The main purpose of this research is to prove the effects of mandala pattern-based art therapy on depression and post-traumatic stress disorder of women victimized by sexual assault.
The subject of this research was a married woman of 34-years old l...
The main purpose of this research is to prove the effects of mandala pattern-based art therapy on depression and post-traumatic stress disorder of women victimized by sexual assault.
The subject of this research was a married woman of 34-years old living in K city and under medication because of depression. The art therapy was applied focusing on mandala pattern.
The research was conducted from October 12th,2009 till March 22nd, 2010, twice a week, one hour per session. Research was suspended about one month when the target’s children were infected with H1N1 virus and then resumed, finishing with 40 sessions split into primary, secondary and tertiary stages.
The subject was examined with K-BDI (Korean version of Beck’s depression measurement) and PCL (Farley & Baken, 1998). During different stages, changes in level of depression and post-traumatic stress brought about by mandala pattern-based art therapy in woman victimized by sexual assault were measured, compared and analyzed.
The result of this research is the following:
First of all, the subject scored 33 out of 63 in the depression test and was diagnosed as heavy depression in the primary stage. However, in the secondary stage she scored 12 points and was diagnosed as light depression, and finally in the tertiary stage score dropped to 8 and the subject was diagnosed as normal.
Thus, comparing the test results of each stage proved that this mandala pattern-based art therapy successfully alleviated the depression of women victimized by sexual assault.
Secondly, tests for post-traumatic stress disorder revealed that the subject scored 60 points in primary stage, 40 in secondary stage and 26 in tertiary stage, showing that the symptoms were relieved after the therapy. Moreover, when the results were shown in more detail based on subcategories, A-type feature displaying fear, anxiety and horror was reduced from 16 to 8 points, B-type feature showing repetition of memory, frustration, horror and sorrow was reduced from 6 to 3. The C-type feature characterized by avoidance and paralysis of subjects related to the incident was 23 points in primary stage, 14 in secondary stage, and 9 in tertiary stage. D-type feature such as insomnia from the scene of the incident and constant increase of over-reaction was 15 points in primary, 10 in secondary and 6 in tertiary stage, clearly showing that the art therapy successfully reduced symptoms the subject had suffered from.
Thirdly, in the mandala pattern-based test conducted in early stages, the subject’s drawing was very rough, the theme of her artwork was passive and mandala patterns shown symbolized depression and post-traumatic stress. However, in the secondary and tertiary stages her drawing became much smoother and clearer, the theme of her work was vivid and positive, and the mandala patterns represented satisfaction through achievement. In addition, in behavioral observation, the subject appeared inactive, tired, depressed and diffident, but as treatment proceeded she became much more confident and expressed positive feelings to others.
This research demonstrated that the mandala pattern-based art therapy, among various forms of art therapy, is an effective treatment to depression and post-traumatic stress that women victimized by sexual assaults suffer from. This research is significant because it reveals that mandala pattern-based art therapy has an effect in reducing the level of depression and post-traumatic stress in women victimized by sexual assault.
Key Words : Munyangmanda, stress after gloom, credit