Comparison the Effects of Cognitive Hypnotherapy and Spiritual Therapy on the Death Anxiety of Women With Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women and has many psychological complications. this study aims to compare the effects of cognitive hypnotherapy (CH) and spiritual therapy (ST) on the death anxiety of women with breast cancer. 

This is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test design. The statistical population consists of all women with breast cancer referred to Mirdamad clinic in Gorgan, Iran. Of these, 30 patients were selected by a convenience sampling method and were divided into two experimental groups (CT and ST with 20 people) and one control group (n=10). The two experimental groups received interventions separately, while the control group received no intervention. All groups were measured for death anxiety before and after the intervention. The instrument was the Collett-Lester fear of death scale.

The ANCOVA results showed that, although CH and ST had a significant positive effect on reducing death anxiety, there was no significant difference between the two methods.

Both CH and ST are effective in reducing fear of one’ own death, fear of the process of one’s own dying, fear of the death of others, and fear of the process of others dying in women with breast cancer, and there is no significant difference between the two methods.