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Burn injuries: psychological and social aspects

from Medical topics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2014

By
Claire Phillips
Edited by
Susan Ayers ,
Andrew Baum ,
Chris McManus ,
Stanton Newman ,
Kenneth Wallston ,
John Weinman  and
Robert West
Claire Phillips
Affiliation:
University of the West of England
Susan Ayers
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman
Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman
Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London
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Summary

Background

Approximately 175 000 people per year attend Accident and Emergency departments in the UK with burn injuries, 13 000 requiring admission to hospital (British Burn Association, 2001). Recent medical advances mean those with more extensive burn injuries now survive, but a larger burn injury potentially brings more visible and physical impairment. Relative to other forms of traumatic injury (e.g. fractures), burns have a greater propensity to cause widespread disfiguring injury and dysfunction. Furthermore, the time taken to recover and rehabilitate after burn injury is often much longer than the recipient anticipates.

Psychosocial sequelae of burn injury

Burns occur in a sudden event, giving no time for individuals to gather coping resources. The potential for psychosocial sequelae after burn injury comes from not only what was experienced or witnessed during the accident, but painful hospital treatment, resulting altered appearance, physical impairment and potential social anxiety. The experience of burn injury has been described not as a single event but as a ‘continuous traumatic stress’ (Gilboa et al., 1994).

It has been observed for many years that burn injury brings with it the propensity for psychological disturbance (e.g. Woodward, 1959). Psychosocial sequelae researched includes depression and anxiety (e.g. Williams et al., 1991), post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (e.g. Fauerbach et al., 2000), body image disturbance and social anxiety (e.g. Lawrence et al., 2004), and factors associated with these adjustment difficulties.

Depression and anxiety

The painful experience of hospital treatment and subsequent helplessness are widely thought to contribute to depressed mood.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 572 - 576
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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