Psychological regression and marital status: determinants in psychiatric management of burn victims

Major burn trauma is ordinarily associated with psychological regression, which regularly assumes either an immature, dependent (childlike), or primitive (animal-like) form. Also, the severely burned patient is exquisitely responsive, both constructively and destructively, to behavioral nuances in his or her "significant other," typically, the spouse. Two variables, type of regression and marital status, provide an empirically derived rationale for the psychiatric treatment of behavioral problems affecting patient management, including especially (1) pain-related behavior, (2) intrusive reexperiencing of the trauma, (3) depletion/despair phenomena, and (4) problems related to scarring. Results are more favorable when regression is of the dependent type rather than primitive type. Treatment is enhanced when the partner in a committed relationship is included in the treatment program.