PATTERNS of LANGUAGE USE in MANIA by BESS SIRMON
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PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE USE IN MANIA by BESS SIRMON FJORDBAK (Under the Direction of William A. Kretzschmar, Jr.) ABSTRACT This dissertation investigated the patterns of language use in mania using corpus linguistic methodology. The data were drawn from a collection of journals composed over a twenty eight year period by an individual diagnosed with mania, yielding a Master Corpus of 242,589 words which was subjected to an array of analyses, including comparison to patterns of ‘typical’ language use as represented in the Freiberg-Brown Corpus of American English (FROWN). The Master Corpus was also compared to a reference corpus composed of journals produced by other writers for a within-genre analysis. Multiple intra-individual analyses were conducted in order to test hypotheses concerning differences in language behavior during medicated versus unmedicated conditions, manic versus non-manic writing, and more versus less severe episodes of mania. A final analysis investigated changes in patterns of language use relative to variation in content and frequency of entries across early, middle, and late phases of a single manic episode. The data were analyzed with WordSmith Tools to determine patterns of word frequency and collocation, and for the derivation of keyness statistics between corpora. Results confirm all hypotheses, which postulated there would be significant differences between language as observed during manic episodes and the respective reference corpora, and likewise intra- individual differences in all the previously described experimental conditions. Corpus analysis showed sensitivity in detecting language behavior that correlated with the diagnosis of mania, and also the language effects of treatment with medication. According to the DSM-IV, clinical diagnosis of mania and other mental illnesses relies substantially upon the presence of anomalous patterns of language use in a constellation of psychological, emotional and behavioral manifestations. Therefore, utility of corpus linguistic methodology in clinical applications was proposed, and a model for conceptualizing the constellation of linguistic criteria for diagnosing mania was delineated, in an effort to clarify the terminology used for identification of linguistic behaviors in mania. Areas of future research involving enhanced diagnostic validity and reliability were proffered, as were other directions for using corpus linguistic analysis in the diagnosis and monitoring of mental illness. INDEX WORDS: Mania, corpus linguistics, language variation, WordSmith, mental illness, pragmatics, assessment PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE USE IN MANIA by BESS SIRMON FJORDBAK Master of Science, Georgia College, 1992 Master of Science, Florida State University, 1987 Bachelor of Science, Florida State University, 1984 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2006 © 2006 Bess Sirmon Fjordbak All Rights Reserved PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE USE IN MANIA by BESS SIRMON FJORDBAK Major Professor: William A. Kretzschmar, Jr. Committee: Donald L. Rubin Rebecca J. Shisler Marshall Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia August 2006 DEDICATION For Tim This is dedicated to the one I love. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Fellow travelers always make the journey sweeter, and the trip through a doctoral program is no exception. Thanks to Cati Brown, who was one of the first people I met when I came to UGA, and she told me one day, “I understand that Dr. Kretzschmar is looking for someone to work with him on a very special project”. Thanks to Garrison Bickerstaff, who always has a kind word and a Starburst, and whose love of language I greatly admire. Arigato gozaimasu to Alberto Centeno-Pulido, and muchas gracias a mi querida amiga, Alejandra Arboleda. Many thanks to Jaret Walton and Chris Martin, with whom I learned to do the freak- out dance while learning a whole lot about statistics, and about balancing school and real life. Very special thanks to Robin Bramlett, one of the brightest and Southernest women I’ve ever met, whom I have come to love like one of my sisters. To all of you, I will treasure your friendship always. At the University of Georgia, I have been fortunate to work with several professors who were not only great teachers in their area of expertise, but who also provided wonderful models for being professors, and have become good friends in the process: Laida Restrepo, Joe Wisenbaker, Marlyse Baptista, Yolanda Keller-Bell, Michael Covington and the CASPR research team, and Al De Chicchis, a research collaborator and mentor, who gave me the opportunity to teach in the CMSD department, an experience that I enjoyed from beginning to end. I am also thankful to the late Dr. William Provost, who welcomed me with open arms into the Linguistics Program. v Thanks to my dissertation committee, Drs. Don Rubin and Rebecca Shisler Marshall, who agreed to serve and never hesitated to ask the hard questions. Very special thanks to Dr. Bill Kretzschmar, who is a stellar exemplar of what a major professor should be. Thank you for always starting with “Sure, you can do that”, for directing (and redirecting) my work, for encouraging me to embrace life on the cutting edge of interdisciplinary research and face the challenges of working outside the box, and for setting a standard as a researcher and a teacher to which I will always aspire. There are several people to whom I will always be grateful, without whose encouragement this process could never have happened, beginning with LMN, whose willingness to share her work and her stories served as the impetus for this entire project. Thank you for your patience and encouragement and friendship. Thanks to Tony and Karen Murray, the dear friends and faithful alumni who initiated me into the Bulldawg Nation, taught me how to bark, and how to tailgate, UGA-style. Thanks also to Dr. Franklin Johnson, who told me that getting a Ph.D. was like eating an elephant; the only way to do it is to take one bite at a time. Dr. J, you were right! To Dr. Nancy Canolty, I look forward to a long and happy collaboration with you. Special gratitude is due to Dr. Ralph Boynton, who helped me to see that I could, indeed, do this, and to the late Bruce Boron, my buddy from aerobics class at Big Canoe who coached me for the GRE. I am also grateful for the memories of Dr. Philip Dagostino and Cliff Herrell, both of whom always encouraged me to reach a little further. In this journey towards a Ph.D., one must be surrounded by love and support, because even more than chocolate, this is what sustains doctoral students. For me, this came from my Fjordbak and Sirmon families who were always ready with exhortation, prayer, and confirmation. Thank you to my in-laws, Everitt and Ann Fjordbak, and my sisters and brothers, vi Julia Waldrep, Lou Miller, John Sirmon, Lynn Hogan, Ed Fjordbak, Steve Fjordbak, and all your spouses and children, who have forgiven me for the missed family gatherings and forgotten birthdays. I love you all. Although it has taken me a long time to realize this goal, the desire to pursue higher education was planted early in my life, and for that I thank my parents - my darling mother, Betty Ann, who surrounded us with books and read to us every day, and my late father, Wiley Sirmon, who always wanted to be a professional student. You demonstrated for us and instilled in all of us a life-long love of reading and learning, and you always made education a priority. Thank you for that. I have always wanted to make you proud. I especially want to thank my husband, Dr. Timothy Fjordbak. You are my mainstay, my anchor, my helpmate, my biggest cheerleader, my tango partner, my sweetheart, my best friend, and the love of my life. I couldn’t have done this without you. Finally, and most of all, thank God! vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTERS 1 Introduction....................................................................................................................1 Participant and Data ..................................................................................................5 The Significance of Mania ........................................................................................8 The Problem: Mania and Language .......................................................................11 Corpus Linguistic Analysis .....................................................................................13 Hypotheses ..............................................................................................................15 Overview of the Dissertation...................................................................................16 2 Literature Review.........................................................................................................18 Language and Mental Illness...................................................................................18 Cognitive Processes in Mental Illness.....................................................................23 Language Variation in Mental Illness .....................................................................26 Assessment ..............................................................................................................31