The agonistic metaphor in psychotherapy: Should clients battle their blues?

Abstract

A tradition stretching back to early Greek philosophy has described the mind as a field of struggle or even battle. This comparison has been termed the agonistic metaphor, based on the Hellenistic notion of athletic contests. Today, it is not uncommon for psychotherapists and the general public to seek solutions to mental health problems agonistically. Examples of this are cited from major psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral, family, and humanistic theorists, and advantages and disadvantages of the metaphor are explored. Although agonistic thinking can energize clients and ennoble the therapeutic journey, it runs the risk of ignoring educative aspects of problematic situations and ironically perpetuating the resistance it predicts.

Digging down or scratching the surface: how patients use metaphors to describe their experiences of psychotherapy

“…The metaphorical concept of the depression as an opponent and a disease is not a new one, and has gained popularity over the years, as found by a multinational Latin American study by Reali et al [52]. Susan Sontag emphasized the negative effects of looking at a disease as an opponent in her book, a point that has later been followed up by others later [1,4,53]. Heide calls the opponent-metaphor "the agonistic metaphor" and points out that while the metaphor may motivate patients to "fight their depression", it also has several potential negative consequences, like making the patient more hostile to herself and her own thoughts and feeling.…”

Using Metaphors to Facilitate Exploration of Emotional Content in Counseling With College Men

“…For example, Heide (2010) described a range of cultural perceptions regarding battle metaphors (e.g., combating stress , panic attacks , self- defeating behaviors). Individuals from cultural backgrounds that place a higher value on confrontation may be more receptive to approaching their psychological concerns in aggressive imagery, while others may feel uncomfortable with or struggle to understand the function of such imagery.…”

Digging Down or Scratching the Surface: How Patients Use Metaphors to Describe their Experiences of Psychotherapy

“…Heide calls the opponent-metaphor "the agonistic metaphor" and points out that while the metaphor may motivate patients to " ght their depression", it also has several potential negative consequences, like making the patient more hostile to herself and her own thoughts and feeling. It has also been shown that trying to suppress and remove thoughts and feelings, as one would try to do in a battle, often is counterproductive (53). Whether a biogenetic disease-framing of depression is helpful is an empirical question, and in a quantitative synthesis by Kvaale et al they found that biogenetic explanations for mental disorders are negatively associated with blame, but positively associated with perceived dangerousness (for schizophrenia) and with desire for distance (54).…”

“…The metaphorical concept of the depression as an opponent and a disease is not a new one, and has gained popularity over the years, as found by a multinational Latin American study by Reali et al (52). Susan Sontag emphasized the negative effects of looking at a disease as an opponent in her book, a point that has later been followed up by others later (1,4,53). Heide calls the opponent-metaphor "the agonistic metaphor" and points out that while the metaphor may motivate patients to " ght their depression", it also has several potential negative consequences, like making the patient more hostile to herself and her own thoughts and feeling.…”