This study provides insight into lived experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Participant metaphors of the pandemic were collected by conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews (N = 44). Participants were asked to compare the pandemic with an animal and with a color, and to provide contextual sensemaking about their metaphors. A metaphor analysis revealed four convergent mental models of participants’ pandemic experiences (i.e., uncertainty, danger, grotesque, and misery) as well as four primary emotions associated with those mental models (i.e., grief, disgust, anger, and fear). Through metaphor, participants were able to articulate deeply felt, implicit emotions about their pandemic experiences that were otherwise obscured and undiscussable. Theoretical and practical implications of these collective mental models and associated collective emotions related to the unprecedented collective trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed.

这项研究提供了对美国 COVID-19 大流行生活经历的深入了解。大流行的参与者隐喻是通过进行深入的半结构化访谈收集的（N= 44）。参与者被要求将大流行与动物和颜色进行比较，并提供有关他们隐喻的上下文意义。隐喻分析揭示了参与者大流行经历的四种趋同心理模型（即不确定性、危险、怪诞和痛苦）以及与这些心理模型相关的四种主要情绪（即悲伤、厌恶、愤怒和恐惧）。通过比喻，参与者能够表达他们对大流行经历的深刻感受和隐含的情感，否则这些情感是模糊的和无法讨论的。讨论了这些集体心理模型以及与 COVID-19 大流行史无前例的集体创伤相关的集体情绪的理论和实践意义。