A COMPARISON OF EIDETIC IMAGE THERAPY WITH COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY FOR TREATING DEPRESSIVE AND ANXIETY DISORDERS IN ADULTS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Background & Objectives: Depression and anxiety are common mental health disorders around the world. This study aims to examine efficacy of eidetic image therapy in comparison to cognitive behavior therapy for treating depressive and anxiety disorders, and to compare the patients' dropout ratio in these therapies. Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial conducted from January through June 2021 in psychiatry department of Sir Ganga Ram hospital Lahore. Using DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, 60 adult patients with depressive and anxiety disorders were recruited and were randomly and equally assigned to experimental (eidetic image therapy) and control (cognitive behavior therapy) groups. These participants received respective therapies and followed. Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory were used at baseline and after conducting five therapy sessions. Paired t-test was used to compare the mean difference and p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Descriptive analysis demonstrated a major difference in dropout numbers of eidetic image therapy (9; 30 %) and cognitive behavior therapy (25; 83 %). The efficacy of both interventions was statistically incomparable due to this excessive number of dropouts in control group. However, eidetic image therapy showed a significant difference (p<0.001) in pre and post therapy ratings; each patient exhibited a marked decline in depression/anxiety symptoms after taking 5 sessions. Conclusion: Eidetic imagery is a promising therapeutic utility for depressive and anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavior therapy is also an effective treatment methodology but this narrative is based on analysis of few cases.