Two Decades of Metaphorical Use of Schizophrenia in Brazilian Newspapers: A Machine Learning Approach

Media representation of mental illness has the potential to reinforce stigma. This phenomenon may arise from the perpetuation of stereotypes, the association of mental disorders with violent conduct, or the use of a diagnosis in a metaphorical application within text, often as an adjective. This study examined how Brazilian newspapers used schizophrenia (and its derivatives with the root schiz*) over time: as a metaphor or a non-metaphor. A database of news articles was compiled from 2001 to 2022. A multilayer neural network model with 95% accuracy was trained to categorize the use of schizophrenia and its derivatives as either metaphorical or non-metaphorical. A total of three national newspapers in Brazil were included in the analysis. From January 2001 to August 2022, a total of 7,272 texts were extracted. Of the total number of texts, 30.8% (2243) were identified as using schizophrenia and similar words in metaphorical language. There is no evidence of a significant increase or decrease in metaphorical use over the years, indicating that representations of schizophrenia in media discourse have persisted over time.