Effect of Masnavi-based Poetry Therapy on Anxiety, Depression and Stress of Women with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer patients’ psychological problems affect different aspects of their life, such as quality of life and response to treatments. Objectives: This research aimed to study the effectiveness of Masnavi-based poetry therapy on anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with breast cancer. Methods: The study was conducted on 91 patients with breast cancer. They were divided into the poetry therapy group (n = 31) and no intervention as the control group (n = 60). The intervention group attended six sessions of weekly Masnavi-based poetry therapy. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21) questionnaires were completed by patients before, one week, and two months after the intervention. Results: Depression, anxiety, and stress were not significantly different between the two groups at the baseline. Poetry therapy decreases anxiety, depression, and stress of patients based on DASS-21 after one week and eight weeks in the intervention group (P = 0.006, P = 0.001, P = 0.01, respectively). One week after the intervention, the scores for depression, anxiety, and stress were significantly lower in the poetry therapy group than those in the control group (P = 0.02, P = 0.01, P = 0.03, respectively). All depression, anxiety, and stress presentations were significantly improved in the poetry therapy group in comparison to the control group at the end of week eight (P = 0.01, P = 0.03, P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions: Group poetry therapy as useful psychotherapy could decrease anxiety and depression in women with breast cancer.

Effectiveness of Group Poetry Therapy of Mazza's Multidimensional Model (Based on the Romantic Debates of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh) on Response to Intrusion Memories, Automatic Thoughts and Affect Balance in Female Students with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

“…The results of the study showed that group poetry therapy of Mazza's multidimensional model (based on Shahnameh Ferdowsi's romantic debates) has a significant effect on the response to intrusive memories, automatic thoughts, and affect balance in students with premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Although no study was found in line with this study, considering that the main indicator of this disorder is depression (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Haoran, Ning, & Boddu, 2018), in recent studies, the effectiveness of poetry therapy in depression symptoms in different groups focusing on adult women has been confirmed (Daboui et al, 2022;Hatampour & Pourhasan, 2018;Mazza, 2016;Mohammadian et al, 2011).…”