Psychological Consequences of ICU Admission

Psychological Consequences of ICU Admission

For most patients and their families, admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) is an unanticipated event that causes substantial psychological distress. For patients, short- and long-term consequences include delirium,... read more

Effect of an ICU Diary on PTSD Symptoms Among Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation

Effect of an ICU Diary on PTSD Symptoms Among Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation

Keeping a diary for patients while they are in the intensive care unit (ICU) might reduce their posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Among 657 patients who were randomized completed the trial. At 3 months, significant... read more

What Happens After a Positive Screen for Depression and PTSD in the Outpatient Burn Clinic?

Multiple reports have demonstrated a wide prevalence of both depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within 1 year of burn injury. The purpose of this study is to determine outcomes of burn patients after a positive... read more

The Effects of Family Functioning on the Development of Posttraumatic Stress in Children and Their Parents Following Admission to the PICU

The Effects of Family Functioning on the Development of Posttraumatic Stress in Children and Their Parents Following Admission to the PICU

Both children and parents have alarmingly high rates of acute stress and posttraumatic stress following the child's PICU admission. Although family function did not emerge as a predictor in this study, further understanding... read more

The Effect of Diaries Written by Relatives for ICU Patients on PTSD

The Effect of Diaries Written by Relatives for ICU Patients on PTSD

The results of this study will inform ICU nurses about the effects, strengths and limitations of prompting relatives to author a diary for the patient. This will allow the diary intervention to be tailored to the individual... read more

Clinics Aim to Improve Post-ICU Recovery

Clinics Aim to Improve Post-ICU Recovery

Ten days after arriving in the emergency department with pneumonia, 58-year-old Connie Bovier woke up in the intensive care unit (ICU). She survived acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis, and a host of other... read more

The Psychological Impact of Intensive Care

The Psychological Impact of Intensive Care

A period in intensive care is known to negatively affect patients' long term physical, cognitive and psychiatric health, in what's known as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). Researchers from the University of Oxford sought... read more

Humanizing the ICU

Humanizing the ICU

In the midst of trying to correct organ failures, clinicians may neglect to carefully consider what the patient is experiencing: to be on the brink of death, be unable to speak, be stripped naked, have strangers enter the... read more

Benzodiazepine Use and Neuropsychiatric Outcomes in the ICU

Benzodiazepine Use and Neuropsychiatric Outcomes in the ICU

The majority of included studies indicated that benzodiazepine use in the ICU is associated with delirium, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and cognitive dysfunction. Future well-designed studies... read more

PTSD Phenomena After Critical Illness

PTSD Phenomena After Critical Illness

Experiencing critical illness and intensive care can be extremely stressful. Roughly 1 in 5 critical illness survivors have clinically significant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in the year after intensive... read more

Breaking it Down: Post Intensive Care Syndrome and Recovery – Emotions

Breaking it Down: Post Intensive Care Syndrome and Recovery – Emotions

The emotional aftermath of critical illness/injury is something that often catches people by surprise but can have a significant impact on daily life. People who have been critically ill/injured often describe difficulty... read more

I Had PTSD After a Critical Illness. Apparently That’s Fairly Common

I Had PTSD After a Critical Illness. Apparently That’s Fairly Common

The emotional trauma of a near-death experience causes ongoing emotional and physical symptoms in one-third of ICU patients. PICS doesn't have a time limitation and can be triggered by almost anything. I was suddenly anxious... read more

Early Interventions for the Prevention of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Survivors of Critical Illness

Early Interventions for the Prevention of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Survivors of Critical Illness

Despite a paucity of high-quality clinical investigations, the preponderance of evidence to date suggests that 1) posttraumatic stress disorder among survivors of critical illness may be preventable and 2) early interventions... read more

Associations With Psychological Outcomes Among Family Members of Mechanical Ventilation Survivors

Associations With Psychological Outcomes Among Family Members of Mechanical Ventilation Survivors

In this multicenter cross-sectional survey, we interviewed family members of mechanically ventilated patients at the time of transfer from the ICU to the hospital ward. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore... read more