Post–intensive care syndrome (PICS) is a group of problems that people can experience after surviving a life-threatening illness. More than half (50 percent) of all people who survive a hospital stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) will have at least one of the problems seen with PICS. These problems can greatly affect the lives of survivors of critical illness. Problems can be physical or mental and may affect one’s ability to think or function in daily life. Many patients are unable to return work and do not have the same energy level that they had before their illness. This fact sheet will review common problems seen with PICS as well as ways to try to prevent and treat these problems.

During the PICTURE trial a short narrative therapy (narrative exposure therapy adapted for primary care) for patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after intensive care treatment is to be carried out by their general practitioner (GP). During regular practice hours, this is often difficult. For this reason, we are investigating whether the regular treatment can be improved by a specially trained GP.
The aim of the study is to investigate the effects and applicability of a short version of an established narrative therapy for patients with posttraumatic stress disorders after intensive medical treatment.
Three months after discharge from the intensive care unit, the diagnosis of a PTSD symptoms is verified and the patients are randomized into two groups.
In the treatment group, the physician will perform three 45-minute therapy sessions with the patient within 6 weeks. During the first session a list of the most intense events - both positive and negative - in the life of the patient is drawn on the basis of a life line, with the stay at the intensive care unit being one of these events. The second session deals with the experience during intensive care in detail, led by the GP. During the third session, another event from the patient's life will be discussed in the same manner. This way, the different components (cognitions, emotions, body reactions, context information) can be reconnected and classified into the patient's own biography. Between the therapy sessions, a conversation between the GP and the psychologist will take place to support the GP during the therapy. In order to monitor the patient's safety and compliance, standardized telephone calls between the patient and the GP practice are regularly carried out every 2-3 weeks in between therapy sessions up to the first data collection after 6 months (T1).
In the control group there are three doctor-patient contacts, too, which content is based on the patient's symptoms. This group thus receives the standard therapy which is customary in practice.

Patients with COVID-19 are staying longer than the average three to four days in the intensive care unit (ICU), says Megan Hosey , a rehabilitation psychologist at The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s medical ICU. This puts them at greater risk for developing post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) — physical, cognitive and psychological changes that occur after surviving an illness or injury that requires treatment in the ICU.