The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Happiness and Hope of Hamedanian Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Disappointment and loss of happiness in multiple sclerosis patients are important factors in the quality of life and the process of illness. Therefore, an effective treatment to reduce frustration and increase the happiness of these patients is important. Therefore, the present study is aimed at the effect of acceptance- and commitment-based therapy (ACT) on happiness and hope for MS patients in Hamedan. The present study was carried out in a semi-experimental design of 30 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Hamedan who were based on the acquisition of scores 1 lower than the mean on happiness and hope scale from 350 patients with multiple sclerosis. The sampling was available and was divided into two treatment groups based on acceptance and commitment and control. Using a pilot-pretest-post-test-control study with a control group, the acceptance and commitment-based therapy group was trained in 8 sessions of 60 minutes, while the control group received no intervention during this period. Both groups were evaluated in the pre-test and post-test using the Schneider and Lopez Hope Questionnaire (1989) and the Happiness Test of Oxford Armil (2001) and the results were analyzed using single-variable covariance analysis. The research results indicated that acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) had an impact on the happiness and hope of MS patients in Hamedan. So that acceptance and commitment treatment (ACT) affected 36% on happiness and 54% on the hope of MS patients. The results of the present study showed that in the area of treatment and working with depressed patients who are in crisis, pain, and emotional distress, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can be efficient and promising due to its nature.