P40: Effectiveness of Psychodrama on Reduction of Anxiety among Male Schizophrenic Patients

Anxiety is one of the symptoms in chronic schizophrenic patients. Past research studies show that psychodrama as a group therapy is effective in treatment and rehabilitation of psychological disorders. The aim of this study is to explore the effect of psychodrama on the reduction of anxiety in schizophrenic patients. 26 male hospitalized chronic schizophrenic patients were randomly assigned into an experimental group (n=13) and a control group (n=13). Both groups were treated with antipsychotic drugs and were evaluated by using self-rating Anxiety scale. Then the patients in the experimental group received 20 sessions of the treatment of psychodrama. Finally both groups were evaluated again. The pre-test and post-test scores were comprised by using t-student test. After psychodrama therapy, the average of total anxiety scores and affective symptoms of anxiety subscale decreased significantly in the experimental group (P<0.05), but there is no significant difference in somatic symptoms of anxiety subscale. The findings of our study support the idea that, as a non-pharmacological therapy method, psychodrama can reduce symptoms of anxiety in schizophrenic patients. On the other hand, analyses of the two subscales of the SAS revealed that the effect of psychodrama was significant in reducing emotional anxiety, but not as the same with physical anxiety. It can be argued that the effect of psychodrama on the emotional aspect of anxiety was so powerful that, despite its non-significant effects on the physical aspect, was able to reduce the total anxiety.