# Why do people deteriorate mentally while in the hospital? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964 "2015-09-05T00:54:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/21 "2015-09-05T16:32:46Z")
I have people for that, **Grumpy**. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/22 "2015-09-05T16:49:21Z")
**dropzone** , can you tell me how to get people to read for me? I have a lot of boring technical stuff to read for workā€¦and would rather read the internet or fiction. (I hope your momā€™s mental health and memory improve when she leaves the hospital.) ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/23 "2015-09-05T17:32:53Z")
Itā€™s called post-operative dementia. My mother had it for a couple of weeks. Finally it went away. It was kind of funny for a brief moment and then kind of scary for a while. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/24 "2015-09-05T23:12:30Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > **dropzone** , can you tell me how to get people to read for me? I have a lot of boring technical stuff to read for workā€¦and would rather read the internet or fiction. My method of getting ā€œpeopleā€ was to have the whole lot of them move to Seattle. They call, email, and send photos of her vitals (BP 107/53, pulse 67, SpO2 94ā€“I should have those numbers). I donā€™t have to memorize any of it. That canā€™t be said for boring technical stuff to read for work. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/25 "2015-09-06T03:55:32Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Could it have something to do with lack of quality rest? When I was in the hospital after my daughter was born a nurse was in to do something or other every couple hours, day or night. It was awful. We were just beginning to implement some changes in the hospital where I worked a few years ago. I moved so never got to see how they worked out. One of the changes was quiet hours in the afternoon, like from 3 to 5 or something like that. Overhead pages were not to happen unless it was emergent, staff stayed out of rooms unless absolutely necessary or called in by the patient. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/26 "2015-09-06T06:59:30Z")
When my mother was in the hospital this year the times hospital personnel would be coming in were expected; in shared rooms, if either patient had visitors then it would be those visitors whoā€™d warn that this or that drip was getting low (weā€™d be told which ones needed to be on all the time and which ones were to run out). This reduced the amount of nursing personnel flitting about, but it also made the families feel better by making us feel useful: we werenā€™t just listening to (grand)ma whine, complain and cuss, we were actively taking care of her without really performing any medical procedures. And often, the relatives know how to interpret complaints and whether a given strange expression is normal for that person or not (ā€œmy foot hurts!ā€ and she was poking at her hip; her niece knew she said foot for leg and hand for arm; hips and shoulders respectively included). ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_from\_CB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@Alex\_from\_CB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_from_CB)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/27 "2015-09-14T00:27:27Z")
Jello. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/28 "2015-09-14T23:35:51Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > In my momā€™s case, the doctors and nurses kept messing up her medication. Every time Iā€™d leave for a couple hours, Iā€™d come back to find that some miscommunication had resulted in them making a mistake, and thatā€™s just the ones they would admit to. This. Iā€™ve been in the hospital 4 times. 1. septoplasty 2. pregnancy 1 3. pregnancy 2 4. gall bladder For 2 and 3, I had permission to manage my own asthma meds (only things I was on at the time). For 1 and 4, the hospital ā€œmanagedā€ the meds - and botched them both times. Had I not been alert enough, Iā€™d have missed several very important medications. None of which would have killed me immediately, but might have made me pretty damn miserable. I wound up refusing what the doctor had ordered (except for the pain medications), and taking my own, and then fighting them on the cost of one inhaler they brought to the room and I refused. The doctor was actually at fault. He had a printed, easy-to-read listing of my medications - and left half of them off. These are NOT trivial omissions. Someone I know was in for a gastric bypass, and was not given her BP medication or her antidepressants. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/29 "2015-09-15T00:39:46Z")
probably because their bodies have endured a serious amount of trauma, and since our physical and emotional states are intertwined the physical pain takes a huge toll on the mind. my dad had an atrial valve replacement and a bypass done a couple of weeks ago, and shortly afterwards I saw things from him Iā€™d never seen before. depressive, despondent talk combined with short-term memory problems. thatā€™s gone away but man, when you go in for an operation like that I guess you get slapped in the face with your own mortality. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/30 "2015-09-15T17:58:54Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Carvedilol is another beta blocker. In theory, you can replace one beta blocker with another beta blocker. In theory. šŸ˜‰ Psh, when I spent a summer with a cardiologist tweaking meds for my chaotic evil malignant hypertension [well, when unmedicated I pop up to 210/190 ā€¦ I think that qualifies as chaotic evilā€¦ :p] I went through pretty much every combination we could cram down my throat until we found one that worked. Not all BP meds are alike [in their respective classes] so no, not all beta blockers work the same on a person. [and now having dropped 60 pounds, we are getting ready for another med tweaking extravaganza. Yippee. _sigh_] ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/31 "2015-09-15T19:23:37Z")
Someday, weā€™ll have this genetics thing all figured out, and a simple blood test well tell us which medicine is best for you, Iā€™m convinced of it. You and I may be dead before it happens, but itā€™s coming. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/32 "2015-09-16T01:53:55Z")
Pain; the confusion associated with lights on and off at all times of the day and night; being woken up in the middle of the night for blood draws, medication, or vitals checks; roomates; visitors; changing doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, etc.; x-rays, CT scans, MRIs; not taking showers or brushing teeth; not going for a walk; not changing clothes; random trips through the hospital at all hours for various tests and procedures; people youā€™ve never met before coming in to poke and prod you; no real sleep at all; way more medication than you usually take, some of them paralytics, sedatives, or amnesics; heart monitors beeping and alarming; IV drips alarming; ventilators alarming; phones ringing; people chattering. All these things and more lead to ICU psychosis and I just read a report recently (I really wish I could remember where), which showed that many people who suffer from ICU psychosis never fully recover their mental capacities. This is why many hospitals are implementing quiet time, minimizing unnecessary sleep interruptions, and trying to keep something resembling circadian time for the patients. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/33 "2015-09-16T02:28:31Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > Overhead pages were not to happen unless it was _ **emergent** _ā€¦ When did ā€œemergentā€ become a thing? Iā€™ve been around medical people most of my life, and Iā€™ve only started hearing it, mostly on NPR, in the past six weeks. Sure, Iā€™m lazy and happy to lop two syllables off ā€œan emergency,ā€ but this sudden, widespread use is like a memo went out from the Vocabulary Secretariat. > [@Alex\_from\_CB](#): > > Jello. Do not disrespect green Jello. It and fruit salad got me through my stay in the hospital. Everything not sweet made my DTing self want to puke. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/34 "2015-09-16T02:38:23Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > In the elderly, a UTI does indeed cause delirium. When a person becomes altered fast, itā€™s something doctors are supposed to look for before assuming that theyā€™re developing dementia. > > Another cause of delirium that is more common as you get older is [ICU psychosis](http://www.medicinenet.com/icu_psychosis/article.htm). If this is the case now, sheā€™ll probably get better within a few days of leaving the hospital. Yeah when I was health aide and a client started to act delirium UTI was the first I though of. I called my office and reported this but the nurse said the doctor said there was nothing wrong with my client . The poor woman had to go to ER b/c she he infection had spread . She was very delirium , the damn doctor should had been fired . My client could had dies. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/35 "2015-09-16T07:38:33Z")
It all depends. Hospital-induced dementia (my unscientific term) seems to be a thing. Take a gander at Medicare ā€œnever-eventsā€ if you are really bored. However, there are those, like my distant FIL who get better every time (quarterly at least) they are hospitalized. I will reserve my own conclusions here. Me, Iā€™m fighting to take my regular meds and vitamins, or being able to bathroom on my own ambulance vs another doc telling me to ā€œget up and wander around moreā€ā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![brovolone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e4f/32.png) [@brovolone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brovolone)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/36 "2015-09-16T18:55:21Z")
Iā€™ve worked in a few nursing homes, and currently work in a hospital. In my opinion, urinary tract infections are first to blame. Indwelling catheters are the devil. Other factors include the combination of a dehydration, not eating properly, changed environment, medications, and a wonky sleep schedule. Mostly, in the elderly, I think a lack of familiarity and ability to stick to their routine _really_ messes them up. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964/37 "2015-09-17T15:15:55Z")
It doesnā€™t always go away. My mom developed ICU dementia after an emergency room visit for a fall and possible UTIā€¦not the first time this had happened, so she knew what the hospital was like. I left her at 11:30pm, fine and coherent. 8:30 am, get a call from nurse saying she is having a panic attack and hallucinating, and how often does this happen? I told her she must have called about a different patient, because Mom has NEVER had any type of panic attack, and her UTI hallucinations do not include holes developing in the floor with a slide leading to a flooded basement. It was a really rough couple of days until they got the Haldol to work, and then the anxiety and shaking and abject fear eased up. But that was almost two years ago, and she never got her brain back and connected to reality. Sheā€™s in a nursing home now, gonna turn 91 in a few months. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-deteriorate-mentally-while-in-the-hospital/729964.md?page=1)