...Burned people and their families and friends can feel very different about the situation depending on whether the injury occurred as a result of doing something heroic, such as saving a child from a burning house, or from being an accident victim - being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Surviving an accident in which others died can produce complex feelings often involving guilt. then, there is the "foolish accident" - burning oneself with an overheated chip pan for instance. And if someone has sustained injuries as a result of drunken driving or making explosive devices, that person may not get sympathy from society at large for the injuries suffered as a result. In fact, there may be the assumption that such people got what they deserved.

Psychological responses to the trauma of intensive care or unplanned hospitalisation will vary; aggression, passivity, withdrawal, trivialisation of the injuries, even laughter and joking. Or there may be the constant re-playing of the incident, considering the "if only's" that can haunt the mind.

The psychologist, Ambler (1997) has examined this subject, and suggests that these reactions are best managed by others through:...

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