طب جانباز (Mar 2015)

Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy on Mental Health of PTSD Veterans under Pharmaceutical Treatment

  • Sh. Makvand Hosseini,
  • M. Kasiri,
  • M. Najafi,
  • M. Shahi

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 2
pp. 67 – 72

Abstract

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Aims: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic anxiety disorder that characterized by behavioral and physiological changes. According to studies, cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the psychological treatments that have criteria of a good treatment. The aim of present research was to study the effectiveness of cognitive-behavior therapy on mental health of war soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder under long-term pharmaceutical treatment. Materials & Methods: In this quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest which was done in 2014, a sample of 20 war soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder under pharmaceutical treatment were selected using available sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. After providing informed consent, subjects of both groups completed the General Health Questionnaire before any experimental intervention. Then 8 sessions of group cognitive-behavior psychotherapy administered on subjects of experimental group, whereas no intervention received by control group subjects. Both groups were asked again to fill the General Health Questionnaire afterward. Data were analyzed by MANCOVA statistical analysis. Findings: significantly decreased scores were seen in subjects of experimental group compare with control group in 4 dimensions of mental health (p<0.05). Conclusion: Cognitive-behavior therapy is an efficient clinical intervention for improvement of residual symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder veterans and may help improving their quality of life and mental health.

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