Living with burn scars caused by self-immolation among women in Iraqi Kurdistan: A qualitative study.
Patients with burns have to live with a variety of long-term physical and psychosocial consequences. Burns lead to prolonged hospital stay, disfiguring scars, disability, and even death. Since self-immolation is common in women of Iraqi Kurdistan, the present study sought to explore the experiences of women living with scars caused by self-immolation. This paper was part of a qualitative research study. A purposive sample of 18 female self-immolation survivors from Iraqi Kurdistan was selected, and 21 individual interviews were conducted and analyzed using conventional content analysis. Four categories emerged during the data analysis: (1) feelings of disbelief, regret, and anger caused by post-burn scars; (2) desperately seeking solutions; (3) grief due to disappointment and surrender to despair; and (4) rejection and isolation. In conclusion, individuals with scars and disfigurements sometimes adopted inappropriate measures to deal with the psychological problems caused by others' behaviors and wrong perceptions. Educational and support programs are hence indicated to promote awareness levels of self-immolation survivors, their families, and the whole society.
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Jila
J
Mirlashari
School of Nursing and Midwifery, International Campus, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Alireza Nikbakht
AN
Nasrabadi
School of Nursing and Midwifery, International Campus, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: avin_p2001@yahoo.com.
Pakestan Mohammad
PM
Amin
D000328:Adult; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
Disfigurement; Iraqi Kurdistan; Qualitative research; Self-immolation; Women