The effect of self-healing training on spiritual well-being and positive and negative emotions in patients with multiple sclerosis

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of self-healing education on the spiritual well-being and positive and negative emotions in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in Isfahan, Iran.

This research was a semi-experimental study with two experimental and control groups by using pre-test-post-test and 2-month follow-up. The statistical population included all MS patients reffering to the treatment center in 2020, and the sample size consisted of 31 volunteers willing to participate in educational sessions who were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The range of participants’ age was between 18 and 54 years. All participants completed positive and negative emotions questionnaires (Watson, 1988) and spiritual well-being (Dehshiri, 2010) as pre-tests under similar conditions. Subsequently, self-healing education consisting of 14 weekly sessions in 60 minutes, was considered for the experimental group. To examine the effectiveness of self-healing education on positive and negative emotions, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and to dtudy the effect of self-healing education on spiritual well-being, the Friedman and Wilcoxon tests were used due to non-establishment of the assumption of normal distribution of data.

The LSD pairwise comparisons test results showed no significant difference in positive emotion scores in the experimental group between the pre-test and post-test stages. However, significant differences were noted between the pre-test and follow-up, as well as between the post-test and follow-up stages. In examining the significance of the self-connection subscale in both the experimental and control groups, no significant difference was observed at all three stages in the control group. However, in the experimental group, a significant difference was evident at all three stages following the intervention. Also, the difference in overall spiritual well-being scores in the experimental group was significant between the pre-test and follow-up, with an increase in the follow-up period. Similarly, the difference in the connection to nature subscale in the experimental group was significant between the pre-test and follow-up, as well as between the post-test and follow-up stages, indicating a positive impact of the education. But no significant effect was observed on the individual's relationship with others, the individual's relationship with God, and the reduction of negative emotions.

The findings indicate that self-healing education improves spiritual well-being and positive emotions in MS patients. Participants likely improved their spiritual well-being in the area of self-connection by learning techniques such as spiritual elevation and inner richness, and accurately recognizing negative memories and their detrimental actions resulted in an improvement in their relationship with nature. It also appears that reducing inhibitory traits such as resentment and false beliefs leads to a change in attitude, strengthening willpower, and finding a better way to solve the problems. Additionally, tasks related to strengthening the 9 healing code may increase positive emotions.