Effect of Schema Therapy on depression and anxiety in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Patients with anxiety disorders experience common fears, uncertainty and anxiety and obsessive-compulsive thoughts. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of schema therapy on depression and anxiety in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The present study was a quasi-experimental study with control group. The research population of this study was female patients referred to the psychiatrist and general practitioner who were referred to a clinical psychologist. Of these, 16 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder were selected and divided into two experimental and control groups. The patients were examined using a diagnostic interview and a second edition of the Beck Depression Inventory (2000), Beck Anxiety Inventory (1988) and Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (1977) in the pre-test, post-test and follow-up period of 2 weeks. Then, the experimental group underwent schematic therapy in 8 sessions (90 minutes), while the control group did not receive any treatment. Data were analyzed using covariance analysis. The results of this study showed that there is a significant difference between the two groups of experimental and control after the treatment in the depression and anxiety variables (P=0.01). This effect was also visible during the follow-up phase. The results of this study indicate the effect of therapeutic therapy on obsessive-compulsive disorder on the reduction of obsessive-compulsive, anxiety and depression in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Therefore, psychological treatments are useful in these patients