Table 5.

Metaphoric conceptualization of seizures.

Category	Seizure as an agent/force	Seizure as an event/situation	Seizure as a space/place	Other
Grammatical subject	Seizure	Seizure	Patient	Variable
Semantic agency	With the seizure	Variable	With the patient	Variable
Examples	Seizures come, go, come in, come on, come up, creep up on you, get you, try to do things, set off, are sent in, are straight there, are fought, counteracted, contained, are let pass, wear off	Seizures happen, occur, take place, are due, start, finish, go on, carry on, develop, are experienced, witnessed, handled, controlled, stopped, avoided/ put off, are brought on, run their course	Drifting off, being off somewhere else, going, going off, being gone, coming back, coming round, coming to, going down, being down, not being there, being out into seizures, in seizures, out of seizures, within seizures, through seizures	Seizures are started up, are fixed, like an electrical charge, like the lights are on but nobody’s at home, like something going off, like shutting a computer off, like cold or hot water on the top of your head, are as if your head carries on without you