The purpose of this study is to show the positive effects of drama therapies
aimed at helping subjects find a meaning in life on potential teenage suicide
cases by comparing them before and after the Purpose In Life (PIL) test.
The program was conducted under the theme of “Finding a Meaning in
Life,” for which the topic of the whole drama therapies focused mainly on
“death.” Thinking of death makes people look back on their lives and helps
them consider life in a more responsible way. The test used in the program
was the PIL test, which measures subjects’ meaning and satisfaction in life.
The body of the study gives a detailed description of the provisions used in
the PIL test and the test participants’ changes during the drama therapy. The
participants’ behavior was compared and analyzed before and after the PIL
test.
Participant A scored 93 points on a 20-question pre-test, which rates each
answer on a 7-point scale and the figure rose by 12 to 105 points on the
post-test. Participant A has the tendency to stay away from or avoid his/her
life, which in turn made him/her refuse to face himself seriously in the drama
therapy. He/She, however, said that he/she knew the word “willingness” for
the first time in the therapy, and was observed to have acknowledged his/her
responsibility in life. In the post-test, participant A scored one more point on
the category measuring “freedom” (13, 14, 18, respectively), and scored 2
more points on the category of “suicide” than in the pre-test. The test results
found that participant A changed his/her attitude toward “freedom,”
“responsibility,” and “suicide.” This matches up with the observation that
he/she shifted from avoiding responsibility to accepting it during the course
of the drama therapy.
Participant B scored 74 points on a 20-question pre-test, which rates each
answer on a 7-point scale and the figure grew by 15 to 89 points on the
post-test. The results of the pre- and post-test on each answer confirmed
what participant B was observed in the drama therapy. Participant B has a
poor ego boundary, making himself/herself pat of others, such as his/her
mother, and living his/her mother’s life. Participant B, in the drama therapy,
was given a training of making his/her own voice heard in order to help
him/her overcome alienation.
Those participants attending the program designed to help them find a
meaning in life shifted themselves from escaping responsibility to accepting
it and began making their voices heard in order to find what they want
instead of what others want them to do.
Those participants attending the program designed to help them find a
meaning in life shifted themselves from escaping responsibility to accepting
it and began making their voices heard in order to find what they want
instead of what others want them to do.