The Efficiency of Emotional Schema Therapy on level of anxiety and depression, symptom and signs of patients suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Background: Comprehensive studies in Iran showed that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is highly common among the survivors of the imposed war and most of them are in a vicious therapeutic cycle, frequently under long therapies which mostly have low effects.Objectives: This study aims to examine the efficiency of Emotional Schema Therapy on The Emotional Schema & Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies of patients suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Materials & Methods: 6 patients from the clients of psychiatric clinic of Baqiyatallah hospital in Tehran Iran (2015), were selected through available sampling, matched together and then divided into 3 groups (Emotional Schema Therapy (EST) combined with Medications, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy combined with Medications & Medications) Patients were examined 5 & 3 times by Beck anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck depression Inventory (BDI) and The Persian versions of the Impact of Event Scale-Revise (IES-R). To analyze the data, indexes of effect size, cohen’s d, process changes, slope and interpretation of ups & downs in charts were employed. Results: EST and CBT (in post-treatment and follow-up phases) significantly decreased the anxiety and depression in the patients received EST and CBT and also could help to control the patients' signs and symptoms of PTSD. Moreover, pharmacotherapy had only effect on the control of anxiety and depressive signs and symptoms in post-treatment, but after the termination of pharmacotherapy, the patients to some degrees experienced a recurrence of the signs and symptoms.Conclusions: Emotional Schema Therapy via targeting directly mechanisms of pathological Emotional Schemas & Maladaptive Cognitive Emotion Regulation strategies can be appropriate choice for treatment of PTSD.