Fatemeh Ehsanpour, Fatemeh Gaeami, Maryam Kalhorniagolkar, Javid Peymani,
Volume 18, Issue 1 (Volume18, Issue 1 2024)
Methamphetamine is a highly stimulating psychoactive drug that causes life-threatening addictions and affects millions of people worldwide. Its effects on the brain are complex and include the disruption of neurotransmitter systems and neurotoxicity. There are several known treatments, but their effectiveness is moderate. It should be emphasized that no drug has been approved for treatment. For this reason, there is an urgent need to develop new, effective, and safe treatments for methamphetamine. Among the potential treatments are transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) and acceptance and commitment therapy. In recent years, these treatments have been widely investigated in many neurological and psychiatric disorders. The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) treatment with acceptance and commitment-based treatment on emotion regulation in men addicted to methamphetamine. The research method was a pre-test-post-test experiment with a control group. The statistical population of the research included all the methamphetamine addicts in Tehran in 1401 who had referred to Azgol and Taranom Sabz drug addiction centers. From among them, 45 addicts were randomly selected according to the criteria for entering the research by the purposeful sampling method. The experimental groups (15 people in each group) and the control group (15 people) were assigned. The experimental groups received transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) and acceptance and commitment-based therapy, while the control group, which was on the waiting list, did not receive any training. To collect data, the questionnaire of cognitive emotion regulation strategies was used by Granfsky and Karaj (2009). Data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. The results showed that after controlling for the effects of the pre-test, there was a significant difference between the post-test averages of the three groups in emotion regulation, and the treatment based on acceptance and commitment was more effective on the emotion regulation of men addicted to methamphetamine compared to transcranial direct electrical stimulation therapy. It can be concluded that transcranial direct electrical stimulation therapy and treatment based on acceptance and commitment are effective in regulating the emotions of men addicted to methamphetamine, and therefore, according to the findings of the research, these treatments can be used to reduce the problems of people addicted to methamphetamine.
