Investigating the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Preventing Relapse in People with Substance Use Disorders

Substance use disorder has destructive effects on physical, psychological, social, family, and interpersonal health. Substance use disorder is a chronic and recurring disorder, and relapse is one of the important aspects of substance use disorder that occurs after periods of abstinence and during abstinence efforts. The main problem in the treatment of substance use disorder is the high rate of relapse because the repeated use of substances leads to more negative consequences such as the possibility of more substance use, more intense dependence on substances, use of different substances, increase in criminal behavior and incurring additional costs. Relapse prevention is mandatory. The main problem in the treatment of substance use disorder is the high rate of relapse because the repeated use of substances leads to more negative consequences such as the possibility of more substance use, more intense dependence on imports, use of different meanings, increase in criminal behavior and incurring additional costs. Relapse prevention is mandatory. Dennis defines relapse as the process of returning to past unhealthy actions that force and encourages a person to use substances again, and relapse prevention is a cognitive-behavioral treatment package that is used to prevent relapse of treated people in Drug abuse is designed. Substance use disorder, like any other chronic disorder, requires treatment management over time. Many well-known and reliable drug treatments and psychotherapies effective for substance use disorder focus on reducing and managing drug cravings. In addition, relapse prevention is considered an important component of drug use disorder treatment. Many people with substance use disorder are prone to return to substance abuse due to some factors. Therefore, relapse prevention is an essential component of drug use disorder treatment. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in preventing relapse in people with substance use disorders.

The method of this research was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of the present study included 40 people with substance abuse disorder residing in the comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation center for drug addicts in Hirkanian in 2022. A sampling method, sampling was available, and the subjects were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (20 people) and a control group (20 people). The criteria for entering the study included informed consent to participate in the research, at least 20 days have passed since hospitalization in the camp, and physical detoxification and physical health. It is worth noting that the exclusion criteria were incurable physical illness, absence of more than one session in class, and lack of physical and mental ability to participate in the course after the individual's conscious and personal request. The questionnaire introduced in the research tools section was used to collect data. Written consent was received from all participants in the research and they were assured that they have the right to participate in the project and that their identity and all the information obtained will be kept confidential with the researcher.

The results of covariance analysis showed that according to the value of F=18.592 and also considering that the significance level of the test error for the confidence level of 0.99 is less than 0.001, it can be said that cognitive therapy based on mindfulness is effective on the prevention of substance relapse in Addicts and it improves this variable in people with substance use disorder.

Substance use disorders are the second psychiatric disorder after major depressive disorder, which is very important in terms of prevalence. Substance abuse includes a set of cognitive, behavioral, and physiological symptoms, and a person suffering from this disorder, despite facing many problems caused by substance abuse; continues to consume the desired substance. Relapse is one of the important aspects of substance use disorder, which occurs after periods of abstinence and during a restraining effort. Relapse is one of the more controversial phenomena of substance use disorder among researchers and also one of the factors of desperation among people to quit this disorder. According to the concept of mindfulness, clients are encouraged to maintain their focus and awareness on the present moment, thus freeing themselves from past events (for example, the effect of a violation of abstinence) and not living for future events (such as waiting for a high after consuming drugs). They do not decide to use drugs. In addition, praising the clients for their efforts and motivating them, validating the practice of mindfulness and identifying small steps towards positive change will help to create self-efficacy in them. Neurobiological findings also support the hypothesis that mindfulness meditation enhances awareness and creates alternatives to inattention and impulsive behavior.The results of our study showed that cognitive therapy based on mindfulness is effective in preventing relapse in people with substance use disorder. Therefore, the current research emphasizes the use of cognitive therapy based on mindfulness in the prevention of relapse and treatment of substance use disorder by specialists in this field.