Author/Authors :
Hamidian, Sajedeh Department of Psychiatry and Psychology - Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IR Iran , Omidi, Abdollah Department of Psychiatry - Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran , Mousavinasab, Masoud Department of Psychiatry and Psychology - Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IR Iran , Naziri, Ghasem Sciences and Researches Branch - Islamic Azad University Fars, Shiraz, IR Iran
Abstract :
Background: Dysthimia in adults is a chronic depression disorder which is characterized by a mild depression for at least 2 years. Remarkable
psycho-social involvements, greater disturbances in psycho-social functions compared to other forms of depression and lack of definite
findings about preferred treatment for this disorder led us to evaluate the effectiveness of Mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT)
method adjunct to pharmacotherapy compared with pharmachothrapy alone in treating dysthymia in this thesis. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on a chronic type of depression disorder
called dysthymia Patients and Methods: This study is a clinical trial of an interventional method which was carried out on dysthymic and double depressed
patients who had referred to psychiatric clinics of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. In doing so, 50 patients above the age
of 18 were selected through convenience sampling and assigned into intervention and control groups. The control group only received
medications while the intervention group in addition to receiving medication, participated in 8 sessions of a mindfulness based cognitive
therapy course which was held once a week and each session lasted for 2 to 2.5 hours. All the participants filled out Beck Depression Inventory
II and five facet mindfulness questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical software (version 16) and univariate covariance
and independent t test statistical methods. Results: In this study, no statistically significant differences were found between the two groups regarding the demographic characteristics.
The mean difference between the two groups was statistically significant for the variables in post-test considering the pre-test. The
experimental group participants showed significant improvement in terms of the defined variables; a trend which was not observed in the
control group participants. Conclusion: The results of this study show that adding MBCT to pharmacotherapy in treatment of dysthymic patients can cause significant
improvement in depression symptoms and mindfulness skills in patients compared to pharmacotherapy alone.
