what is icu psychosis
ICU psychosis is a disorder in which patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) or a similar setting experience anxiety, hear voices, see things that are not there, and become paranoid, severely disoriented in time and place, very agitated, or even violent, etc. In short, patients become temporarily psychotic..
ICU psychosis is a form of delirium, or acute brain failure. Organic factors which contribute or cause the disorder include dehydration, hypoxia (low blood oxygen), heart failure (inadequate cardiac output), infection, and drugs. The treatment of ICU psychosis clearly depends on the cause(s).