Effectiveness of Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy on Psychological Distress and Self-Compassion in Mastectomized Women with Depression

Mastectomy damages self-concept and sexual identity and also increases the risk of depression due to changes in the physical appearance of patients. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) on psychological distress and self-compassion in mastectomized women with depression. The research was a quasi-experimental study based on a pretest-posttest design with control and experimental groups. The study population consisted of mastectomized women with depression who visited counseling and psychological services centers and clinics in 2021, of whom 40 patients were selected through purposive sampling. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups of 20 members using a table of random numbers. Participants in the experimental group attended ten 90-minute sessions of CRT (two sessions per week). The research instruments included the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). The data were statistically analyzed using analysis of covariance in SPSS version 19. The findings indicated that there was no significant difference between the two groups in the pretest in terms of psychological distress and self-compassion. The mean±SD of psychological distress in the posttest of the CRT group was 15.26±3.43, which was significantly different from the control group (19.26±3.65) (P<0.001). The mean±SD of self-compassion in the experimental and control groups were 79.13±7.38 and 71.67±8.39, respectively, which was statistically significant (P=0.005). In other words, CRT significantly reduced psychological distress and increased self-compassion in mastectomized women with depression (P<0.001). The study findings suggested the effectiveness of CRT in reducing psychological distress and increasing the selfcompassion of mastectomized women with depression. Therapists and health professionals are hence recommended to apply CRT, along with other interventions and therapies, to reduce psychological distress and increase the self-compassion of such patients.