Effect of Online Compassion-focused Therapy on the Symptoms severity, Post-traumatic Growth, Quality of Life, and Hippocampal and Amygdala Volume in Patients recovered from COVID-19

Background: acute epidemics and physical risks have serious psychological consequences for post-covid-19 patients. covid-19 survivors who are afraid of dying are susceptible to posttraumatic stress symptoms. objective: this study determines the efficacy of online compassion-focused therapy (cft) in reducing the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) symptoms, increasing post-traumatic growth (ptg), improving quality of life (qol), and studying changes in hippocampus and amygdala volume in recovered covid-19 patients in shiraz city, iran. it was completed in 2022. acute epidemics and physical risks have negative psychological effects on post-covid-19 patients. methods: patients with the delta version of covid-19 were studied in shiraz city, iran, from may 2021 to july 2022. the study included 40 patients with the delta variation (covid-19) who had been diagnosed with ptsd. individuals were selected to form the control (n=20) and experimental (n=20) groups. they answered the world health organization (who) short form qol questionnaire, the ptsd checklist for the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, the fifth edition questionnaire, and the tedeschi and calhoun ptg and development questionnaire. the hippocampal and corpus amygdaloideum (amygdaloid body) volumes were assessed. a segment with a thickness of 3 mm was used to capture an oblique coronal plane 1.5 t magnetic resonance imaging without any gaps. we also investigated volume differences between the right and the left hippocampus and corpus amygdaloideum. for data analysis, multivariate and univariate analyses of covariance, mean±sd were used. findings: self-compassion psychotherapy significantly improved the qol (p<0.001, f=30.675), ptg (p<0.001, f=62.548), and reduced post-traumatic stress (p<0.001, f=103.335). in addition, the volume of the hippocampus and amygdala in the compassionate therapy group increased in the post-test phase (p<0.001, f=21.995). conclusion: self-compassion therapy can have positive effects on post-traumatic patients and lead to ptg. as these psychological treatments do not involve physical risks, special emphasis can be placed on the use of this treatment in clinics.