Psychosocial responses to traumatic physical disability.

Victims of traumatic physical disability experience disruptions of normal affective functioning. The sense of body image and body ego are altered in ways that are frightening or confusing to the patient. The subjective experience of time becomes present-oriented, with time moving slowly. Grief or depression, clinically distinct responses, may further debilitate the individual. Anxiety, guilt and rage are additional emotional responses. Patients use previously existing coping patterns to manage the crisis of sudden disability. It is not the nature or the severity of the injury that exclusively influences the psychological response, but rather, it is the interaction of the person and the total environment that determines behavior.