Behavioural Activation for Low Mood in Multiple Sclerosis

"Participants will receive five sessions of Behavioural Activation. Behavioural Activation uses strategies such as activity scheduling, mastery and pleasure ratings, and graded task assignments to change a participant's perception of specific situations.~Behavioural Activation is based on the behavioural model of depression (Lewinsohn \& Shaffer, 1971). Specifically, that depression is a result of reduced positive reinforcement, particularly in social relationships. Behavioural Activation aims to reduce depressive symptoms by implementing a schedule of positive reinforcement by altering a participant's behaviour and/or their environment. As, in certain environmental contexts, behaviours that reduce depression will continue to occur through reinforcement and those that increase depression will decrease over time (Roane, Fisher, \& Carr, 2016).~Behavioural Activation has been shown to be an effective intervention for the reduction of depressed mood."