Epilepsy and psychological interventions: A systematic review study

Objectives. Epilepsy is a debilitating disease that can have long-term unpleasant psychological consequences. For this purpose, various psychological interventions have been provided to improve the quality of life of these patients. In this review study, the effectiveness of these interventions has been surveyed. Materials and methods. This study was conducted through a systematic review method from January 2010 to April 2021. Keywords such as quality of life, clinical trials and randomized clinical trials, epilepsy, seizure, psychology, intervention, chronic disease, empowerment, psychotherapy and psychological interventions were searched in PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar indexing databases. Out of 1866 articles found, 13 articles were selected for review. Results. The surveys showed that psychological therapies increase the quality of life, social functioning, self-care behaviors, memory, self-esteem, job and social adjustment of many epileptic patients. On the other hand, according to the results, with the improvement of mental health of patients with epilepsy, we saw a reduction in stress, anxiety, depression, pain intensity, seizure, suicidal ideation and social stigma of patients with epilepsy. Conclusion. Various psychological interventions lead to a reduction in psychological problems in patients with epilepsy. It causes patients to be in good mental health, accept their pain and show less recurrence of their disease. For this purpose, it is necessary to pay more attention to the psychological health of patients with epilepsy in medical centers to reduce the incidence of mental disorders and improve the health of epileptic patients.