"Releasing a Lot of Poisons from My Mind": Patients' Delusional Memories of Intensive Care

Overview

Journal Heart Lung

Specialty Cardiology & Vascular Diseases

Date 2014 May 27

PMID 24856230

Citations 3

Authors

Jill L Guttormson

Affiliations

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Abstract

Objectives: To describe intensive care unit (ICU) patients' delusional memories and interpretations of those memories.

Background: Delusional memories of the ICU are distressing for patients and may impact psychological recovery.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis from a study of mechanically ventilated patients' recall in relation to sedation. Subjects, recruited from one medical-surgical ICU, participated in structured interviews after extubation.

Results: Subjects (n = 35) with a mean age of 66 (SD 12.9) and on the ventilator a median of 4.5 days provided detailed descriptions of delusional memories of being shackled, caged, strangled, or being in a foreign country. Delusions were very real and frightening in the moment. Subjects had difficulty connecting to reality to allow processing of the delusions.

Conclusions: Patients' delusional memories of ICU share common distressing themes. Assisting patients' to connect to real ICU events and process delusional memories may help with psychological recovery after critical illness.

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