Are you a K-drama lover? Have you binged on Korean shows like ‘Crash Landing on You’ and ‘Descendants of the Sun’ multiple times? Then, here is some good news for you. According to a Korean-American expert, watching Korean dramas is likely to improve your mental health. According to therapist Jeanie Chan, there are deeper reasons why Korean dramas, with high production values, top-notch acting and attractive stars, are popular.
She believes that these shows have the power to heal cultural traumas and reconnect people with their own emotions with plotlines that show varying sentiments including grief and happiness. The therapist maintains that watching K-dramas can enhance people’s ability to tackle real-life challenges since they show complex issues being effectively handled. “We all have family pressures and expectations, conflict, trauma, hope,” she said.
Born in Korea and raised in the United States, Chang felt that K-dramas helped her reconnect with her roots, something that she had rejected as a child. “Mental health is how you’re feeling, how you relate to others, psychologically, how your brain has been impacted by things. That’s mental health.
We see that in a Korean drama.” There has been a surge in viewership of Korean dramas across the globe in the last few years, according to industry data. Interestingly, these dramas have found a market in major countries like the United States, where an upward trend of viewership was seen during the Covid-1.
