It's been a year and 4 months since I was in ICU, and I still avoid any and all invasive procedures, including imaging. I just explain to doctors that I have developed an aversion to hospitals, providers, and procedures. Some times I feel so sorry for what my body went through that I weep. Amazingly, the hospital where I had the open heart surgery apparently has never heard of psychiatric reactions to medical trauma, and could not provide me with any support whatsoever -- calls to psychologists were never returned, follow up with discharge planner was minimal, until I finally called the suicide hotline 2 months after the surgery. If you can do anything about getting providers to include PTSD from medical trauma or post- ICU depression in their care plans, do it. You can send them this posting. It took a concerted effort for providers to do something about post-partum depression, and now we must do the same for post-ICU depression.

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