The Efficacy of Cognitive-Existential Group Therapy in Reducing the Levels of Depression, Anxiety and Stress in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Background and This research aimed at studying the efficacy of cognitive-existential group therapy on levels of depression, anxiety, and stress in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This study was performed using semi-experimental and the extended pretest-posttest design. The study population included all patients with MS who were members of the Mazandaran MS Society, in 2013. The subjects were 20 females selected through accessible sampling, and they were randomly allocated into two groups (intervention and control, n=10 per group). All participants completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress (DAS) measurement test in both pre-test and post-test stages. For the intervention group cognitive-existential group therapy was performed in 8 sessions, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Descriptive statistics and covariance analysis were applied to analyze the data. The covariance analysis showed that the cognitive-existential group therapy led to a significant decrease in levels of depression (P <0.0001) and stress (P <0.0001) in the intervention group. Also, the cognitive-existential group therapy had a positive effect in lowering the anxiety level in this group, but this effect was not significant. According to this research, the cognitive-existential approach is an effective way that could be of great benefit in solving the emotional problems of patients with MS.