Effectiveness of Horticultural Therapy on Improving Memory, Alexithymia, and Severity of Symptoms in Patients with Persistent Depressive Disorder

Abstract

Depressive disorder causes unpleasant consequences in various areas of life, such as memory impairments and alexithymia. Based on this, this study aims to determine the effectiveness of horticultural therapy in improving memory, alexithymia, and reducing the severity of symptoms of patients suffering from persistent depressive disorder. The research design was semi-experimental and pre-test post-test with a control group. The statistical population of the present study includes all patients with persistent depressive disorder who met the criteria. 30 patients were selected by purposive sampling and randomly placed into experimental and control groups. The instruments used in the research were the Beck Depression Questionnaire, the Wechsler Working Memory Test, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Participants in the experimental group took part in group gardening activities twice a week during 8 2-hour sessions. While the members of the control group did not participate in these activities. After the post-test, the data were analyzed using multivariate covariance analysis by SPSS-24 software. The results of the research showed that horticultural therapy was effective in reducing the severity of depression symptoms in patients with persistent depression (P<0.05), but not effective in improving memory and reducing alexithymia (P<0.05). According to the results of the research, it is possible to suggest the use of horticultural therapy as an intervention method to reduce depression symptoms in patients with persistent depressive disorder, and patients with persistent depression can take the benefits of horticultural therapy to reduce their depression symptoms.