Coping With Depression

WHEN I MET Pooja, the first thing I notice is her eyes, with their piercing pupils and watery whites. But she has not been crying. Pooja’s eyes are irritated because she cannot blink easily. They look out from a face that has been damaged by severe burns so badly that it looks like a crude drawing. Pooja struggles to breathe, forcing air through the scarred skin of her sinuses and out her gaping mouth. The flesh just below her nose is bunched up, almost imperceptibly, in tiny folds, completely plugging one nostril and most of the other. It sounds almost as though she is breathing through a respirator. Those pictures reminiscing in my mind left me with unending, speechless thoughts about the trauma faced by those Burn patients.

Burn patients like Pooja who see themselves in a mirror for the first time-to take an extreme example-typically feel alien from their appearance. And yet they do not merely “get used” to it; their new skin changes them. It alters how they relate to people, what they expect of others, how they see themselves in others’ eyes. It seems the secure may become fearful and bitter, the weak jut-jawed “survivors.”

A new study reveals the full extent of psychological problems among people who have spent years recovering from serious burns. About half of those surveyed showed signs of clinical depression, with women being most vulnerable.

Obviously when they recall the trauma they have been gone through, in those secluded moments with the scars of past hit hard their soul completely shaken their confidence; by bearing in mind the distinction in the Faces of the Past and the Future leads to acute depression. In those moments it does realize that their whole life has forever changed. Looking at present seems like past splash wipes away delicate details: dimples, pores, veins. A half-gallon washes away a face. Hair melts. Smile lines, gentle curves and folds disappear. Skin coagulates over orifices. Youth, beauty, and sensuality are eliminated in seconds, as though through some evil spell henceforth a state of growing depression developed each passing day.

Nevertheless medical healing may over after a certain period of time but psychological healing takes a lifetime to cope up with that trauma. You are the victim and evidence of that trauma and endurance for coming out of it seems a mirage.  It’s normal for burn victims to have trouble adjusting to their condition, “I don’t think anyone would go through a burn without being horribly sad. It’s a very tough adjustment to make.” Women and those most concerned about their body images were most likely to be depressed. It’s really tough to forget the incident which completely overshadows their lives. Those moments of despair needs a special treatment & care which is above medication. In spite of medical healing burn patients need more psychological healing. At the first visit, one should evaluate each patient to determine his or her psychological and emotional state. Also try to assess how the patient will cope with the burn injury and its effects.

As some remain depressed and don’t recover, failing to move “through a course of grief and be able to pick themselves up and find their way on their own.” “They need help of some kind.” There are effective ways to help burn victims who feel ostracized. With the help of treatments like cognitive therapy aimed at changing thought patterns patients can “improve their ability to function and their ability to feel better about themselves, both of which are equally important.”

It will take determination and commitment on the part of both the burn patient and doctors to minimize the pain and discomfort. Unfortunately, there is no magic wand to make all the pain, scars and discomfort go away; this is, after all, a condition that can last a lifetime. It isn’t possible to change society’s reaction to disfigured people, “But we can get (patients) to look at themselves differently, look beyond the skin and see the healthy person that was there before the thermal injury.”

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