Comparison the Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy” and Drug Therapy (Fluoxetine) on Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is one of the most common and debilitating psychological disorders that severely affects health. Due to the need for psychological therapies along with drug therapies, the present study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy and pharmacotherapy (Fluoxetine) on the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

This is a quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design with control group. The study population was people with obsessive-compulsive disorder who referred to counseling centers and psychological services in Bandar Abbas in 2017. 45 people were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to three equal groups. The intervention groups received 12 sessions of 90 minutes of cognitive-behavioral training and three months of drug therapy (Fluoxetine), respectively, and the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were collected using the demographic questionnaire, and the “Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale”. The Qualitative content validity and Cronbachchr('39')s alpha coefficient were calculated. Data were analyzed in SPSS. 22.

Mean and standard deviation of post-test obsession in cognitive-behavioral group therapy (6.57±1/41), drug therapy (8.19 ± 1.83) and control (12.05±2/59) and mean and standard deviation of post-test compulsion in the groups were Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy (5.84±0/96), drug therapy (7.38±1/15) and control (10.27±2/13). Both Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy and drug therapy (Fluoxetine) significantly reduced obsession and compulsion. Also, Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy was more effective in reducing obsession and compulsion compared to drug therapy (Fluoxetine) (P <0.05).

The two methods of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy and drug therapy (Fluoxetine) reduced obsession and compulsion in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy in reducing obsession and compulsion was higher than drug therapy (Fluoxetine). Therefore, counselors and therapists can use both methods, especially Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder.