By Eulalee Thompson 
Rosemarie Chung (standing), activity therapist, facilitating a session in art therapy with clients on the Psychiatric Ward (ward 21) of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
Art, drama, music can be used in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.
Facilitator: Today the theme is fear. Everybody has some kind of fear, I want you to paint the thing that you are afraid of.
Participant: Like a bull frog.
Facilitator: Yes and then you are going to tell me why you are afraid of it. Everyone, think about it for a moment and let's see if we can get at the root of our fears.
WITH THIS introduction, the subdued sounds of music only barely intruding, the more than 15 participants painted various objects and situations that trigger fear in their lives. The facilitator, activity therapist, Rosemarie Chung, used the paintings to take each client into an in depth discussion of his or her fear and the role it might have played in the development of mental illness.
" We have different types of expressive art; we go through the exercises, I give them a topic, for example, today it was fear. The last music was about fear.
" We do also the colour therapy, well-known, established tool in healing. In different moods people use different colours; the colours we wear say a lot about us. We notice, for example, that in the beginning of therapy, patient's colours are dull, lifeless and as soon as they improve, the colours change and are more vibrant," Miss Chung said.
Art therapy, dramatherapy, music, exercise, all important adjuncts to drug therapy in the management of mental illness on the psychiatric ward of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).
This use of "culture therapy" at this hospital is a throw back to the 1970s and '80s when Professor Freddie Hickling integrated drama and theatre, music, farming and chicken rearing as treatment at the Bellevue Hospital on Windward Road in Kingston. He is now Head of Psychiatry at the University of the West Indies and is going full steam ahead with this still unorthodox treatment.
He said that the programme then was extremely valuable and produced remarkable outcomes, building patient self-esteem. No less is expected of the programme at the UHWI.
" It is a technique that helps to get people back on their feet and triggers emotional well-being and so we are re-introducing activity therapy. We are looking at treatment from the biopsychosocial perspective. We use drug therapy where necessary and combine it with different forms of counselling and activity therapy," Professor Hickling said.
From the art work, the experts can assess their patients' emotional state and dramatherapy allows them to act out their feelings. Scientific evidence from controlled studies is limited on the benefits of exercising for mentally-ill patients but there are international studies that indicate a role for regular exercise in the management of mental illnesses such as mild to moderate depression, anxiety and even some psychotic disorders. From her own experience with local patients, Miss Chung also agrees that there is a role for exercise in treatment programmes and so regular exercising for patients and staff is another aspect of therapy.
" Exercise is essential because their conditions schizophrenia, depression can leave them docile and inactive. They see us (the staff) exercising with them and there is a communal spirit that develops," she says.
Sister Veroina Deslandes, the Matron on the psychiatric ward, says that the programme is more than just therapy but about passing on life skills to patients. The educational sessions teach skills such as budgeting, etiquette, sewing. They also discuss current events in the news to keep patients up to date and informed. On Saturdays, the patients' families visit and are integrated in the treatment process by participating in educational talks.
" We tell them about the condition, the medication and so on because the patients have to go back home, so it is critical for the family to know, for example, about their reaction to the drugs," she said.
