Background & Aims: Multiple schlorosis patients have high levels of depression and anxiety which make psychological interventions, psychotherapy and systematic educations necessary for these patients. So the current research is aimed at examining the effectiveness of cognitive –behavior therapy on improving depression and decreasing anxiety symptoms of multiple sclerosis patients.

  Materials & Methods : This pre-post test design study was conducted on 32 multiple sclerosis patients that received high scores in Beck Depression Inventory and Cattell Anxiety Inventory questionnaire were selected and randomly replaced in the experimental and control groups (each 16 members). The experimental group received fourteen 60-minute weekly sessions of cognitive behavior therapy. The control group received no intervention. Participants completed anxiety and depression questionnaires 10 days after intervention. The data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics such as covariance test.

 Results: The results showed that cognitive behavior therapy has positive and significant effects on improving depression and decreasing anxiety symptoms of multiple sclerosis patients (P > .005).

 Conclusion: The results showed that besides other drug therapies, cognitive behavior therapy can be applied for multiple sclerosis patients as an effective approach.

 SOURCE: URMIA MED J 2015: 25(11): 1032 ISSN: 1027-3727