Leaving Hospital after you have been in ICU

Managing Cognitive and Emotional Difficulties

When you have been unwell it will have been a confusing and unsettling time.

This is likely to have been made worse by hospital noises,

alarms and limited daylight along with disruption of your normal sleep-wake patterns. You might also have seen other patients who were unwell.

These experiences could lead to a range of emotions as well as changes to your memory and thinking.

A Guide for Patients on the Cognitive Effects of recovering from ICU

What is Cognition?

Cognition is a term used to describe our thinking and memory skills. It comprises our ability to remember things, use and understand language,

concentrate on information and make decisions.

Symptoms

After leaving hospital you might experience problems with your cognitive function, particularly memory. These symptoms are usually nothing to worry about and will typically disappear over time, but could include the following:

• Going into a room and not knowing why you have gone in there
• Losing things
• Noticing that your thinking has slowed
• Immediately forgetting what someone has just said to you
• Finding it difficult to plan and organise as well as you used to do
• Forgetting important tasks, such as a doctor’s appointment
• Finding it more difficult to make decisions

Causes of cognitive difficulties

There are usually several factors that can contribute to cognitive or memory problems after a period of physical ill-health.

These may include:

• Fatigue
• Pain
• Low mood
• Anxiety
• Effects of medication
• Continuing physical health problems

When to seek further support

If your symptoms persist for more than three months and are interfering with your abilities to work or live your life independently, please speak to your GP or hospital doctor.

A Guide for Patients on the Emotional Effects of recovering from ICU

Emotional responses

After being critically unwell,

you might experience a range of different emotions and periods of feeling stressed. This is normal and could be due to the illness, your time in hospital or the treatment used to help you get better.

How you might feel

You may find that your mood changes often and you might:

• feel upset and tearful
• always feel tired
• be quick tempered and snappy
• not have an appetite
• have difficulty sleeping
• worry about getting ill again

Additional symptoms

These might be triggered by a sound, smell or something you see. These symptoms usually disappear over time but could include the following:

• intense, vivid dreams or nightmares that feel real
• disturbing sudden vivid memories of events in the past (flashbacks)
• avoiding anything that reminds you of being ill or feeling numb
• feeling irritable, jumpy and easily startled
• feeling more worried
• feeling low in mood or having feelings of hopelessness

When to seek further support

If your symptoms persist for more than four to six weeks, please speak to your GP or

self-refer to your local wellbeing service. In Cambridgeshire this is CPFT’s Psychological Wellbeing Service, also known as Improving Access to Psychological Treatment (IAPT).

Website: Click here to visit the CPFT psychological wellbeing service (opens in a new tab)

Tel: 0300 300 0055