First Person Account COVID 19 Delirium in a Doctor : When Death Stalks the Mind
Arumi, Antonio (Instituto Trastornos Alimentación, Barcelona)
Bulbena-Cabre, Andrea (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Nova York, Estats Units d'Amèrica))
Bulbena Vilarrasa, Antonio (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Psiquiatria i de Medicina Legal)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	Previous studies reported that 20-30% of COVID-19 patients will develop delirium during the hospitalization, achieving 70% in cases of severe illness. The risks factors and the consequences of delirium are well-documented in the literature; however, little is known about the personal experience of delirium. Delirium burden is common and tends to be distressing even after the delirium episode has resolved. Taking this in mind, the present work provides a first-person account of a doctor who acquired Covid-19 and developed bilateral pneumonia and had delirium and a complicate course of illness. During the course of his delirium, the patient recalled experiences of reality and unreality, complete disorientation, lack of control, strong emotions, and intense fear of dying which was significantly distressing. We anticipate that delirium burden will be common on these patients and family members and clinicians should be aware of this phenomenon in order to evaluate the neuropsychiatric consequences of this condition.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; altres ; Versió publicada
Subject:	COVID 19 ; Delirium ; Fear ; Confusion ; Delirium experience ; Delirium burden
Published in:	Frontiers in psychiatry, Vol. 12 (january 2021) , ISSN 1664-0640

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.626648
PMID: 33584389

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