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Join The Discussion! Online support for those affected by PICS Sep 13, 2017 | By Annie Johnson (@andreab)Comment receiving replies
@andreab ,
hello Annie,
I normally post in an other discussion group (heart for example), but I saw your invitation in my daily digest.
I wonder, if we are discussing the same things, as I am not familiar with the english abbreviation PICS. in Germany we use the name "symptomatic transitory psychotic syndrome". I was suffering from this syndrome 10 years ago, wenn I had a severe car accident. a helicopter brought me to the nearest emergency hospital. I was unconsious and was in coma for a week. my Psychose started nearly immediatedly after waking up, I had visual and acoustic hallucinations.everytime when I closed my eyes I saw beautiful pictures of hindu temples in Rajastan/India, where I had been a couple of years earlier. It was impossible to push these pictures away. these visual hallucinations lasted 3 days. I never told anybody about this. years later a discussion member on television mentioned this syndrome and his experience, and I said to myself: that's it!
my question to you: are we talking about the same disorder?
the symptomatic transitory psychotic syndrome (in german "Durchgangssyndrom") is a complication of an impaired cortical blood circulation during the trauma.
Replies to "@andreab , hello Annie, I normally post in an other discussion group (heart for example), but..."
@yoanne,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I personally have not heard of this syndrome and from a quick search in our databases, I am not seeing this described in our literature. It sounds as though you were given a very specific cause to your hallucinations - "impaired cortical blood circulation during the trauma". Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) is any new or worsening physical, cognitive, or mental impairment following critical illness. Hallucinations, delirium, and other cognitive changes are a piece of this although not exclusively secondary to impaired cortical blood circulation. Right now risks factors for PICS are continually being studied but current thought is that risk factors include, but are not limited to: mechanical ventilation, longer length of stay in the ICU, older age, sepsis, use of sedatives and development of delirium. Thanks again for your response and please let me know if you have any other questions!
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Hi @yoanne,
I'm glad you found this post by Annie. I happen to know that at Annie is away at a conference right now, so she may take a little longer to respond than she normally would. I'll let her respond to your specific questions.
In the meantime, you can read more about PICS on the PICS page here: http://mayocl.in/2kgZDUi and in Annie's video
https://youtu.be/Wr3MHj7PotE
If you'd like to meet other members talking about their experiences, please see this discussion thread:
- Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) - Let's Talk http://mayocl.in/2j73pv7