Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Death Anxiety in Women With Multiple Sclerosis in Khorramabad

Background and Aims The present research aimed to determine the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on death anxiety in women with  Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Methods This was an experimental study with a pretest-posttest design. In total, 30 women were selected by simple random sampling method from those referring to hospitals as well as MS and Spinal Association. The samples were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. Both groups were tested in terms of death anxiety before and after the intervention (8 sessions for 1 hour) using the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS).  Results The Paired Samples t-test and Independent Samples test results demonstrated a significant reduction of death anxiety at the posttest stage (P<0.01). The findings confirmed the efficacy of ACT on death anxiety among women with MS.  Conclusion ACT uses the processes of acceptance to change one's connection with thoughts and mental processes and increases psychological flexibility, which results in reducing death anxiety in women with MS. The obtained results can be applied as an effective clinical intervention in these patients.