceive and express their experiences, thoughts, and feelings (Lakoff, 1993; Gibbs and Franks, 2002; Kimmel, 2010; Semino et al., 2015; Munday et al., 2021). As Lakoff and Johnson (1980) noted, “the most fundamental values in a culture will be coherent with the metaphorical structure of the most fundamental concepts in the culture” (p. 22). Using interviews with three depressed people, Yu (1995) demonstrates the Chinese metaphor of thinking and feeling is characterized by the heart, because the Chinese believe that the heart and the brain are intimately connected, regardless of the primacy of the heart, and that any damage to the heart can negatively affect the brain on a cognitive and emotional level. Coll-Florit et al. (2021) examine 23 blogs in Catalan by people with depression. They suggest that contextual factors (such as stigma, poor communication, or medical practices perceived as repressive) can also significantly impact the lives of people with depression.

To fill these gaps, the current study addresses a need for research on metaphors about depression which can inform practice and contribute to our understanding of how people experience, make sense of, and communicate about depression in a context where people are still reluctant to discuss their depression openly, for fear of being judged or ostracized. By understanding how online health community users frame and make sense of their depression through metaphors, we can boost the effectiveness of counseling and interventions for this population.

To pursue these aims, we posed the following research question:

Since its launch in August 2009, Sina Weibo has been experiencing explosive growth, with 511 million monthly active users and 224 million daily active users as of early 2021, making it one of China’s largest social networking platforms (SINA, 2021). Users access it through multiple mobile terminals such as personal computers, cell phones, and tablets to instantly share and spread interactive information through text, pictures, videos, and other multimodal data.

In this study, we used Python to obtain the open-source data on Weibo. Using “depression” as the keyword, 3,854 posts were collected from January 1, 2022, to March 31, 2022, on Sina Weibo’s Depression Super Talk platform. The timeline data of each user included: post text, username, posting time, retweeting times, comments, etc. After eliminating short texts that contain too little useful information (<7 words), we kept 2,664 posts. After data cleaning of the texts, a corpus of 23,195 characters was built.

The four main target domains of personal life metaphors are DISORDER, LIFE WITH DEPRESSION, PEOPLE WITH DEPRESSION and TREATMENT OPTION.

DISORDER metaphors are the most frequent (35.28%), related to pleasure deficit and physical ailments. Most DISORDER metaphors are embodied metaphors (30.82%), including (13) DESCENT, (14) DARKNESS, (15) WEIGHT, and (16) COLDNESS. According to CMT, conceptual metaphors help us understand abstract concepts by using the sensory-motor system as a representation. It is almost universal to metaphorically understand abstract targets in terms of everyday bodily experiences, such as warmth, hunger, walking toward a destination, and moving in and out of physical containers (Wen and Hua, 2018). In the Chinese corpus, although DEPRESSION IS DESCENT does not appear as frequently as it does in McMullen and Conway (2002) or Charteris-Black (2012), metaphors related to the loss of control over emotions are quite common. As shown in Table 1, DESCENT (9.97%) is the main CM to describe the disorder. This result is consistent with the embodied conceptual association of HAPPINESS IS UP/UNHAPPINESS IS DOWN. For instance, as noted above (cf. section 2.2), in the English context, McMullen and Conway (2002) analyze the therapy session recordings of 21 people diagnosed with major depression and find that 90% of conventional metaphor for depression is DESCENT. In our corpus, DESCENT metaphors relate closely to (13, 17) CONTAINER metaphors (4.91%), in which individuals experience a physical descent, and the destination is envisioned as a container (such as 漩涡 whirlpool, 沼泽 mire, 深井deep well, 水坑pit, 地狱 hell).

Several researchers argue that the concept of up-down spatial representation in Chinese has the notion of efficacy: “up” is excellent, moral, and sacred, while “down” is negative, evil, and shameful (Wang et al., 2016). Likewise, McMullen and Conway (2002, p. 181) observe that in “representing our experience of what we call depression in images of descent, we might be compounding the sad affect that appears to be the core of depression with associations of failure and loss of control.”

The Chinese corpus has the main metaphors identified in other contexts (Charteris-Black, 2012; Coll-Florit et al., 2021). Other main CM related to disorder are (18) LIVING ORGANISM (e.g., 怪物monster, 催命鬼death ghost, 黑狗black dog), (19) THING (e.g., 考验test, 绳索ropes, 脚镣shackles), and (20) FORCE (e.g., 反复repetition, 重建 rebuild). People with depression are conceptualized as energetically deprived in the first two types of metaphors, which imply that their agency has been limited, thus associating disempowerment with a loss of control over their lives; in the latter case, the disorder possesses insurmountable control power, which may be related to the high relapse rate of psychiatric disorders and antidepressant side effects (Cunningham et al., 2021; De Choudhury et al., 2021).

As shown in Table 1, LIFE WITH DEPRESSION is mostly conceptualized through three main source domains: JOURNEY (8.90%), WAR (6.75%), and THEATRE (4.91%).

Our corpus analysis shows that SERIOUS ILLNESS IS WAR is prevalent. The use of WAR metaphors to conceptualize conflict situations and JOURNEY metaphors to conceptualize processes are widely documented in CMT. Metaphors that compare serious illness experiences to WAR are prevalent in support forums, chemotherapy drug websites, and intervention websites. Despite this, previous research has not supported battle metaphors in the context of cancer. Researchers suggest that WAR metaphors ignore social and emotional aspects of healing (Spina et al., 2018), emphasize the importance of treatment at all costs, and present failure to recover as personal failure (Semino et al., 2015). In our corpus, when mapped to the target domain, PEOPLE WITH DEPRESSION are FIGHTERS or STRUGGLERS. DISORDER and INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP are the main objects of the battles (see Table 2). Some depression sufferers feel like they are fighting an invisible and recurrent enemy and are losing the battle due to its high recurrence rate. Interestingly, ME like 挺persist, 扛住survive seem to help the users retain agency and empowerment when the battle is related to interpersonal relationships (e.g., parents) or sociocultural factors (e.g., prejudice, stigma). Results support Semino et al. (2015)’s assertion that people use BATTLE metaphors in both empowering and disempowering ways, depending on their experiences and preferences.

Semino (2017) also point out that the JOURNEY metaphor helps people recognize depression as a process, rather than a fixed condition, and reminds them that they are not alone. As part of our corpus, the JOURNEY metaphors explain how users perceive treatment processes, mental changes, and life challenges (see Table 2). OHC users generally perceive themselves as going through a long, difficult journey with no end. Our data thus confirm that WAR and JOURNEY metaphors shape the subjective experiences of both mental and physical illnesses.

The study finds many THEATRE metaphors, i.e., LIFE WITH DEPRESSION is metaphorically described as 梦境dream, 电影movie, 舞台stage, and 戏剧drama, which are absent in other contexts (Charteris-Black, 2012; Coll-Florit et al., 2021). We argue that THEATRE metaphors belongs to the conceptual metaphor EXISTENCE IS VISIBILITY. First, due to the hindrance in cognitive level, interpersonal communication, and motor behavior, patients with depression have a lot of negative self-assessment and rigid self-concern when they have difficulty in real life. They can feel watched and judged, but they also desire to be understood and seen by others (De Choudhury et al., 2013; Refaie, 2014; Yoon et al., 2019). Secondly, people may fear being judged or ostracized for discussing depression in Chinese culture because of the emphasis on collectivism and face. This is because Chinese culture traditionally emphasizes the importance of maintaining one’s public image and avoiding anything that would be seen as a sign of weakness that would damage the collective reputation of the family or community. Studies have supported the concept of sociocentric personhood in relation to mental disorders, as Chinese culture constructs and experiences the disorders in somatic or interperson settings (Xu and Zhang, 2016; Yoon et al., 2019; Zou et al., 2020; Shi and Khoo, 2023). Many people fear appearing burdensome to their families or losing their face if they admit to having depression. As a result, users conceptualize their lives as a disguise. Lastly, THEATRE metaphors resonate with the observation that dream metaphors are prevalent in Chinese stories and legends (Sun, 2022). THEATRE metaphors remind us to pay further attention to the sociocultural connotations of the metaphors.

There are 102 metaphors to describe people with depression, in five categories: CONTAINER (5.21%), MACHINE (4.29%), THING (3.83%), SPLIT SELVES (1.23%) and THEATRICAL ROLE (1.07%).

In SPLIT SELF metaphors, a person suffering from depression is viewed as a divided entity, or as having two different personalities coexisting within them. A healthy self is conceptualized as a long entity that makes us who we are, and a sick self is conceptualized as an ill self (Lakoff, 1993). According to Coll-Florit and Climent (2019), SPLIT SELF metaphors serve as a self-conceptualization tool not only for people with psychotic disorders (such as schizophrenia), but also for those with affective disorders (such as depression). Schizophrenia is characterized by SPLIT SELF metaphors - in keeping with schizophrenia’s literal meaning, split mind.

People with depression also present themselves to the world through THEATRICAL ROLE metaphors, such as (22) 小丑 clown, (23) 演员 actor, and (24) 面具mask. They can take on different roles according to their settings, often in an attempt to disguise their true feelings. People with depression turn to fictional characters or theatrical roles that embody their double-sided personalities. The actors within (23) come from a Japanese cartoon novel (Gin Tama), in which Gintoki is a brave soldier who strives to maintain a peaceful and well-balanced virtual world (Tendoshu) against the evil Oboro (Darkness). Matsuyama is the real persona of an immortal figure called Utsuro, a figure obsessed with death and meaninglessness. To reclaim the meaning of life, Matsuyama insisted Gintoki decapitate Utsuro. People suffering from depression use these examples to express their desire to find inner peace, where the good side must overcome the evil side to remain true and regain meaning in life. Masking is another coping mechanism that involves pretending to be happy and healthy when feeling depressed, by putting on a fake smile, avoiding talking about feelings, or withdrawing from social activities. Masking can make it more difficult to get the help needed. To some extent, THEATRICAL ROLES resonate SPLIT SELF metaphors, where a theatrical role always represents the healthy one, and the other part of the self, represented by another theatrical role, is the ill one. It seems that the healthy part of the self is constantly fighting the unhealthy part, which can lead to guilt, self-doubt, self-loathing, and exhaustion.

Repeatedly, depression sufferers conceptualize themselves as MACHINES with weak properties, such as (25–26) 坏 broken, 失灵malfunctioning, or 低电量 low battery, which explain the hopelessness and helplessness they experience (Pritzker, 2003; Refaie, 2014; Yoon et al., 2019). Users also associate themselves with inanimate (27–28) THINGS (e.g., 绿植 plants, 废物 waste) to condemn their subjectivity and agency. However, MACHINE and THING metaphors tend to emphasize the physical symptoms of depression and ignore its emotional and psychological components. It can reinforce shame and isolation when individuals are conceptualized as defective, broken, or useless. Meanwhile, this finding suggests that metaphors with negative connotations should also be considered as critical self-disclosure attributes, despite the fact that most ready-made analytical tools (such as LIWC) rely on negative adjectives to detect online depressed users (Shi and Khoo, 2023).

Conversely, there are fewer metaphors for treatment (4.29%) than for life, people, and disorders. It may be a result of some factors, including the low rate of detection and recovery from depression, the negative outlook on life that many people with depression have, and the lack of treatment options (Kronmüller et al., 2011; Lu et al., 2021; Yao et al., 2022).

The main source domains for INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP are (29) REPRESSIVE POWER (4.91%), (30–31) ENEMY (3.68%), (32–33) CONTAINER (2.15%) and (34) SUPPORT (1.53%) (see Table 1).

It is worth noting that FAMILY metaphors are generally negative, and the main source domains include (30) ENEMY, (31) NIGHTMARE, (32) NEGATIVE SOURCE, and (33) SHADOWS, which are extended metaphors for DEPRESSION IS CONTAINER and DEPRESSION IS THEATRE. In DEPRESSION IS CONTAINER, depressed users are like a container of bad emotions, whereas family is the pouring source of the negative emotions. For example, (33) the shadow is a part of users’ unconscious mind that contains repressed thoughts, feelings, and desires. In DEPRESSION IS THEATRE, family is the pain maker, the enemy, or the oppressor (which is sarcastically represented as saints in example 30), whereas the depressed sufferers are tragic characters (see Table 3). (30) “Parents are saints” establishes a framework for coordination between parents and saints with their shared qualities of demandingness and supervision. On the contrary, (34) SUPPORT metaphors are applied to OHC and online friends.

There are 41 TIME metaphors. On the whole, this study confirms the scholars’ conclusions about the time domain representation: Chinese generally presents the metaphorical characteristics of “past in the back and future in the front,” such as 前世past life,向前看looking forward (Li, 2018; Wang, 2021). Chinese TIME metaphors, such as (35) behind and (36) float back, are consistent with those in English texts, with an underlying CM of TIME IS MOTION (e.g., the due date has passed; there are 3 h remaining). In addition, Chinese is more driven by multidimensional time perception, and there is a cultural preference for the representation of time, including more ontological metaphors about time, such as comparing time to (36) 水流 running water, (37) 芳华prime time, and (38) 花期flowering season.Using ontological metaphors allows us to deal rationally with our experiences by recognizing that all concepts are transposable and give abstract concepts concrete form (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). By identifying time as a separate entity, such as the flowing season or the prime time, depressed individuals can make sense of their experiences and navigate the complexity of reality.

In contrast to other categories (e.g., PEOPLE WITH DEPRESSION, LIFE WITH DEPRESSION, or INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP), TIME WITH DEPRESSION appears in more idiosyncratic metaphors, rendering it difficult to categorize and discern source and target domains. It is nevertheless important to analyze idiosyncratic metaphors. Firstly, it shows that people may create metaphors to express the experience of TIME WITH DEPRESSION due to its complexity and multifaceted nature. By creating metaphors, they demonstrate their attention and attempt to comprehend and communicate their predicament in online health communities. Secondly, idiosyncratic metaphors might reveal meanings not previously apparent. The imagery associated with it might be vivid and memorable, encouraging the user to think about their issue along these lines. For instance, (37) prime time and (38) flower season remind users time is brief and fleeting but beautiful and memorable, helping them find meaning and acceptance in difficult times. It can also challenge and motivate them to take action and make positive life changes.

In this paper, CYBERCULTURE metaphors are a distinct type, comprising 20 metaphors. Online health communities (OHC) is a unique genre where jargon and slang are often used. The definitions of many internet buzzwords are lacking in dictionaries or corpora, with no consensus on their meaning. As a result, the source and target domains of CYBERCULTURE metaphors are also difficult to distinguish. CYBERCULTURE metaphors, nevertheless, are characterized by contrasting basic and contextual meanings, such as 树洞tree holes, 网抑云 net suppression cloud, and躺平 lay flat. For example, (40) 网抑云Net suppression cloud refers to the widespread posting of depressive content on an app (Neteast Cloud Music) to gain sympathy or attention. The posts can be harmful, as they can normalize depression and make it seem desirable. They can also lead people struggling with depression to feel isolated and alone.

Moreover, CYBERCULTURE metaphors can be used by members of OHC to create a sense of community. For example, (39) 树洞 Tree hole, an internet buzzword, refers to a platform on the internet for bearing secrets, and private matters. The term comes from the fairy tale The Emperor Has Donkey Ears, which refers to a place where secrets can be told to it without fear of them leaking out.

In this paper, we propose an effective, reliable, and reproducible procedure for metaphor identification in the Chinese corpus (see Figure 1): (1) combine MIPVU to identify ME bottom-up and formulate preliminary working hypotheses; (2) collect more ME top-down in the corpus by performing semantic domain analysis on identified ME; (3) use a reference list to analyze and categorize ME. Its working principle is to identify CM not only on a word-level, but also on the discourse level, which has largely been ignored. From a cognitive perspective, the latter is a key part of the intentional use of metaphors in communication.

In addition, this procedure uses comparison and categorization as paths to explore various target-source pairs: the bottom-up analysis helps to find metaphors based on the comparable similarities between the target and the source, whereas the top-down semantic domain analysis helps trace metaphors based on their categorization path. Both comparison and categorization are possible metaphor processing paths, and the choice depends on the metaphor’s conventionality and linguistic realization (Tong et al., 2021). A metaphor is typically processed through comparison until it becomes conventionalized and processed through categorization, which requires less cognitive effort than comparison. Figure 1 provides an example: ME of 战场battlefield. Based on its comparison of basic and context meanings, the bottom-up MIPVU analysis detects it as ME; the top-down analysis expands this category to include geography, location, and theatre. It helps identify more extended metaphors and explores various target-source pairs related to the metaphor.

Culture profoundly affects how people perceive and express their experiences, thoughts, and feelings (Lakoff, 1993; Gibbs and Franks, 2002; Kimmel, 2010; Semino, 2017; Munday et al., 2021). During metaphor processing, emergent meaning is created by interacting with the social and cultural context in which it is used. This research highlights a culturally contextualized approach to metaphorical language in interpreting its connotations. For instance, in cybercultural metaphors, 树洞tree hole represent concrete objects without metaphorical meaning in most situations. Another example would be the use of THEATRE metaphors: users describe themselves as actors and perform social identities to construct false, deceptive, or hypocritical realities, which means that the disorder is constructed and experienced within somatic or interpersonal settings where users feel rejected, judged, suppressed, and ostracized. As another example, CONTAINER metaphors in the Chinese Corpus have two connotations: Firstly, contextual factors are conceptualized as containers from which individuals feel excluded, primarily due to stigma and discrimination. Secondly, interpersonal relationships are conceptualized as containers in which individuals feel trapped. These metaphors demonstrate that people are concerned not only with restrictions imposed by the disorder but also with limitations imposed by their sociocultural contexts. Research in the future can also strengthen the integration of metaphorical morphology, coding, phonology, semantics, and pragmatic information from multiple perspectives to provide references for metaphor identification, translation, and interpretation.

Lastly, we contribute to depression metaphor study in a new genre, namely online health communities. Researchers have suggested that bloggers benefit from self-disclosure in maintaining and extending their relationships, which improves their mental well-being (Xu and Zhang, 2016; Lei et al., 2022). By posting on social media, people are less likely to perceive self-disclosure as risky, encouraging them to express themselves openly, vent negative feelings, and seek support from others (Cobb et al., 2010; Potts and Semino, 2017). The lack of social connections within offline social circles or the limited availability of like-minded individuals have made OHC especially attractive for socializing (Ríssola et al., 2019). From several perspectives, our research confirms the value of OHC: (1) Following the findings that OHC are frequently used by individuals whose primary social network (i.e., friends and family) is unaware of their health condition (Wright, 2016; Yoon et al., 2019; Pechmann et al., 2020), users attribute SUPPORT metaphors to OHC and online friends; (2) New metaphors for depression, disorder, and interpersonal relationships have been identified that support the notion that OHC enable people with depression to express themselves freely and provides a better basis for analyzing their conceptualizations. Our findings are in line with the proposals of Coll-Florit et al. (2021) and Semino et al. (2015), and a wide range of other researchers that online discourse genres can enable those in need to regain a sense of control over their lives and emotions, and to alleviate their suffering (Potts and Semino, 2017; Lu et al., 2021; Lei et al., 2022). As we will demonstrate shortly, OHC and its metaphorical language also have implications for mental health management.

Metaphors can be a very powerful tool in healthcare. As metaphors facilitate access to and symbolize emotions, uncover and challenge tacit assumptions, and introduce new frames of reference, they play a significant role in constructing and expanding alternative perspectives (Tay, 2017). By providing relevant theoretical nuances derived from linguistic studies of metaphors, we find ways to emphasize more meaningfully the inherent cross-disciplinarity of psychotherapeutic metaphor research. Therapeutically relevant topics correspond to target domains, conceptual resources used to describe them correspond to sources, and how the latter is understood to be related to the former corresponds to cross-domain mappings (Tay and Neimeyer, 2021). Joining psychophysical and discourse analytical points of view, we will analyze the implications of metaphor research based on source-target connections at the three levels found in this study: embodied metaphors, sociocultural metaphors, and idiosyncratic metaphors.

First, depression metaphors present a high proportion of embodied metaphors, probably because somaticization symptoms associated with depression are common (Coll-Florit et al., 2021; Cunningham et al., 2021; De Choudhury et al., 2021). The ABYSSES, VALLEYS, and WELLS are difficult, narrow, and dark, which correspond to the pathological features of depression, including depressed mood, persistent inhibition of voluntary activity, impaired cognition, and social impairment. Embodied metaphors are unlikely to misunderstand, and Semino et al. (2016) note that embodied metaphors can facilitate some form of embodied simulation in the addressee, which may lead healthcare professionals to provide empathic responses. Psychiatrists and health service practitioners should therefore consider embodied metaphors as essential languages for practice, develop corresponding standards, especially linguistic specification of metaphorical terms for interventions and treatments, and devise strategies to enhance their ability to analyze metaphors. For example, psychiatrists can send sunny and warm pictures to visitors on cloudy days as part of psychological intervention programs, collect somatization health information with somatic suits, or analyze embodied metaphors in visitors’ online self-disclosure texts. An example relevant here is Tay’s (2014) analysis of metaphors used by earthquake victims to describe their trauma. Earthquake victims used the metaphors “the ground was still moving” and “it was dark” to describe their bodily experiences of the earthquake. These metaphors are examples of target domains because they are used to describe the physical sensations of the earthquake. A chain-like dynamic emerged, however, as the interaction progressed, where topics transformed from targets to sources, which were creatively exploited as source domains for other aspects of victims’ trauma, such as their uncertainty about the future (for example, we did not know where the future was going, and we were in the dark). The “chaining” dynamic is possible because metaphors are embodied, which means they are grounded in our bodily experiences, making them flexible and creative. In a recent study, Tay (2023) has further argued that topic-triggered metaphors have source domains whose pragmatic motivations are driven by the topic rather than some ostensibly static conceptual metaphorical structure. It has implications for evaluating the use of embodied metaphors in health-related contexts because topic-triggered metaphors enable people to analyze metaphors in terms of their impact on patient outcomes.

Furthermore, we have discussed metaphors on a sociocultural level, where culture-specific knowledge and experience are crucial to constituting, interpreting, and fully appreciating the source domain. The most disabling mental illness, depression, is associated with low social support, especially when it has long-term adverse effects on close relationships (Pan et al., 2020; Pechmann et al., 2020). Identifying depression metaphors in the Chinese corpus pinpoints the sociocultural environment people with depression are experiencing: lack of offline support, social stigmatization, and substitutability of offline support with online support. Practitioners can incorporate metaphor analysis into parenting education, family therapy, and community support groups. Family-based interventions can help practitioners address various issues, including child maltreatment, substance abuse, and mental health concerns. A metaphor with social-cultural connotations is always elaborate, individualistic, mini-anecdotes. It contains a richer dramatic content and contextualization, allowing the therapist and client to construct a scenario with its internal logic, encouraging the client to “think their thinking” and to find new ways of approaching old problems through analogy (Stott et al., 2010). Therapists can, for example, assist the client in explicitly developing a range of scripts from his/her THEATRE METAPHORS and aid him/her in recognizing the arbitrariness of those scripts and their loose relationship to reality. Moreover, there may be a greater opportunity for effective communication between AI robots and depressed users, reducing the stigma associated with mental health issues and encouraging people to seek help. By providing personalized feedback and responses, AI robots can help reduce feelings of isolation and help users cope with depression by providing a safe space for people to interact and share their feelings without judgment. Developers of companion robots, electronic chat rooms, and chatbots should incorporate metaphors into their scripting language to provide “appropriate” answers to more obscure conversations that contain metaphors. Meanwhile, we also provide new evidence supporting the potential benefits of OHC for depression, as friends and contacts in online support communities may indicate a higher level of social integration, leading to greater social support (Pan et al., 2020; Lu et al., 2021). The substitutability of offline illness work may be particularly helpful to those without or with limited access to offline support. Based on our metaphor types, OHC organizers can develop metaphorical images, audio, and emojis to increase users’ willingness to participate, help them cope with loneliness and anxiety, and get emotional support.

Finally, this study finds that some source-target connections are built at the idiosyncratic level, at which individuals’ knowledge and experiences are unique (Tay, 2017). In the Chinese corpus, there is a user who eloquently describes depression, which translates as: “When anxiety and depression come, try first notice the thoughts and ideas in the brain, do not judge, do not entangle, then imagine, put ‘them’ in a drift bottle, seal it, watch this ‘disease-filled’ drift bottle slowly move away along the tide and disappear on the horizon.” (当焦虑和抑郁来袭得时候, 可以试试, 先觉察到脑中的思绪和想法, 不评判, 不纠缠, 然后想像一下, 把“他们”装在一个漂流瓶里, 封住, 注视着这个装了“病”的漂流瓶顺着海水慢慢离自己而去, 消失在天边). Unlike the conventional DEPRESSION IS CONTAINER, the user draws on a novel metaphor that creatively depicts the container as a floating bottle. She uses extended metaphors to describe how she unravels the bad emotions by letting the bottle float away with the tide. This image may resonate with her experience of using a floating bottle to release deep-buried psychological loneliness and depression. In a similar instance, Tay (2015) documents a case in which a therapist and client used metaphors that shared an underlying embodied inferential structure of “moving out of a physical container,” facilitating the development of a collaborative framework to solve a problem. Tay (2017) argues that since therapists cannot contribute substantive details at the idiosyncratic level, allowing clients to play an active role in facilitating their own betterment may increase their sense of empowerment and agency. Additionally, individuals can incorporate metaphors into self-care through writing, painting, singing, or other forms of multimodal discourse, expressing emotions, obtaining support, and building communication channels.

This study still has some shortcomings. Most microblog users are young and middle-aged, so this study’s results may not apply to elderly population with depression. Conducting a follow-up study to examine metaphors used in elder groups and how metaphor research can be applied to aging issues would be beneficial (Landau et al., 2018; Malkomsen et al., 2021). The second limitation of this study is that it analyzes linguistic data alone and does not include multimodal data, such as pictures, videos, and music. Particularly, metaphors are related to visual stimuli, gesture analysis, and multimodal representations such as films and advertisements (Potts and Semino, 2017; Poppi and Kravanja, 2019; Semino, 2021; Pérez-Sobrino et al., 2022). Metaphors influence human conceptualization beyond the canonical verbal and textual cues, and metaphors also affect other representational modalities.