The Effect of Happiness Program on the Hope of Addicts Experiencing Drug Withdrawal at Zahedan Psychiatric Hospital: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Drug addiction is one of the serious problems that has caused many concerns in society. In Iran, addiction is highly prevalent among different age groups. Due to diagnostic and reporting conditions, accurate statistics about the number of addicts are not available. However, the population of drug addicts seems to be increasing every year, and this is a serious warning to society. A large number of drug users refer to drug treatment centers every year, but after a while, they tend to use drugs again, which is one of the challenges of society. According to the results of some studies, there is a significant relationship between hope and the cleansing period of drug addicts. Since hope can be a fundamental and motivating factor in drug withdrawal and may play an important role in all stages of drug withdrawal, from action to continuing withdrawal and recovery, it seems that implementing interventions that can raise hope in addicts experiencing withdrawal is necessary for drug withdrawal and its continuation. Therefore, considering that happiness-based programs can increase life expectancy in people, this study aimed to determine the effect of the happiness program on the hope of addicts experiencing withdrawal at the psychiatric center of Zahedan.

This is a quasi-experimental study. Men aged 18 to 50 years who were admitted to Zahedan Psychiatric Hospital in autumn and winter of 2020 for drug withdrawal comprised the study population. The samples included 92 addicted men. They were selected based on convenience sampling procedure and were randomly divided into intervention (n=46) and control (n=46) groups. Inclusion criteria were no physical symptoms of withdrawal such as pain and restlessness, no psychotic disorder associated with drug abuse, no participation in another counseling program at the same time, and no other addicted family members. More than one session absenteeism and hospital discharge prior to completion of the program were exclusion criteria. In this study, first the control group and then the intervention group entered the study based on non-random sampling procedure. This method was used to prevent the transfer of information in groups. Data collection tools in this study included demographic information form and Miller Hope Scale. This questionnaire was conducted in two stages; pre-test and posttest which was conducted two months later. In the intervention group, eight sessions of the Fordyce Happiness Program were performed every other day. The content of the sessions was prepared based on the Fordyce training program. The Fordyce Happiness Program is a program designed to increase peoplechr('39')s happiness and includes eight cognitive components and six behavioral components. The study was conducted based on six Fordyce behavioral components that included components such as increasing activity, increasing social interaction, strengthening close relationships, fostering social personality, creativity, engaging in meaningful works, and self-worth. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, paired t-test, chi-square, and ANCOVA in SPSS 16. The study was statistically significant at P<0.05.

The results of the Shapiro-Wilk test showed normal distribution of data. Therefore, parametric tests were used in this study. The findings showed that most addicts experiencing drug withdrawal were married and mostly used a combination of opium derivatives. The mean hope scores of these addicts before the implementation of the Fordyce happiness program in the intervention and control groups were 139.15 ± 54.06 and 179.22 ± 58.30, respectively, and then changed to 187.25 ± 8.99 and 172.16 ± 45.50. Independent t-test showed that the mean hope scores of addicts both before (P=0.001) and after (P=0.002) Fordyce happiness program were significantly different between the intervention and control groups. In addition, paired t-test showed that the mean scores of hope in the intervention group increased significantly (P=0.001) and decreased significantly in the control group (P=0.005). The results of ANCOVA for controlling the significant effect of pre-test scores and duration of addiction showed that the mean scores of hope among addicts experiencing drug withdrawal were significantly different between the two groups after the intervention (P=0.001).

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of happiness programs on the hope of addicts admitted to Psychiatric Hospital for drug withdrawal. The results of ANCOVA for controlling the significant effect of pre-test scores and duration of addiction showed a statistically significant difference between the mean hope scores of addicts in both groups after the intervention. In fact, the findings showed that implementing the Fordyce Happiness Program can raise the hopes of addicts experiencing drug withdrawal. Therefore, considering that hope has a motivating role in people and is an important factor in maintaining and continuing drug cleansing, happiness programs such as the Fordyce Happiness Program can affect addictschr('39') hopes, which is an important factor in preventing relapse. Therefore, it is suggested that the behavioral component of Fordyce Happiness, which can be easily implemented by nurses, be implemented in drug treatment centers, such as wards and drug treatment camps. Not only can the happiness program be included in the daily routine of addicts experiencing withdrawal, but also, it can be continued after discharge from medical centers. One of the limitations of the present study is the generalization of results to addicts with a history of mental illness. This study was also performed on addicts who were hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital for drug withdrawal. Therefore, generalizing the results to addicts who refer to drug treatment camps to understand addiction should be done with caution.