Changes

Changes in Mood and Mental Health

Recovery after critical illness can be worrying and stressful for you and your family. It is likely you will feel emotions that are different to how you would normally feel day to day before you were critically ill. You may feel stressed, anxious, irritable, or low in mood. You may also find your mood varies from day to day. Some days you may feel very motivated and happy and other days, you may find yourself feeling less positive, tearful, or worried. This is okay and is very normal following critical illness. You will have been through a lot, and changes in mood and mental health are ways of your body adjusting to your recovery and understanding what has happened to you. It is important to talk about how you are feeling with your family or whoever is caring for you so they can understand how you are feeling.

Changes in mood and mental health effect people for different lengths of time but as time goes on, you should start to feel better. Your mood may impact your appetite, sleep, physical rehabilitation, or family relationships – advice in these sections of this booklet may be helpful. If you have been ill for a long time, you may feel lower in mood or depressed for a period. Sometimes it may feel like progress is slow or that you are not getting better but if at the end of each week you can look back and say things have got better than the week before, you are making good progress.

It is important to be realistic about the goals you are setting yourself and to avoid putting too much pressure on yourself. Things will not always be easy, and you are likely to experience setbacks at times but that is okay and is normal when you are recovering from critical illness. Setting realistic targets may help you to build your confidence. Ask your therapist, nurse, or doctor to assist you in working out what is reasonable for you to achieve. Involving family and friends in goal setting can also be helpful as they can help you to monitor your progress and support you when you are at home.

If you feel you are not making progress or that your mood has become a problem for you, please contact your GP or one of the other self-help groups listed on the back of this booklet.

Changes in appearance and voice

You may notice the following changes because of being critical ill:

• Skin dryness
• Loss of weight
• Hair loss

Dieticians, Speech and Language therapists will work with you whilst you are in hospital. Using moisturisers daily and speaking with your hairdresser can help with dry skin and how best to manage and improve the condition of your hair. Your GP will also be able to help once you are home.