The Placebo and Laughter Therapy Efficacy on Pain Perception, Sleep Quality, and Post-traumatic Growth in Recovering Drug Abusers

This research was designed to study the efficacy of placebo and laughter therapy on pain perception, sleep quality, and post-traumatic growth in recovering drug abusers. Thus, among 1050 patients who had been referred to the Empowerment and Protection Center for Recovered of the Hamrahan Aftab of Sari City in Iran during the last 5 years (2016-2021) 60 recovered were randomly selected. This study was conducted with a quantitative structure in the form of an experimental design with pre-test-post-test and control in three experimental and control groups. Thus, 4 independent groups were selected by simple random assignment and each of them was exposed to placebo, laughter therapy, combination therapy, and neutral approaches (control group), respectively. Findings were presented in two descriptive and analytical sections: the descriptive section addressed the status of each variable in the statistical sample and in the analytical section, the relationship between the independent variables with each of the three dependent variables of the research, including pain perception, sleep quality, and post-traumatic growth, was measured. The statistical tests included univariate regression (to measure the simple relationship between independent and dependent variables) and T-test (comparing the effectiveness of variables). Findings demonstrated that each of the studied factors, placebo and laughter therapy, had an effect on all dependent variables of pain perception, sleep quality, and post-traumatic growth so that both of these factors (independently) reduce pain perception, increase sleep quality, and increase growth after injury. However, the T-test demonstrated that in all groups the effect of laughter therapy was higher than placebo (that is, laughter therapy has been able to reduce pain perception and increase sleep quality and post-injury growth in drug abuse recoveries more than placebo), which can pave the way for drug addiction treatment, life recovery afterward, and complete recovery: Laughter therapy is formed easier than placebo, has lower costs, and higher efficiency. Conclusively, findings were similar in the follow-up period (quarterly).