We all experience the occasional life-changing event-a new baby, a cross-country move, a serious injury. In rare cases, such events can precipitate a mental disorder. The problem is compounded because people often assume their suffering is par for the course after such upheaval. In reality, relief is probably a short treatment away, via therapy or medication.

The flashbacks, nightmares and sleep problems that mark post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are usually associated with combat or other violent experiences. Now psychiatrists have found that PTSD can also result from being a patient in the intensive care unit (ICU) at a hospital, according to a recent study in the journal Psychological Medicine.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University checked in with survivors of a lifethreatening lung injury for two years after they were discharged from the ICU. The investigators found that slightly more than one in three in the group suffered from the oftdebilitating anxiety disorder. Patients who had a history of depression were more likely to end up with PTSD after their hospital stay.

As is common in PTSD, the patients had flashbacks of their experiences, such as thinking they were going to die. But these cases were also unusual because the delirium caused by […]