The Effects of Forest Healing Programs on Psychological Health of Alcohol Dependent Females

Abstract

TPS 702: Green space and population health, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 28, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background: Alcohol-dependence people drink alcohol as a mechanism of emotional regulation activity to relieve stress, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, alcohol-dependence people have dramatic mood swings and have severe symptoms of negative emotions, anger, and depression. We implemented the forest healing program for alcohol-dependent females who had less resilience because of social prejudice and physical vulnerability toward alcohol compared to men and analyzed the effects on emotional stability. Methods: For the emotional stability of alcohol-dependent females, this study ran the forest healing program, which consists of forest activities, trekking, aromatherapy, meditation and making activities using natural objects, twice in July 2017(n=60) and twice in July 2018(n=36). To check the effects, pre-and-post surveys were conducted, using self-administered questionnaires (PANAS-Korean, STAXI-K, BDI-Korean), and the results were analyzed. Results: The results showed that the negativity was improved from 22 points to 15.8 points in 2017 and from 67.8 points to 43.6 points as a result of conversion of the scores in 2018 in PANAS-Korean, from 18 points to 14.1 points in 2017 and from 16.3 points to 14.8 points in 2018 in STAXI-K, and from 27.2 points to 24.6 points in 2017 and from 28.2 points to 25.4 points in 2018 in BDI-Korean. Conclusions: The participation of forest healing programs which provide an ability to communicate with nature and a sense of accomplishment decreased negative emotion, anger, and depression. It indicates that the decrease of negative emotion, anger, and depression will reduce the possible recurrence of alcohol dependence in females and help restore sociality.