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Metaphor and the Social World: Online-First Articles

Falling, slipping, and stumbling backwards

Metaphors of dependence and recovery in online alcohol support materials

ORCID logo | University College London
This paper identifies how experiences of alcohol use disorder (AUD) are metaphorically framed in online alcohol support materials, using a dataset curated to isolate the language individuals seeking support may encounter. Individuals affected by AUD face barriers including self-stigma, shame, and a perceived lack of agency, which have been shown to inhibit help-seeking behaviours. Framings of alcohol use may challenge or reinforce stigmatising perceptions, in ways which may empower or disempower those affected. There has been little research examining how metaphor is used to communicate perceptions surrounding AUD, particularly at crucial access points such as the language of support materials. This paper applies the Metaphor Identification Procedure (Pragglejaz Group, 2007) to identify how metaphor use frames four key aspects of AUD: lived experience; coping strategies; the disorder; treatment options. The findings show that Journey framings dominate in this context, highlighting both the long-term nature and potential impermanence of recovery. Individuals are represented with varying degrees of agency at different stages of dependence, and framings acknowledging mitigated agency tend to anthropomorphise AUD itself in violent and highly agentive terms. The discussion examines the implications of the identified framings for support-seeking individuals, highlighting the need for further research exploring how those individuals may respond to and evaluate these framings.
Keywords: alcohol use disorder, health communication, framing analysis, health messaging, help-seeking behaviours
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Metaphor, framing, and healthcare
  • 3.Framing alcohol use
  • 4.Methodology
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Lived experience
    • 5.2Coping strategies
    • 5.3The disorder
    • 5.4Treatment resources & services
  • 6.Discussion
    • 1.How is AUD metaphorically framed in the language support-seeking individuals are likely to encounter?
    • 2.What are the implications of the framings identified for support seeking individuals?
  • 7.Concluding remarks
  • Note
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 16 December 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.24022.jac
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