The Emerging Field of Critical Care Psychiatry: Pharmacologic Treatment from ICU to Post-ICU Recovery
A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmacology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 10
Special Issue Editors
Interests: critical care psychiatry; delirium; Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias; catatonia; transplant psychiatry; depression in the medically ill; neuromodulation techniques
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: psychiatry; consultation-liaison psychiatry; critical care psychiatry; neuropsychiatry; psychopharmacology in the medically ill; integrated care
Interests: medical psychiatry; critical care psychiatry; consultation-liaison psychiatry; transplantation psychiatry; forensic psychiatry; neuropsychiatry; addiction medicine; psychosomatic medicine
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Critical care psychiatry is an emerging field focused on the recognition and management of neuropsychiatric syndromes that occur during and after critical illness. Patients in the ICU (intensive care unit) are at high risk for developing conditions such as delirium, insomnia, depressive episodes, anxiety, and trauma-related disorders—yet psychiatric care in this setting remains fragmented and underdeveloped. Many survivors go on to experience persistent cognitive and emotional sequelae, collectively referred to as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), with few validated treatment options available.
This Special Issue of Pharmaceuticals seeks to advance the field by highlighting pharmacologic strategies for managing acute and post-ICU psychiatric disorders and syndromes. We welcome original research, reviews, and case reports examining the use of pharmacologic agents to manage delirium, sleep disturbances, depression, anxiety, and trauma-related conditions in ICU patients and subsequent sequelae in survivors. Submissions that address both inpatient and outpatient care across the critical illness continuum are encouraged. We especially invite interdisciplinary contributions from psychiatry, critical care, pharmacy, internal medicine, geriatrics, and other specialties routinely involved in the acute and post-acute critical care of neuropsychiatric conditions.
Dr. Shixie Jiang
Dr. Matthew Gunther
Dr. Jose R. Maldonado
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- critical care psychiatry
- ICU psychiatry
- delirium
- encephalopathy
- cognitive impairment
- neurocognitive disorders
- dementia
- post-intensive care syndrome
- depression
- anxiety
- trauma
- insomnia
- sleep disturbances
- mental health
- behavioral health
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