Mehrnoosh Poursaeid Esfahani; Hosseinali Mehrabi; Hamid Taher Neshat Doost
Abstract
Objective: Depression is a common and recurrent mental disorder and one of the main causes of disability. A large number of depressed people report intrusive negative memories, however, there is no specific therapeutic strategy that specifically targets these memories. In this regard, imagery rescripting ...
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Objective: Depression is a common and recurrent mental disorder and one of the main causes of disability. A large number of depressed people report intrusive negative memories, however, there is no specific therapeutic strategy that specifically targets these memories. In this regard, imagery rescripting is a psychotherapeutic technique that addresses memories and previous experiences and aims to improve negative emotions by changing the inner representation of negative memories and images. Although the treatment was initially developed for traumatized individuals, several interventions have yielded promising results for people suffering from other psychological disorders as well. Also, it seems that the interest in and applications of imagery rescripting for depression are quickly increasing. In this direction, the purpose of this article is to review clinical studies assessing the effects of imagery rescripting on depression, as well as possible processes underlying imagery rescripting.Research Methodology: The present study is a review article that has been collected through study of 37 articles in the field of imagery rescripting, rescripting, imagery, mental imagery, mental images، intrusive memories and depression.Findings: The review shows that imagery rescripting is associated with a reduction in cognitive, emotional and behavioral symptoms of depression and related distresses and is an effective intervention for depression, distress of aversive memories and other related variables.Conclusion: Overall, it seems that more research is needed to compare different imagery rescripting protocols, investigate mechanisms of change, evaluate modulating factors and therapeutic changes for more effectiveness. Therefore, based on the review, a future research agenda is proposed to provide a sketch for further research in Iranian society.
Ali Nikbakht; Hamid taher Neshat doost; Hosseinali Mehrabi
Abstract
Depressed people tend to process or recall negative information easier than positive or neutral information. A recent method that promises modifying the intrusive memories is cognitive bias modification (CBM). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of four weeks training of interpretation ...
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Depressed people tend to process or recall negative information easier than positive or neutral information. A recent method that promises modifying the intrusive memories is cognitive bias modification (CBM). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of four weeks training of interpretation (CBM-I) and CBM-I based on self-generation among the students with depressive symptoms and to compare them with computerized cognitive behavior training. The present study is a quasi-experimental research with three groups including pre-test, post-test and follow-up. Fifty one students were randomly assigned into groups of standardized CBM-I, self-generation, and computerized cognitive behaviour training. Instruments included a questionnaires related to the mood, interpretation bias, memory bias and dysfunctional attitudes. Standardized CBM-I, self-generation, and computerized cognitive-behaviour training significantly showed reduced symptoms of depression, enhanced mood, increased positive interpretation bias, increased positive memory bias and reduced negative memory bias. In none of the variables no significant difference was observed between the interventions. Only for positive memory bias, self-generation method was significantly superior to cognitive-behaviour therapy—but not to standardized CBM-I.
