This study was done to identify some natural meaning through the dosage experience of psychoactive drugs in women patients with schizophrenia.

The Hermeneutic phenomenology written by van Manen was used. The period for data collection was from November 2009 to January 2010. This study took place in mental health hospitals and mental health centers in two cities in North Jeolla Province. Nine patients with schizophrenia participated. Data collection was done through individual in-depth interview.

The seven natural subjects demonstrated by participants from this study were 'Pills forcibly taken like veiled threats', 'A terrible side effect, a side effect rooted slowly', 'Shame which cannot be hidden as a woman', 'A bad medicine took away from motherhood', 'The fate of a wife who can't be equal', 'A struggle for the complete recovery without promise', and 'Participants want the future without medicine'.

The results of this study indicate that the urgent need to develop a safe and believable psychoactive drug for woman patients considering the time of menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and child raising.

This study was done to understand elderly women within a community who have used lots of drugs.

Data was collected through in-depth interviews with four elderly women from April 2001 to February 2002. Data was analyzed by Giorgi's phenomenological method(2000).

The components in common with drug usage of elderly women were as follows: ‘Awareness of the limitation of physical strength and uncertainty of life’, ‘Dread of a crisis situation occurring’, ‘Attachment and dependency on drugs’, ‘Expectation of a comfortable life and death’, ‘Prevention of family burden’, and ‘Pursuit of psychological comfort’. The general structure of experiences was as follows: causal factors were ‘Awareness of uncertainty and limitation’, ‘dread of a crisis situation occurring’ the results factor was ‘Attachment and dependency on drugs’ and the facilitating factors were ‘Expectation of a comfortable life and death’, ‘Prevention of family burden’, and ‘Pursuit of psychological comfort’. The causal relation was cyclic. This structure showed a realistic adaptation pattern.

This study contributed to provide fundamental data for nursing interventions for health promotion and promoting quality of life in elderly women by increasing understanding of the experiences of drugs use.