“Can anesthesia cause emotional problems?”

Any surgical procedure may cause stress and or anxiety which can exacerbate emotional problems. Normally anesthesia ameliorates this issue. Good luck!

No

Per se no. But all the ancillary drugs, i.e. pain medicines, worry about surgical pain and it’s outcome, having surgery itself and the kind of surgery will make a difference. All the co-morbidities tend to worsen.

Some drugs used in anesthesia can cause transient amnesia and unmasking of underlying emotional stress or turmoil that one normally does not express outwardly.

Anesthesia involves the use of a variety of medicines with a variety of goals. Before going to sleep, calming medicines are often given to reduce situational anxiety. Going to sleep usually involves a “hypnotic,” or sleep-inducing medicine. Remaining asleep frequently involves a vaporous medicine. Before awakening, medicines for pain relief and nausea control are often provided. Awakening from anesthesia typically involves withdrawing the vapor medicine with a gradual emergence as you breath out the medicine. While in most people, the awakening phase is gradual and relaxed, in some a more vibrant or exaggerated awakening can occur. When emotions are exaggerated like this it is called “disinhibition” and can result in unpredictable elevated effect (happy drunk) or other escalated emotions like sadness or dysphoria. These emotional events almost always result from some level of confusion caused by awakening, so called emergence delirium. Once you have regained your bearings, prolonged emotionality is rare. What causes these emotional responses is not completely clear, but they are most often associated with the vaporous anesthesia medicines. Since the effects of anesthesia medicines are very short-lived once discontinued, any persistent emotional effects are usually the result of something else such as pain medicine.

Sometimes patients can awaken tearful from general anesthesia, but they can't pinpoint why they are having an outpouring of emotions. This is usually a short-lived occurrence. Permanent emotional lability is not common.

Immediately upon emergence from anesthesia there can be a short-term impact on mood. However, longer term there are no clinical studies linking anesthesia to adverse emotional problems.

Certain types of anesthesia can cause altered mental states were you may feel great deal of joy, panic, or other emotions. Usually, does only last as long as the anesthesia is still in your system. Usually see that the symptoms resolve after the anesthesia has been metabolized.