In “The Trouble With Medicine’s Metaphors”, the author, Dhruv Khullar, addresses the use of military-related metaphors when referring to medical illnesses. He explains how the use of military terms in a metaphor can cause a patient to view their illness in a negative way. It can cause them to believe that they may have not tried hard enough in the “battle” and they view that as a failure when in fact they almost have no control over how the illness takes over. This can lead to a more depressive state and a decline in the quality of life. Adversely, Khullar discusses how other patients may view these terms as a helpful way of looking at their illness. Looking at an illness as a fight or a battle can give ideas of resilience and will power so they feel they can defeat whatever they are up against.
Language has an extreme impact on our physical and mental wellbeing. Some people may not realize the impact because they may have the philosophy of say how you feel and never hold back. This can mess with many other people’s minds and can impact their mental and physical health. Things people say may have a subtle effect on others without the original person even being able to realize it. This can be due to not knowing how people are feeling inside or maybe even the day they are having. For example, in the article by Dhruv Khullar, he explains how two people can have different perspectives on metaphors about illness when they use military terms. Viewing these metaphors negatively can create a negative impact on our health because this viewpoint was correlated with higher levels of depression and anxiety and poorer quality of life. In order to be aware of how a specific person or group may view a metaphor is to understand them as a person which can be difficult if they may be a patient, as in the example Khullar gave. Some people may overthink certain words or phrases and this can create bad thoughts in their mind because they dig deeper and deeper into the meaning where others might look at the surface level and view it completely differently.
The Trouble With Medicine’s Metaphors: “Some have suggested that viewing cancer as a fight can lead to maladaptive coping mechanisms and encourage emotional suppression.” This pertains to how specific metaphors can have a negative impact on people’s emotional health which can then lead to decreased physical and mental health.
See Through Words: “When I describe my work, people often ask whether these new metaphors actually change how people think. They can.” This quote can explain how using a metaphor for a specific situation can change how a person views the situation (good or bad).
Metaphorically Speaking: “Metaphor matters because it creates expectations.” The quote describes how metaphors can make people think a certain way or expect certain things (can connect to the battle portion of Khullar article).
Your summary is well on its way. Great job. You’ve got some great quote choices, as well.
You wrote: “Some people may overthink certain words or phrases and this can create bad thoughts in their mind because they dig deeper and deeper into the meaning where others might look at the surface level and view it completely differently.”
Do you think the folks that react negatively to the “fighting” metaphor think about the metaphor and/or language choices that much, or do you think they feel bad for other reasons?