South Korean series, full of emotions and life experiences, may be “beneficial” for mental health, in the opinion of experts, because they can provide “solutions for viewers.”
“Watching Korean dramas can be beneficial for anxiety and depression from an art therapy point of view,” Im Soo-gyun, director of a psychiatric clinic in Seoul, told Agence France-Presse.
The first experience with this therapeutic method dates back to the 1940s, and it initially required patients to draw, but it later included other artistic activities.
The expert noted that “visual media, such as Korean dramas, have great beneficial properties that are very suitable for psychological treatment.”
He believed that the small screen and cinema could thus provide viewers with “illumination on some situations thanks to a new point of view based on sound values and providing solutions to their problems.”
Im ruled out that the doctor would prescribe this type of treatment to the patient, but he considered that the series in which the person finds something similar to his life, and a specialist recommends that he watch it, could be useful to him, as it might give him ideas about ways to overcome certain situations, such as, for example, “separation or death.” ” close.
Cultural context
The quality of production of South Korean series, the performance of the actors participating in them, or even the attraction that they can arouse are not sufficient factors, according to therapist Jenny Chang, to explain the rapid rise of these works, which are the most attractive for viewing among non-English-speaking productions on Netflix, according to the platform.
Zhang highlighted that these series have a healing power that transcends the cultural context.
She explained that the strong emotions contained in the events of these works, extending from deep sadness to crazy joy in new love, stir up their emotions and shocks in the viewers.
She reminded that “everyone has pressures, family ambitions, conflicts, traumas, and hopes,” and therefore if soap operas deal well with topics related to life’s difficulties, they can help those who watch them better control their problems.
The therapist, who was born in Seoul but grew up in the United States, confirmed that the South Korean drama made it easy for her to revive her connection to her roots, which she had rejected when she was a child because her first concern was integration into American society.
She described the contents contained in the Korean drama as “suitable for all times and places.”
She explained, “Mental health is how a person feels, how he behaves with others, psychologically, how his brain is affected by things (…). This is present in a Korean series.”
Soften my heart
American teacher Jenny Barry heard about the Korean drama during the funeral of one of her family members.
Speaking to Agence France-Presse, Barry, who participated in a trip to South Korea dedicated to a Korean series organized by Jenny Chang, said, “The way this culture treats trauma and mental depression struck a sensitive chord for me.”
The teacher added, “I began to mourn, which I did not feel. I cried a lot while watching this series, but it also made me see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Barry indicated that she has watched 114 Korean series since then and has given up English-language television programs.
She commented, “(These series) allow me to soften my heart.”
American Erin McCoy, who participated in the same trip, said that Korean drama helped her better control her depression, which she suffered as a teenager.
She said, “When a person lives with this, he becomes insensitive, and therefore he does not necessarily feel that he is not well, but he never feels that he is well.”
She added, “There are a lot of ups and downs in each (of these series), and feeling the characters’ feelings helped me understand myself better. I felt that I was no longer able to have feelings and express them.”