AN ELEMENTARY STUDY ON THE ATTITUDE MODIFICATION AND DEPRESSION OF MEDICAL STUDENTS BY GROUP EDUCATION OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF DEVELOPMENT
By: Hosseini SA, MD ; Ghaispoor A, MD ; Hosseinalizadeh MR, MD
The role of cultural aspects on psychotherapy and counseling has been confirmed in a vast dimension. Zuzuki & Alexander (1995) believe that all counselings are accomplished in a cultural milleu, and culture has a very important role in these trends which acts insidiously. It is the duty of Moslem research workers to elicit the role of Islamic education on psychotherapy and counseling. The first author who worked on this trend over the past 30 years has published books and papers in this field and has directed the study with the help of two general practitioners.
It is written in the Quran that “Hearts rest by remembering God”. (Thunder:28). Imam Sadegh (PBUH), interpreted the above verse as: The remembrance of God means fulfilling God’s commandments either for what He has allowed or for what He has forbidden. In another verse of the Quran, when God put His aim of the Quran in one word, He says that ” it directs towards development”. So, we have used the term “Fundamentals of Development” for Divine instructions. As Divine instructions have vast dimensions, and most people cannot remember them, the first author summarized them in 40 Basic Principles which have been discussed in his books either in detail or abstract. The abstract of this principle was given to the medical students during their clinical course in the Psychiatric Department and was discussed in 3 two-hour sessions. This study was done during one year on 162 medical students. We used a very open atmosphere. Beck Inventory and Dysfunction Attitude Scale (DAS) were used before the beginning and after these interventions. The results show a significant difference for the rate of depression and the students’ attitude dysfunction before and after the intervention. The results roughly confirm the effect of Divine instruction to modify depression and attitude dysfunction. It should, however, be restudied in a larger group and should be compared with a control group