Crisis, hallucinatory explanations and the experiences of a critically ill COVID-19 patient: a personal account

Abstract

This work presents a narrative of the author’s experiences as a psychiatrist and public health researcher of his COVID-19 illness, as expressed in memory, through recall, stream of consciousness, recording of factual elements and critical reflection. The time in intensive care was forgotten and came to be remembered according to the logic of hallucinatory-delusional fabulation. The temporal and clinical facts are based on the intensive care unit, ward and homecare team’s medical records in the author’s possession. The author seeks to offer a singular experience of how COVID-19 makes us think about the individual, the collective and health policy in connection with the first great viral pandemic in the globalized world, which has not yet reached its end.