This paper examines the negative impact of illness metaphors, particularly those used in Susan Sontag's *In America*, analyzing the personal, social, and national trauma they cause. The authors explore the prevalence of illness metaphors in medicine and daily life, highlighting Sontag's critique of their inappropriate use and its consequences. The study analyzes how the metaphorization of COVID-19 mirrors the phenomena depicted in *In America*, focusing on stigmatization and militaristic metaphors. The paper then proposes the use of illness narratives as a mitigating strategy to alleviate the negative effects of harmful metaphors, improving patient-doctor communication and fostering empathy.

Rumeng Dai, Shuixiang Peng