Joseph O. Bienvenu, MD, PhD

The psychiatric  aftermath of critical illness often involves emerging from the ICU with horrifying  memories (of being tortured, raped, assaulted, or imprisoned). Not only are the  patients debilitated by the physical illness, they are traumatized by the false  memories resulting from delirium.

In Part 2 of this 2-part video, Dr Joe Bienvenu,  Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and Dr Dale Needham, Associate Professor of  Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine and Physical Medicine Rehabilition, discuss  the effects of critical illness and the need for collaborative interventions in  the ICU that will improve long-term patient outcomes. (

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The psychiatric aftermath of critical illness can involve emerging from the ICU with horrifying memories (of being tortured, raped, assaulted, or imprisoned).

Psychiatric Problems in Patients Who Survive Critical Illnesses (Part 2)

This topic has had a lot  of attention in the critical care outcomes literature but very little in the  psychiatric literature. Few psychiatrists know about the phenomena involving  delusional and hallucinatory experiences of patients who survive critical  illnesses. Often patients come out of the ICU with horrifying memories (of  being tortured, raped, assaulted, or imprisoned) and don’t know what happened  to them. Not only are the patients debilitated by the physical illness, they  are traumatized by the false memories resulting from delirium.

In Part 1 of this 2-part video, Dr Joe Bienvenu,  Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and Dr Dale Needham, Associate Professor of  Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine and Physical Medicine Rehabilition, discuss  the effects of critical illness and the need for collaborative interventions in  the ICU that will improve long-term patient outcomes.

Few psychiatrists know about the phenomena involving delusional and hallucinatory experiences of patients who survive critical illnesses.

Author | Joseph O. Bienvenu, MD, PhD

Articles

Psychiatric Problems in Patients Who Survive Critical Illnesses (Part 2)

Psychiatric Problems in Patients Who Survive Critical Illnesses (Part 1)