Metaphors and the kingdom of the sick

Words have the power to heal, and also the power to corrupt, discriminate, accuse. It's a dangerous thing for us writers to try to get our message across in a way that walks this tightrope. But if time has taught me anything, it's that words can also change the way we think and behave around people who are facing some difficulty, some mental or physical disability. And we can do this in different ways, but mainly with the use of metaphors that can, in fact, influence our collective thoughts.

Metaphors are more common than you think. We use approx. 6 of them per minute! As you can see, we are metaphor-spewing machines, in one way or another. Hélène Schumacher says that we use this semantic tool to make sense of complex topics, to help us connect with others and shape our thought patterns. Aristotle, in his book Poetics, explains the concept of metaphor using this same meaning, “an intuitive perception of the similarity in the different.” But even more importantly, metaphors are simple ways that we can facilitate connection between ourselves and the societies around us.

Metaphorical thinking has existed for thousands of years, if we analyze it carefully. One of the examples I like to give most comes from the Wayuu tribe, a relatively large Colombian community, located in La Guajira, a region of the country close to Venezuela. Due to centuries of colonialism and neocolonialism, the Wayuu had to learn Spanish, but unlike other indigenous communities in the Americas, they still managed to maintain their own language–Wayunaiki. Language is used to describe many things, as one should, but it is especially important for translating spiritual concepts. There is a word–'Yolu'ja'–which in Wayunaiki represents an evil spirit that robs individuals of their identity, but it is also a word used as a metaphorical explanation for loss, illness or catastrophe. In these contexts, metaphors are welcoming, ingenious, and socially powerful.

However, throughout much of human history, when it comes to the world of disease and the sick, metaphors have often been used to support the punitive nature of certain societies and their relationship with sick individuals. During the Middle Ages, leprosy was considered an emblem of decadence, mental illness was seen as someone who was “possessed by the devil”, which required exorcism according to Christian theology. Looking back from our contemporary vantage point, giving meaning to a disease through the use of metaphors or figures of speech may be a candidate for one of the worst ways to deal with a public health problem. The illness itself becomes the target of scrutiny, judgment and humiliation, and worse still, the horror associated with such conditions is imposed on other things.

When this perceptual change occurs, diseases often end up becoming hostage to the use of adjectives, which means that they are associated with other unfavorable consequences. In French, for example, a dilapidated facade can be called a lepreuse. Not only that, the metaphors used to describe people with certain medical conditions can stigmatize them and distance them from the change they really want to see and hear. When someone has cancer, we can say that they are “fighting” the disease, or that they are on a “crusade”. Cancer is a “monster”, a “killer”. I've certainly done this a few times. The interesting thing is that when we express our feelings through these metaphors, which, in our opinion, are intended to bring comfort to the “sufferer”, we are only attributing these patients as the only ones to blame for the development of these diseases. In other words, it becomes not our responsibility to offer support, but the from them to improve and endure the period of convalescence on their own. And, in the end, patients are denied their agency, they are treated as less capable, less tolerant and resilient than they really are. As if we were treating them like newborn, umbilical beings.

Unfortunately, with cancer patients, or anyone else suffering from an illness, the same biases arise from the use of metaphors. “This is cancerous behavior.” “We will not allow this cancer to spread to our community.” Or, as the song says “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel, “fools, I said, don’t you know, silence grows like a cancer.” What's the point? It serves a singular purpose: to dissent and belittle.

I reach these conclusions with the great help of the work of Susan Sontag “Disease as a metaphor”, written in 1978. Sontag helped spread a great deal of understanding about this topic, but now, we must go further – how can we, as individuals, members of communities, societies, governments, companies, organizations, shape collective thinking through metaphors so that they have a positive impact on the lives of those affected by illness? How can we give these people back their agency, their life force, so that they themselves can express the true extent of their conditions? Metaphors can serve us well in assimilating the new, but they should do more than just create a kingdom of and for the sick.

Like any other communication tool, metaphors can be used for good or bad. If we manage them poorly, we could run the risk of silencing the voices of those who are not heard, of those who are convalescent, because, after all, their experiences are important for us and for the world. This kingdom that we created by our own will needs to be tamed. We must water the soil, so that our seeds, as functional metaphors, can have the power and resilience to grow and bear fruit. Without this sacrifice, neither the soil nor the fruits will be of much importance. Metaphors, therefore, are our allies, aren’t they? Let the tongue speak its truth! And so the proverb says: “A gentle tongue is the tree of life, but wickedness in it breaks the spirit.”