European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Introduction: In psychosomatic disorder focusing on dominant pain, a person suffers from physical symptoms and has constant worries, which usually lead to depression symptoms. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of the two components of distress tolerance and emotional discipline on reducing depression in these patients.
Materials and methods: The current research design was semi-experimental (pre-test-post-test-follow-up) with a control group. The research population was also selected patients suffering from depressed psychosomatic disorders and divided into two experimental and control groups. These patients were examined using the diagnostic interview and the second edition of the Beck Depression and Anxiety Questionnaire in the pre-test, post-test and two-week follow-up stages. Then the experimental group received dialectical behavior therapy in 12 sessions (40 minutes). Multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measurements was used to investigate the effectiveness of distress tolerance and emotional regulation training on people with psychosomatic disorders (experimental group) and compare it with the control group.
Findings: This research was conducted in two groups of 20 people in the age range between 37 and 48 years. The results showed that after the time required until the follow-up phase, depression was significantly reduced in the treated group (P<0.01). Also, anxiety was significantly reduced in the treated group (P<0.01).
Conclusion: Considering the nature of the disease and suggestibility of people, psychosomatic disorders are compatible with other disorders such as depression and anxiety. It seems that dialectical behavior therapy reduces the symptoms of depression and anxiety by affecting the components of distress tolerance and emotional regulation