Psychological and emotional impact of illness

The experience of being severely unwell can be very frightening. It is very understandable that the experience can have an emotional impact. It can also cause confusion and impact on your memory and thinking.

• Feeling anxious when breathless
• Worried about health or about family or friends getting ill
• Feeling low in mood and loss of motivation
• Poor sleep
• Difficulty concentrating

If you were treated in hospital, you may also experience:

• unpleasant images from your stay, that might seem to come ‘out of the blue’
• nightmares
• feelings of panic with any reminders of hospital.

It may take time to adjust and recover from the impact of being severely unwell.