Comparison of the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment based therapy and neurofeedback method on the desire for treatment and reduction of physical symptoms in heroin users

  Substance abuse is a behavior with physical, psychological, social and economic consequences that have adverse effects on his physical, psychological and social functioning. The purpose of this comparison was the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment-based training and neurofeedback on the desire to treat and reduce physical symptoms in heroin users in Tehran. 

This research was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included all people with substance abuse who had referred to one of their referral centers. Forty-five people from this population were randomly selected by lottery in two groups of 15 experiments and one group of 15 controls as a sample. The groups were evaluated with a mental health questionnaire and a change and desire for treatment questionnaire. Data were analyzed using repeated measures mixed analysis of variance.

  The results showed that there was no significant difference between the mean post-test scores of the neurofeedback and ACT groups on improving the desire for treatment and physical symptoms. However, ACT training and neurofeedback sessions are effective on the desire to treat and reduce physical symptoms in the samples.

Based on the results, ACT along with neurofeedback sessions can improve the speed and quality of treatment by improving the desire for treatment and reducing the physical symptoms in heroin addicts.