What Is It to Be Mentally Healthy from the North Korean Refugees’ Perspective?: Qualitative Research on the Changes in Mental Health Awareness among the North Korean Refugees
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Healthcare and Medicine for Unified Korea, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
- 2Department of Social Welfare, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
- 3Department of Healthcare Management, Eulji University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
- 4Global Health Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
- 5Department of Humanities and Social Medicine, College of Medicine and Catholic Institute for Healthcare Management, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
- 6Gyeonggi Public Health Policy Institute, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
- 7Korea Employee Assistance Professionals Association, Seoul, Republic of Korea. jongmin.woo@gmail.com
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
We investigated how mental health awareness among North Korean refugees transformed depending on temporal-spatial context changes.
METHODS
In 2013, we conducted interviews with 10 refugees (eight women) who had been in South Korea for over a year and performed a qualitative analysis of the change in mental health awareness in the differences between living in North Korea, escape (a related period of forced sojourn in a third country), and settlement in South Korea.
RESULTS
We classified 39 concepts into five main categories. The first two categories (while living in North Korea) were "a mindset for the system, but not for individual mental health" and "being confined in a social environment that was indifferent to mental health." A third category appeared during escape: "focusing on survival amid continuity of intense suffering." The final two categories appeared when settling in South Korea: "recognition of mental health amid cultural shock" and "introspection and sorting oneself out."
CONCLUSION
This qualitative study enabled a better multi-dimensional understanding of the social and cultural aspects involved in improving mental health awareness among North Korean refugees in South Korea. It is desirable to integrate mental health as a part of daily life and to expand training for North Korean settlers.