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After a Hospital Stay, Do You Notice Changes in Mental Health?
As most of you know, I had surgery about two weeks ago to remove my remaining ovary. This week, my column is about mental health post op. When leaving the hospital, I was given discharge instructions on what to look out for as far as physical symptoms. On the list was when to call 9-1-1 or when to alert my doctor if there was something going on. Although the pain from the surgery has been a lot better, mentally I am still struggling.
My body has been through a trauma. For anyone that has been in the hospital due to an infection, flare up of symptoms, or a surgery, I’m sure you can relate to the bodily trauma that takes place. Being in the hospital and enduring everything that goes along with it is very traumatic.
My anxiety has been increased and I find myself becoming shaky again at the mention of doctor appointments or follow up visits and testing. My emotions have been all over the place. Happy one minute and then crying at the slightest inconvenience the next. I have been having flashbacks and waking up with nightmares. Mental illness is difficult to manage after a hospital stay and a surgery.
With the guidance of my therapist, I have decided that the anxiety and depression that I am feeling is not going to help in my recovery from this. I need to give my brain a break. Writing, talking about what is bothering me, scheduling phone appointments with my therapist, and taking a medication to help relax me have been very beneficial. My mind needs to heal from what the body had to endure in such a short amount of time.
Have you experienced changes in mood or emotions after a hospital stay or surgery? How has anxiety and depression presented itself for you? What have you done to reduce this and take care of your mental health after surgery?
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6 Replies
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Great post!
I personally hate hospitals (my visits are only for surgeries) because I know that at the hospital there will be inevitable going under anesthesia, getting something or other chopped up, and pain afterwards.
I think my mental health improves after them due to discharge. 🙂
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I think some people are like that too VK where it is like a breath of fresh air when they are discharged from the hospital. Unfortunately it is as if when I am in the hospitals I am completely numb to what is going on around me. I think this is a “skill” that I have developed over the years. Once the numbness of it all wears off, that’s when it all becomes too real and hard to manage and unfortunately the numbness seems to go away once I’m home. It’s a form of disassociation for me and it’s a coping tactic but one that ends up making things more difficult afterwards. (if that makes sense) !
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Yeah I agree there are probably other emotions I feel when I go home, but then again my health doesn’t (yet) depend upon hospital doctors.
I wonder if the other half of our problem is having to deal with the crap of “real life” after discharge…
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Good point VK,
dealing with going back to real life is a whole other mental health battle. Especially after getting out of a hospital when it feels like you aren’t exactly participating in “real life” more like just going along for the ride and dependent on others. I HATE that feeling more than anything. Not being able to do things for myself and have my own independence just causes so much anxiety and frustration. What is the hardest part about dealing with “real life” for you after getting out of a hospital?
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Great points!
I know he longer the hospital stay, too, tends to impact this, I never had an issue with anxiety, until the last several years. I have been in the hospital too many times during this trip me, I think, as you mention, it’s alnost like we are numb to real world. Then, getting home and trying to get our strength back and do things on our own is not always at the pace we want. I still get anxiety at times going to see my PH doc as she’s across the street from the hospital and that triggers it often.Hang in there and you’re definitely not alone! Sounds like you’re doing some great things to get back to yourself!
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Thank you Jen,
writing it out has always helped a lot and it is especially helpful to have a community like this to vent to and people who “get it” . My therapist is pretty great with it all too and sometimes the effects of being in the hospital show up in strange ways even months later. She’s good at helping me recognize this in myself. I even go more than once a week if I need to.
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