Ms Evelyne E. describes the confusion, between perception of reality and moments of joyfull hallucinations.

Mme Evelyne s'est sentie confuse entre des moments de perception de la réalité et  des moments d' hallucinations joyeuses.

E: Bien, discuter comme ça, comme elles discutaient ces deux filles, je trouve que  - et sans me parler à moi;  moi je pensais que j’étais à côté d’elles, mais je n' étais pas pas du tout impliquée dans leur discussion. Je trouvais ça bizarre. Je me disais: mais qu’est-ce que je fais là moi; Je me posais  la question. Elles, elles faisaient / elles parlaient de leurs cours, de leurs trucs et je suivais. Et je me disais que c’est vrai que  des gens même dans le coma entendent. Alors je ne pense pas que j’étais dans le coma, enfin je n’en sais rien. J’étais en train de me réveiller quoi, disons. 
Mais je n'ai pas un mauvais souvenir. 
I: Donc il faut toujours penser que les personnes, même les yeux fermés, peuvent entendre? 
E: Oui. Puis ça m’a amené de la confusion parce que je me suis demandée qu’est-ce que je fais moi là? Mais qu’est-ce que je fais MOI là? Je ne sais pas, je ne comprenais pas. 

I: Et après coup, avez-vous compris ce qu’il se passait avec le fameux pique-nique, ce que ça pouvait être, que c’étaient juste les personnes qui faisaient leur travail dans la salle à côté? 

E: Moi après coup, mais pas sur le moment, jee restais persuadée qu’ils pique-niquaient, puis qu’ils allaient manger, puis qu’après ils allaient partir. Mais je trouvais qu’ils faisaient la fête trop longtemps. Pour moi, ils faisaient la fête;  j’étais dans des fêtes.

Evelyne E. évoque une confusion entre la réalité et des hallucinations heureuses.

La signora Evelyne E. descrive la confusione, tra la percezione della realtà e i momenti di allucinazioni felici.

Beh, parlando in quel modo, come stavano parlando con quelle due ragazze, penso che - e senza parlare con me; pensavo di essere vicino a loro, ma non ero affatto coinvolta nella loro discussione. Ho pensato che fosse strano. Ho pensato: cosa ci faccio qui? Stavano facendo/parlando dei loro corsi, delle loro cose e io le seguivo. E ho pensato che è vero che anche le persone in coma possono sentire. Quindi non credo di essere stata in coma, non lo so. Mi stavo svegliando, diciamo. 
Ma non ho una cattiva memoria. 
I: Quindi lei pensa sempre che la gente, anche con gli occhi chiusi, possa sentire? 
E: Sì. E poi mi sono confusa perché mi sono chiesta: cosa ci faccio qui? Ma cosa ci faccio qui? Non lo so, non ho capito. 

I: E dopo, hai capito cosa stava succedendo con il famoso picnic, cosa poteva essere, che erano solo le persone che facevano il loro lavoro nella stanza accanto? 

E: Dopo, ma non in quel momento, ero convinta che stessero facendo un picnic, poi che avrebbero mangiato, poi che sarebbero andate via. Ma ho pensato che stavano festeggiando troppo a lungo. Per me, loro facevano festa; io ero alle feste.

Evelyne E. ricorda una confusione tra realtà e riverberi felici.

Frau Evelyne E. beschreibt die Verwirrung,  zwischen Realitätswahrnehmung und Momenten fröhlicher Halluzinationen.

Nun, wenn man so redet, wie sie mit diesen beiden Mädchen, denke ich, dass - und ohne mit mir zu reden; ich dachte, ich wäre neben ihnen, aber ich war an ihrer Diskussion überhaupt nicht beteiligt. Ich fand das seltsam. Ich dachte: Was mache ich hier eigentlich? Sie haben über ihre Kurse und ihr Material gesprochen, und ich habe ihnen dabei zugesehen. Und ich dachte mir, dass es wahr ist, dass sogar Menschen im Koma hören können. Ich glaube also nicht, dass ich im Koma lag, ich weiß es nicht. Ich bin, sagen wir mal, aufgewacht. 
Aber ich habe kein schlechtes Gedächtnis. 
I: Sie glauben also immer, dass Menschen auch mit geschlossenen Augen hören können? 
E: Ja. Und dann war ich verwirrt, weil ich mich fragte: Was mache ich hier eigentlich? Aber was tue ich hier? Ich weiß es nicht, ich habe es nicht verstanden. 

I: Und haben Sie danach verstanden, was es mit dem berühmten Picknick auf sich hat, was es sein könnte, dass es nur die Leute sind, die im Nebenraum ihre Arbeit machen? 

E: Im Nachhinein, aber nicht zu dem Zeitpunkt, war ich davon überzeugt, dass sie ein Picknick machen, dann etwas essen und dann wieder gehen. Aber ich fand, dass sie zu lange gefeiert haben. Für mich waren sie auf Partys, ich war auf Partys.

Mrs Evelyne E. erinnert eine Verwirrung zwischen Realität und glücklichen Halluzinationen.

Well, talking like that, like they were talking to those two girls, I think that - and not talking to me; I thought I was next to them, but I wasn't involved in their discussion at all. I thought it was weird. I thought, "What am I doing here? They were doing / talking about their classes, their stuff and I was following. And I thought to myself that it's true that even people in a coma can hear. So I don't think I was in a coma, I don't know. I was just waking up, you know. 
But I don't have a bad memory. 
I: So you always think that people, even with their eyes closed, can hear? 
E: Yes. And then I got confused because I thought, what am I doing here? But what am I doing here? I don't know, I didn't understand. 

I: And afterwards, did you understand what was going on with the famous picnic, what it could be, that it was just the people doing their work in the next room? 

E: Afterwards, but not at the time, I was convinced that they were having a picnic, then that they were going to eat, then that they were going to leave. But I thought they were partying too long. To me, they were partying; I was at parties.

Evelyne E. recalls a confusion between reality and happy hallucinations.

Many patients report experiences that can be associated with hallucinations and confusion. These  memories are often present for months after hospitalization.

Delusion/hallucination/ dreams/anxiety.

With the technical and medical possibilities on intensive care a patient can be able to survive life-threatening illnesses. These experiences of critical illness and intensive care medicine are challenging for patients and families. Often experiences made on intensive care unit (ICU) can be life changing.
In small video- or audio-sequences we would like to illustrate the experiences made by patients on ICU and how they handled their stay in this critical situation.
Many patients share their experiences on intensive care unit and show how these experiences influenced their life.

Grazie alle possibilità mediche e tecniche offerte dalla terapia intensiva, oggi un paziente può sopravvivere a malattie gravi e precedentemente mortali. L’esperienza di queste gravi condizioni di salute e l’esperienza della terapia intensiva possono cambiare la vita in modo radicale, sia ai pazienti che ai loro cari.

In questa sezione potete scoprire come altre persone hanno vissuto il loro tempo in un’unità di terapia intensiva. In brevi video o estratti di testo, i pazienti raccontano la loro permanenza in terapia intensiva, il modo in cui hanno gestito questo periodo delle loro vite, ed il modo in cui questa esperienza li ha cambiati.

Esperienze in terapia intensiva

Les possibilités médicales et techniques permettent de plus en plus souvent aux patients de survivre à des maladies graves et autrefois mortelles. L’expérience par les patients de ces maladies graves et de leur prise en charge médicale en soins intensifs peuvent changer la vie d’une manière très mémorable.

Dans cette section, vous découvrirez comment d’autres personnes ont vécu leur séjour dans une unité de soins intensifs. Dans de courts extraits vidéo ou textuels, les patients rendent compte de leur séjour à l’unité de soins intensifs. Ils témoignent également des changements qui peuvent se produire dans la vie d’une personne après les soins intensifs.

Expérience en médecine de soins intensifs

Die heutigen medizinischen und technischen Möglichkeiten lassen Patient*innen schwere und lebensbedrohliche Erkrankungen überstehen. Die Erfahrung einer so schweren Erkrankung, die eine intensivmedizinischen Behandlung benötigt, kann das Leben sehr einprägsam verändern.

Wie andere Menschen die Zeit auf einer Intensivstation erlebt haben, können Sie in dieser Sektion erfahren. In kurzen Video- oder Textausschnitten berichten Patient*innen und Angehörige,  über die Erfahrungen einer schweren oft lebensbedrohlichen Erkrankung und einer Behandlung auf einer Intensivstation. Ebenso können Sie erfahren, mit welchen Veränderungen die Betroffenen sich nach der Zeit auf der Intensivstation auseinandersetzen.

Erfahrungen Intensivmedizin

Experiences in Intensive Care

Mrs. Evelyne E. slowly woke up and was confused between hallucination and beginning perception of reality.

So, I don't remember when I went in anyway; so, along the way, I don't know when, I woke up and I was hearing loud music and in my head I was thinking, there's a party in the village next to me. But it was strange, I was there in my bed, suspended; in fact I was drugged I think and then I had visions. Then, I saw people; and then suddenly, I recognized my daughter and my son. Then I said: "well, they are also at the party", but I saw them with distance anyway, it was not clear my vision either. Then. after my daughter approached me, then she said to me you like this music? Then I was going to answer, then she told me you can't because you have a tube in your throat. I didn't ask myself any questions about it. So I nodded my head and said no. And then what do I remember of this passage? That I wanted to communicate something and I asked if I could write; and then they handed me a slate where I could write on it. But I don't remember at all what I asked, what I wrote, so I've forgotten since. This is the first contact I had with it, it was this party in the village, I thought we were at a party. It must have been a bit euphoric, I don't know.

Mrs. Evelyne E. wakes up slowly and in confusion.

There is no typical way to wake up in an ICU after coma or sedation. In fact, patients are usually confused, have lost track of time and do not immediately know where they are.  Their unfamiliar surroundings take them by surprise and are sometimes unpleasant: In some cases, patients cannot speak, are thirsty and feel helpless.

Waking up in the ICU.

Ms Eveline E. listened to the private conversations of the nursing staff, who acted as if she was not present and sometimes felt unnoticed.

I felt like I was next to everybody, not really in the middle. I saw that I was put in a chair, but I don't remember when I got out of bed for example; I was in the chair, and then there were two girls talking to each other.  They were obviously students because they were talking about their classes, their teaching; they were saying that you have to practice to repeat. Then I'm thinking but what am I doing here in between? I didn't understand what I was doing. 

I: Do you feel like people thought you couldn't hear? 

E: It's possible, because I could hear them, but I couldn't see them. So did I have my eyes closed? I don't know. I think I had my eyes closed.

Mrs. Eveline E has memory problems and feels that she was sometines unnoticed.

The intensive care unit is bustling with activity. Clinical teams are busy with intensive patient care and emergencies. The environment is dominated by machines and modern technology that enable survival in critical illness.  In addition, there are team conversations and sounds from neighboring patients. This leads to noise, light, which can be disturbing for the patients.

Evelyne E.

Evelyne E. recalls a confusion between reality and happy hallucinations.

Video Interview

Related experiences

Other experiences by Evelyne E.

Evelyne E.