Dissociation as a predictor of psychopathology following burns injury

Forty-six burned adults were seen, on average 7 days after admission to hospital. Eighty per cent suffered from one or more dissociative symptoms during trauma and three or more dissociative phenomena were experienced by 19.5 per cent. Blunting or absence of emotion was the symptom most frequently reported. The number of dissociative phenomena during trauma was statistically significant and associated with extreme anxiety. The intensity of the dissociation-anxiety reaction during trauma was a predictor for psychopathology measured at the moment of discharge.