Table 3.

Psychological characteristics of acute stage of recovery from a burn

Challenges

• Pain—both background and procedural

• Anxiety—both acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder

• Depression

• Sleep disturbance

• Premorbid psychopathology becomes more apparent

• Grief

Treatments

• Drug management of anxiety, pain, sleeplessness, and depression

• Brief counselling

• Teach non-drug approaches to pain management (relaxation, imagery, hypnosis, virtual reality)