the effect of psychodrama on depression among inpatient women with chronic mental disorder

background & aim: at recent three decades, management of chronic mental disorders has been a focus of attention in mental health systems. this study aimed to assess the efficacy of group psychodrama in reducing depression in inpatient women with chronic mental disorder. method & materials: in this semi-experimental study, thirty women with chronic mental disorders bedridden at razi comprehensive psychiatric center(tehran, iran) were randomly assigned to two groups, namely intervention & control groups. beck depression inventory(bdi) was administered to all participants and then a 12 session group psychodrama intervention program was carried out for the intervention group. meanwhile routine treatments were continued for the control group. bdi was then re-administered for both groups. data were analyzed by spss software using independent and paired t tests, kolmogroph-smernoph, chi-square, leven and covariance analysis(ancova) tests.   findings: after the intervention, the bdi mean score significantly reduced in the intervention group(p=0.000) but not in the control one. the two groups showed no difference regarding the mean bdi scores before the intervention but afterward the control group had a significantly higher score in this respect(p=0.000). the significant differences remained true after applying ancova to control the effects of age and rate of depression(p=0.000) conclusion: psychodrama may be an effective intervention for reducing depression in patients with chronic mental disorders.