The effectiveness of Gestalt Therapy, Behavioral Activation and Placebo on Reducing Depression in Women with RelapsingRemitting Multiple Sclerosi

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is increasing in the world. Due to the reciprocal effects of psychological conditions with the severity and recurrence of the MS, it is important to choose the appropriate treatment approach. The aim of study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of gestalt therapy (GT), behavioral activation (BA) and placebo on depression in women with (RR-MS).

This clinical trial study was done on 60 women with (RRMS) who referred to MS clinic of Tehran’s Rasool Hospital in 2019-2020. The participants were randomly allocated to four groups including GT, BA, placebo and control. GT and BA groups received eight 90-minute sessions of psychotherapy once a week. placebo group used 250 mg rice flour capsules once a day. The control group did not receive any intervention. All groups fulfilled the Beck depression inventory (1996) in the pre-test, posttest and follow-up stages. Data was analyzed using SPSS-25 and repeated measures analysis of variance method .

The implementation of GT and BA compared to placebo and control led to reduction in depression scores in the post-test and follow-up stages (p<0.05). While GT and BA did not have a significant difference.

GT and BA were effective in reduction depression in women with RR-MS and did not differ from each other. Placebo had no effect on reducing the depression of these women.