Lexical Markers of Emotion: Adjectives in Patient Journals on Suicidal Ideation

Salina Sabri; Onaliza Satimin; Zulaikha Khairuddin; Syafiqah Johan Amir Johan; Nur Faizah Ali; Zurina Khairuddin

doi:10.47405/mjssh.v10i11.3666

Salina Sabri Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Selangor, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0635-1456
Onaliza Satimin Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Selangor, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5844-3752
Zulaikha Khairuddin Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Selangor, Malaysia
Syafiqah Johan Amir Johan Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Selangor, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6182-3228
Nur Faizah Ali Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 47000 Jalan Hospital, Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1190-3558
Zurina Khairuddin Faculty of Languages and Communication, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kampus Gong Badak, 21300 Kuala Nerus Terengganu, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3861-2403

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v10i11.3666

Keywords: Suicidal ideation, Therapeutic writing, Adjectives, Lexical analysis, Lexical markers

Abstract

Suicide remains a major public health concern worldwide, and understanding the subjective experiences of patients with suicidal ideation is critical for prevention and intervention. Language offers a valuable entry point into these experiences, with adjectives functioning as key lexical markers of affective stance. This study utilised descriptive content analysis and analysed a corpus of anonymized therapeutic journals written by patients experiencing suicidal ideation. Adjectives were identified through manual coding procedures, with cross-checking to ensure reliability. A frequency analysis was conducted to determine the distribution and prevalence of affective adjectives in the dataset. The analysis revealed that the adjective happy occurred most frequently (41 instances), followed by alone (33), sad (32), anxious (18), and hard (18). The co-occurrence of positive descriptors (e.g., happy) alongside negative or burden-laden adjectives (e.g., alone, sad, anxious, hard) reflects the ambivalence characteristic of suicidal ideation, where fleeting hope is juxtaposed with pervasive distress. The findings demonstrate that lexical analysis can reveal significant patterns in the affective expression of patients with suicidal ideation. Adjectives function not only as emotional markers but also as indicators of ambivalence, underscoring the complexity of patients’ lived experiences. Attention to such lexical choices in therapeutic contexts may support clinicians in identifying underlying affective states, enhancing empathic engagement, and informing more nuanced approaches to suicide risk assessment and intervention.

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