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 ۲۴ depressed women between ۲۰۱۵ and ۲۰۱۶ who were randomized via clinical interview in Tehran, district ۲.The patients’ age range was from ۲۰ to ۵۵ years old.The process was done through the convenience sampling which was randomly assigned into test (n = ۱۲) and control (n = ۱۲) groups. The applied assessment tool in the clinical interview was Beck Depression Inventory (BDI- Form ۲۱) and Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ) respectively. All the patients underwent۱۵-۲۰ minutes anodal stimulation of T۳ region, and Kathodal stimulation of FD۱ with a current of ۲-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