Positive Psychological Interventions for Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

People with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) face numerous physical and mental symptoms as well as emotional and social challenges. The fact that the disease usually occurs in young adulthood, when individuals are most productive, causes disability, its unpredictable and variable nature, and the lack of a known treatment make it difficult to live with MS and accept the disease. The physical, cognitive, behavioral and social changes that occur with the disease affect daily life activities, well-being. and greatly affects the quality of life. There are various interventions developed to improve the adaptation processes of individuals diagnosed with a chronic disease such as MS, to prevent and reduce psychiatric symptoms, and to increase quality of life and well-being. One of the intervention approaches is positive psychological interventions from the field of positive psychology. Positive psychological interventions are a psychosocial intervention method based on the systematic completion of certain activities aimed at increasing positive emotions, thoughts and behaviors. Since the interventions focus on strengthening positive mental states rather than reducing psychological symptoms, they also have an advantage over traditional interventions in that they can be applied to both sick and non-patients. However, it appears that positive psychological intervention studies have just begun to be implemented in patients with MS. In our country, no study has been found using positive psychological intervention in MS patients. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of positive psychological interventions on the quality of life and well-being levels of patients with multiple sclerosis.

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of MS by a neurologist according to McDonald criteria
• Having at least 1 year of MS history
• Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score measured by the neurology clinic is <3.5
• Being between the ages of 18-65 being literate
• Ability to communicate in Turkish
• Volunteering to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria

• Having an MS attack and using corticosteroid medication for the last 3 months
• A score of 21 or less on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test
• Having a mental or organic disability in communicating
• Being diagnosed with any chronic disease other than MS
• Using psychotropic medication or continuing psychotherapy
• Not having or being able to obtain a phone that can connect to the internet