Preventing the ITU syndrome or how not to torture an ITU patient! Part I

Staff working in intensive therapy units (ITUs) have known about the 'ITU syndrome' for many years. In spite of this the syndrome continues to occur. It is suggested that one of the reasons for this continued occurrence is that ITU staff place a lower priority on psychological care than they do on physical care. In this paper the potential seriousness of the ITU syndrome is emphasised by describing it as a form of torture. Publications from Amnesty International which describe methods of psychological torture are provided to support this suggestion. The analogies between psychological torture and ITU care are explored, and this is followed by consideration of ways of reducing the incidence of the syndrome and a suggested method of auditing an ITU in order to identify potential problem areas.