Original scientific paper
The War Injury and the Prognostic Value of Dreams
Muradif Kulenović
Abstract
The author presents the findings of his studying the problems of war trauma with a special concern for physical and psychological consequences of the injuries to the spinal cord (paraplegia, quadriplegia). In this work the author was particularly interested in prognostic meaning of dreams. An injury to the spinal cord brings along a complete change of one’s life in all its aspects. The trauma affects the person’s physiology, i.e. his/her inner functioning, but also relationships with other people and the way of experiencing the world.
Condition caused by the trauma affects not only the whole personality of the patient as an individual, but also his family and professional life and, finally, the society in which he lives.
The meaning of such a trauma for the individual and the community is the principal motive for studying all the elements which might help improve the traumatized person’s quality of life. In the focus of the author’s interest was, among other things, to confirm the assumption about psychosocial rehabilitation and the doctor’s assessment to find out, through dreams, the patient’s acceptance of reality and his own handicap, which means his involvement in life with reduced capacities, but with creative impulses for possible endeavours.
In the rehabilitation hospital the author had the opportunity to meet individually hundreds of the disabled with damaged spinal cord (about 700 of them). He studied thoroughly one hundred of the wounded, paying a special attention to their dreams, along with other aspects of their everyday life and illness. Dreams were a suitable indication of their acceptance of reality, and from dreams the author could also deduce prognostic evaluation regarding their future life.
Keywords
war trauma; prognostic meaning of dreams
Hrčak ID:
202468
URI
Publication date:
22.12.1998.
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