Comparing the Metacognitive and Pharmaceutical Therapies of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Background and Due to the small number of studies on obsessive compulsive disorder and the existence of non-pharmaceutical treatments, it is possible to introduce the Metacognitive therapy as an alternative with long-term effects. The purpose of present study was to compare the effectiveness of metacognitive therapy versus pharmaceutical therapy on the patients with obsessions in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Methods and materials: This research is a quasi-experimental design with experimental and control groups. The participants were equally assigned into two groups with 8 members, metacognitive therapy (14 sessions) and pharmaceutical therapy (one month). Pretest and posttest were given to both groups: MCQ30, YBOCS, DASS21, BDI&II, STAY-T. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS 18 using t-test, chi-square and covariate analysis. The results showed a preference for metacognitive therapy in decreasing obsession intensity (P=0.006) with pretest mean of 50.13±2.07 and posttest mean of 10.25±2.81, negative variables of metacognition (P=0.001) with pretest mean of 15.00±2.72 and posttest mean of 11.75± 2.25. A significant relationship was observed between the general functioning and the pharmaceutical therapy (P=0.042) with pretest mean of 60.25±4.83 and posttest mean of61.75±5.28. However, no significant differences were observed between the two types of therapy as far as depression (0=0.09), worry (p=0.07) and anxiety (p=0.2) are concerned. The results indicated better results with metacognitive therapy in reducing the obsessions, stress and negative metacognitive beliefs. However, enhancing the overall functioning of the patients can be achieved with pharmaceutical therapy. There were no signification correlation between the two types of therapy for treating depression, worry and anxiety.