Evaluation of the effectiveness of psychological interventions on anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review study

Depression and anxiety levels have increased significantly in both disease survivors and the general population during the Covid-19 virus epidemic. Therefore, the aim of this study was to review and summarize effective treatment methods so that they can be a factor for informed decisions by the government and relevant organizations regarding the disease and guidance for the clinical application of anxiety and depression treatment. The present study was descriptive and library method (review type). In order to study various sources in the field of anxiety and depression and using the keywords: (Treatment, Anxiety, Depression, Covid-19) a number of internal and external articles and dissertations from the years (2019 to 2021) by search engines (SID, Magiran, Noormags, Springer, Science Direct and Google Scholar) were found. Finally, out of 124 articles, 35 articles were analyzed and finalized. Therapists around the world used various psychological interventions such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, especially online, Emotional Freedom Techniques, Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation Techniques, and neurofeedback to treat the mentioned mental disorders. Other findings in this study showed that positive psychological characteristics such as high spiritual health and religious coping, high cognitive flexibility and resilience, high spiritual intelligence, self-care, and conscientiousness can help people cope with Corona disease and its problems. According to the review of studies, it was found that in general, during the pandemic of Covid-19, with the increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression, it is necessary to perform psychological interventions, especially telephone and online services, and strengthen positive psychological characteristics to combat corona disease.