Effectiveness of Cognitive- Behavioral Therapy on Dysfunctional Attitudes in Epileptic Patients

Epilepsy is a brain disorder that has neurobiological, cognitive, psychological, and social consequences for affected patients. The purpose of this research was to determine the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) on modification of dysfunctional attitudes in patients with epilepsy. In the study, 20 epileptic patients were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. CBT during 8 weekly sessions was applied for the experimental group with a focus on cognitive restructuring, modification of cognitive distortions and training of behavioral techniques. Dysfunctional attitudes scale(DAS) was applied as the pre-test, post- test and in the follow- up for both groups. Analysis of covariance was applied for analysis of data. Data analysis showed that the mean scores of DAS in the experimental group as compared to the control group was significantly increased during post-test and follow-up(p<.05). Cognitive-behavioral therapy is remarkably effective in modifying dysfunctional attitudes in epileptic patients.