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Home Science News Psychology & Psychiatry

CBT and tDCS Improve Social Anxiety, Depression

April 29, 2025
in Psychology & Psychiatry
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Efficacy of CBT, intensified tDCS and their combination for reducing clinical symptoms and improving quality of life in social anxiety disorder with comorbid depression: a randomized controlled trial

BMC Psychiatry

volume 25, Article number: 438 (2025)
Cite this article

Background/aim

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common and disabling psychiatric disorder. It is generally treated with medication and psychotherapy such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Due to the involvement of cortical and subcortical areas in the pathophysiology of SAD, non-invasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) are potential adjunctive treatment options for SAD. This study aims to assess comparable efficacy of CBT, intensified tDCS, and combined CBT/tDCS on clinical symptoms and quality of life of patients with SAD and comorbid depression.

Methods

In this randomized controlled trial, 37 adults with SAD and comorbid depressive disorder were assigned into three groups: (1) CBT + active tDCS (n = 13), (2) active tDCS alone (n = 12), and (3) CBT + sham tDCS (n = 12). SAD symptoms, depressive states, quality of life and trait worry were assessed with the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Beck’s Depression Inventory, QOL questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF), and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire respectively. The active tDCS was an intensified stimulation protocol (20 min, twice-daily sessions with 20 min intervals, 5 consecutive days) and was applied over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (F3) and medial prefrontal cortex (Fpz). The CBT was provided individually based on the exposure technique at 12–20 sessions, twice a week. All clinical measures were assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and at 3-month follow-up.

Results

SAD symptoms significantly decreased after intervention and follow-up in all groups, with no significant differences between them. However, CBT + tDCS resulted in a numerically larger symptom reduction, significantly exceeding CBT + sham tDCS on the fear scale. Depressive states and trait worry significantly improved in all groups post-intervention and at the 3-month follow-up, with no between-group differences. Quality of life (total scores, physical, and psychological domains) significantly improved after the and at the 3-month follow-up only in the CBT + tDCS and tDCS-alone groups with no between-group differences.

Conclusion

Psychotherapeutic interventions​ with CBT, intensified tDCS targeting the prefrontal cortex, and the combined CBT-tDCS are effective for alleviating primary and secondary clinical symptoms in individuals with SAD. The combined CBT-tDCS intervention showed superior efficacy in reducing the primary symptoms of SAD.

Trial registration ID

IRCT20220421054607N1, registration date: 19/05/2022, available at: https://irct.behdasht.gov.ir/trial/63119.

Amiri Sararudi, P., Khakpour, M.S., Kazemi, M. et al. Efficacy of CBT, intensified tDCS and their combination for reducing clinical symptoms and improving quality of life in social anxiety disorder with comorbid depression: a randomized controlled trial.
BMC Psychiatry 25, 438 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-06866-5

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-06866-5 bu içeriği en az 2000 kelime olacak şekilde ve alt başlıklar ve madde içermiyecek şekilde ünlü bir science magazine için İngilizce olarak yeniden yaz. Teknik açıklamalar içersin ve viral olacak şekilde İngilizce yaz. Haber dışında başka bir şey içermesin. Haber içerisinde en az 12 paragraf ve her bir paragrafta da en az 50 kelime olsun. Cevapta sadece haber olsun. Ayrıca haberi yazdıktan sonra içerikten yararlanarak aşağıdaki başlıkların bilgisi var ise haberin altında doldur. Eğer bilgi yoksa ilgili kısmı yazma.:

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Amiri Sararudi, P., Khakpour, M.S., Kazemi, M. et al. Efficacy of CBT, intensified tDCS and their combination for reducing clinical symptoms and improving quality of life in social anxiety disorder with comorbid depression: a randomized controlled trial.
BMC Psychiatry 25, 438 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-06866-5

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-06866-5

Keywords

Tags: adjunctive treatments for SADCBT for social anxiety disorderclinical symptoms of social anxiety disordercombined therapy for anxiety and depressionefficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapyimproving quality of life in anxietymental health treatment optionsnon-invasive brain stimulation techniquespsychotherapy and depressionrandomized controlled trial on SADtDCS treatment for depressiontranscranial Direct Current Stimulation benefits
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