INVISIBLE WOUND: DEPRESSION CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN THAI PATIENTS' FACEBOOK POSTS

Abstract

Depressed individuals often use metaphorical expressions to convey their experiences to others. However, research on the conceptual metaphors of depression in the Thai context has been limited. This study aimed to investigate conceptual metaphors for DEPRESSION. In Facebook posts by depressed Thai patients and explore to identify the most salient conceptual metaphors among them. the study followed the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) developed by Steen et al. (2010) and incorporated salience-based metaphor analysis (Kövecses et al., 2015). A total of 659 posts, published in 2023 (comprising a corpus of 56,942 words) were collected from a Thai Facebook group dedicated to mental illnesses. The findings revealed ten conceptual metaphors reflecting the metaphorical conceptualisation of depression. Three of these were found to be the most salient: DEPRESSION IS AN OPPONENT, DEPRESSION IS A JOURNEY, AND DEPRESSION IS A WOUND. These metaphors illustrate Thai patients’ perceptions of depression as a struggle, a personal journey, and a psychological wound. This study provides insights into how depressed Thai patients conceptualise depression, contributing to a better understanding of depression in Thai mental healthcare communication.