Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Depression Severity and Automatic Thoughts Reduction in Depressed Women

Background: Depression is a common disorder that is often associated with other mental and physical disorders. One of the innovative approaches applied in depressed patients is Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). Objectives: The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of transcranial direct electrical stimulations on reducing the severity of depression and negative automatic thoughts. Methods: A quasi-experimental study wasconducted on 24 depressed women between 2015 and 2016 who were randomized via clinical interview in Tehran, district 2.The patients’ age range was from 20 to 55 years old.The process was done through the convenience sampling which was randomly assigned into test (n = 12) and control (n = 12) groups. The applied assessment tool in the clinical interview was Beck Depression Inventory (BDI- Form 21) and Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ) respectively. All the patients underwent15-20 minutes anodal stimulation of T3 region, and Kathodal stimulation of FD1 with a current of 2-mAintensity along with a Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). The Data were analyzed using the independent t-test analysis. Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference between tdcs and control groups in the rates of depression (P 0.05). There wasalso a significant differencebetween tdcs and control groups in terms of belief and frequency of automatic thoughts(P 0.05). Conclusion: According to the results, it seems that Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation could reduce the severity of depression. Therefore, psychologists and psychotherapistscan use it as a method of intervention used to improve symptoms in patients with depression.