A Pakistani girl was released from a Birmingham, England hospital recently after recovering from two gunshot wounds. Malala Yousufzai, only 15 years old, was shot twice by the Taliban back in October. Malala is an advocate for girls to be educated in Pakistan, after the terrorists banned all girls from schools in her town of Swat, back in 2009. The Taliban do not tolerate people like Malala, so when she was located, she was shot. The gunshot wounds caused swelling in Malala’s skull and she became deaf when her middle ear was damaged. Doctors had to remove part of her skull so the swelling in her brain wouldn’t cause severe brain damage.
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Months later, when the swelling was down, doctors operated again replacing the part of her skull that was removed and adding titanium, as her head and bone fragments have changed. A cochlear device was implanted in her left ear to restore her hearing. Malala hopes to be fully recovered in a month. This terrible incident is not stopping Malala from promoting her cause. She stated, “God has given me this new life and I want to serve and I want every girl, every child to be educated. ” Malala will continue rehabilitation in Birmingham, where her family is temporarily living. Malala’s Remarkable Recovery and Continued Quest
Malala’s story has many interesting psychological correlations. The first is the physical damage to her brain and auditory system. Malala’s doctors were able to help with the brains amazing ability to heal, by removing part of her skull to stop the pressure her brain was inflicting on itself. Once the swelling was down on her brain, Malala’s missing piece of her skull was replaced as well as a titanium plate, to again protect her head (Fantz & Greene, 2013). A cochlear device was also inserted at that time, to restore hearing in her left ear. Gunfire from her attack broke the bones in the area of her middle ear.
These bones consist of the hammer, anvil and stirrup (King, 2010, p. 103). These bones are necessary because as sound enters the outer ear, they vibrate and send sound waves to the cochlea, located in the middle ear. The cochlear device will not restore Malala’s hearing completely, but some function will be reestablished (CNN, 2013). Another psychological connection is how Malala can be classified in one the seven psychological approaches; the humanistic approach (King, 2010, p. 10). Malala wants the capacity to have control of her ability to be educated, as well as all girls.
She possesses a characteristic known as altruism, which is described as an unselfish concern for others, as she is worried for all girls educational rights, not just her own (King, 2010, p. 10). She acts unselfishly as an advocate, fighting for what she believes in, knowing that it puts herself in danger. Malala also possesses intrinsic motivation (King, 2010, p. 319). She is an advocate for girls being educated because she wants to, not for an external reward. She believes girls have a right to receive an education, just as boys do. Her horrific experience with the Taliban has not inhibited her motivation for educational rights.
Resilience is one of Malala’s many positive qualities. Resilience is described as the ability to return to your original state after experiencing something difficult (King, 2010, p. 333). After just being released from the hospital, Dr. Dave Rosser, medical director at Birmingham Hospital stated, “She is already talking about furthering her cause” (CNN, 2013) . Malala has endured months in a hospital after recovering from two gunshots and two surgeries, and she is not backing down from her quest to attend school. Positive emotions may go hand in hand with resiliency (King, 2010, p. 333).
Being positive and optimistic is important qualities to have in life and may be used in life’s difficult experiences. Lastly, Malala uses the approach of setting meaningful goals to enhance her happiness (King, 2010, p. 335). She has set a very challenging goal; for all girls to receive an education in Pakistan. Despite her set back, and the fact that she is aware that the Taliban pledged to go after her again (Fantz & Greene, 2013), her goal remains the same. Thus, her resilience plays a huge role in trying to achieve her goal leading her to happiness for eventually reaching her goal.
