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what-is-hospital-psychosis

My ex-wife turned to me for emotional support after feeling abandoned by her immediate family. I live several hundred miles away and it has been difficult to assess the situation accurately. She has been on morphine for weeks and freely admitted to hallucinations. Then she became increasingly agitated about poor quality care and being ignored by the doctors and nurses. She is in a very good long-term acute care hospital.

Although she is nice to me by phone, I anticipate that she will lash out unexpectedly when the time is ripe. Her daughter has stepped up to the plate and has moved her to a new facility. This may help since she won’t be 50 miles away from any family member and the extra contact this will engender may help “ground” her in reality.

If the morphine isn’t to blame, then I expect hospital psychosis is the culprit. I know she isn’t sleeping and complains about screaming from other patients night and day. (Yet I know she has been one of the screamers.)

She feels that her doctors are not giving her any answers, and her condition is deteriorating. While she has been experiencing new complications, it is also clear that the initial underlying problem is slowly getting better.

I have been at my wit’s end for a week, and these postings fit me to a “T.” You start going a little nuts when you are trying to deal with a “nut” and don’t realize their reality is badly flawed. I think the best you can do is treat them kindly, and yourself too. It is important that caregivers learn that they must take care of themselves, so you can be there effectively for loved ones