The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy on Stigma and Death Anxiety in Epileptic Patients in Bukan

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy on stigma and death anxiety in epileptic patients in Bukan.

The quasi-experimental study was a pretest-posttest or control group. The statistical population included all patients with epilepsy referred to medical centers in Buchan in 1399. Accordingly, 60 people (22 men and 38 women) were divided into two groups of 30 people, including the experimental group and the control group, by random assignment. The experimental group was evaluated as a clinical trial in 8 sessions of 90 minutes twice a week using the Templer Death Anxiety Questionnaire (1970) and the modified Ritcher Disease Stigma Scale (2003) to collect data. Multivariate covariance was used to analyze the data.

Results of multivariate analysis of covariance, effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on death anxiety (P=0.05) and stigma (P=0.01) and its components including loneliness (P=0.01), confirmation of stereotypes (P= 0.01) Experience of social discrimination (P= 0.05) and Withdrawal from the community(P=0.05). Therefore, the use of cognitive therapy has a significant effect on death anxiety and stigma and its components such as loneliness, confirmation of stereotypes, experience of social discrimination, withdrawal from the community of subjects in the experimental group.

Cognitive-behavioral group therapy reduces death anxiety and stigma and its components such as loneliness, confirmation of stereotypes, experience of social discrimination, withdrawal from society.