島峡住民의 精神疾患 概念에 關한 調査 _ 전남 여천군 화정면을 중심으로一

Study of the Islanders Concept about the Mental Illness

This is a fieldsurvey of the concept of mental ollness Among 325 subjects living in an island, called Huajeonmyon, in the south coast of Korea. The results are as follows. The concepts of the adolescents and those of the middle adulthood the elderly are quite contrasting； the adolescent’s concept indicated organic etiology, supernatural and religious treatment and pessimistic prognosis of the mental illness, while the latter’s concept meant psychological etiology, hospital treatment and rather optimistic prognosis. The group that had the mentallly ill in their family or relatives favored supernatural therapy and anticipated recovery but eventual relapse, while the group without exqerience of having the mentally ill among the family or relatives relied more on the folk medicine and had more pessimistic outlook on the mental illness.