ICU psychosis

ICU psychosis A disorder in which patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) or a similar hospital setting experience anxiety, become paranoid, hear voices, see things that are not there, become severely disoriented in time and place, become very agitated, or even become violent. ICU psychosis is a form of acute brain failure (delirium). Organic factors, including dehydration, low blood oxygen (hypoxia), heart failure, infection, and drugs can cause or contribute to delirium. Other factors that are believed to play into ICU psychosis are sensory deprivation, sensory overload, pain (particularly if poorly controlled), sleep deprivation, disruption of the normal day–night rhythm, and the loss of control over their lives that patients often feel in an ICU. Treatment of ICU psychosis depends on the cause. ICU psychosis usually goes away when the patient leaves the ICU.