The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of poetry therapy, especially
simsang-poetry therapy, on not only relieving the symptoms of chronic schizophrenia
patients hospitalized in a closed psychiatry ward but affecting their psychological
stability. A mental image that is called 'simsang' in Korean can be said as one of the
integral concepts that make up a poem. In simsang-poetry therapy, 'simsang' doesn't
simply refer to a mental image that comes into one's mind while he or she reads a
poem. Actually, that is a more extended concept that involves a mental image that is
reproduced through active imagination and thinking. Therefore simsang-poetry therapy
can be defined as therapy that stimulates the thinking, imagination and sensitivity of
clients to strengthen their inner power, instead of merely taking advantage of the
image of a poem.
The subjects in this study were chronic schizophrenia patients who were being
hospitalized in 0 ward at 00 hospital located in the city of Yangsan, South Gyeongsang
Province. The fourteen selected patients suffered from the disease for five years or
more and were hospitalized for three years or more. they were randomly assigned to
the group of testing poetry-therapy and the group of non-testing, and each group had
seven people. Poetry therapy was provided to them in 12 sessions in April and May,
2010, twice a week for about 85 minute, and 11 poems were utilized. the process of
the programme was encouraging to collect themselves by imagining the mental image
of the given poems, recreating another mental image, spreading the thinking and
thereby arranging their own mind. As the ultimate goal of the therapy was to build up
their inner strength, that therapy was named 'Looking for the light of mind.'
In order to see whether there were any favorable changes in the symptoms of the
chronic schizophrenia patients, Symptom Checklist-90-Revision(SCL-90-R) was used
in the group of testing poetry-therapy and non-therapy before and after the therapy,
after a month and more time, and we checked the result statistically. also to check
their condition of psychological stability, Sentence Completion Test(SCT) were carried
out and analyzed. To summary the results of research, firstly simsang-poetry therapy
had meaningful effect in statistically to relaxing the symptom of patient who has
chronical schizophrenia in closing ward of psychiatry, and that effect has been lasted
afterward. secondly simsang-poetry therapy had meaningful effect in stabilize the
psychology of patient who has chronical schizophrenia in closing ward of psychiatry,
and that effect has been lasted afterward.