How Surgery Affects Your Mental Health

Certain types of surgery, especially the major interventions that require the patient to spend a long time in general anesthesia, might also have effects on the patient’s mental health. There are many aspects related to surgical interventions that might affect the patient’s mental condition – the chronic pain experienced before or after the surgery, the reaction to the anesthesia or to the medications administered after the intervention, any depression existing prior to the surgery, the fear or anxiety related to possible consequences can all lead to mental affections. Here are the most common types of mental affections after surgery:

• Depression – surgical patients who have suffered from depression before the intervention are at greater risk of developing depression after surgery, especially if recovery is lengthy and painful;
• Anxiety – excessive worrying is very common after surgical interventions, especially after major surgery with a long recovery time;
• Stress caused by the recovery or by financial difficulties – surgical interventions can cause serious financial difficulties that might affect the patient’s mental health;
• Medication-induced issues – many drugs used during general anesthesia as well as medication administered after surgery to aid with recovery can cause anxiety, depressions and insomnia. Pain medications can also have these side effects.

The folks at Apiary Medical supply quality surgical tools to assist in the surgery and help the surgeons to efficiently do their work and alleviate patient concerns when it comes to that portion of the surgery process.

Originally Posted on: How Surgery Affects Your Mental Health

source https://blog.apiarymedical.com/how-surgery-affects-your-mental-health/