Effects of Life Review Interview on Mood and Life Satisfaction of the Former Hansen's Disease Patients.

Abstract

Background and Aims : Although the former Hansen's disease patients won a law suit in 2001, few have sought psychological help. The present study examines the effect of life review, which has had positive effects on ordinary elderly in terms of life satisfaction and mood, to assess its usefulness on the psychological well-being of the former Hansen's disease patients.Methods : Five former Hansen's disease patients volunteered to participate in the life review interviews with a clinical psychologist once a week for a month. Before and after the interviews, patients completed POMS (Profile of Mood States) questionnaires, which measured six factors related to mood, and the Life Satisfaction Scales, which focus on overall life satisfaction and psychological stability.Results : POMS scores indicated that depression was high and vigor low for the former patients. However, tension-anxiety, anger-hate, and fatigue scores decreased. Life Satisfaction scores showed a decrease in overall life satisfaction while psychological stability varied for each participant.Conclusions : These results suggest that a different psychological technique is needed to address problems of depression and vigor, and life review shows some utility in terms of mood improvement, but not for life satisfaction in general.