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16) Psychosis and Other Psychiatric Symptoms
The brain also needs potassium to work correctly, and psychiatric symptoms can worsen or start showing up in these patients. Psychiatric patients have a very high prevalence of hypokalemia compared to the rest.
Even in otherwise healthy patients, low potassium levels cause memory impairments and may lead to confusion and disorientation when it reaches a shallow level.
Hypokalemia presents with depression, irritability, anxiety, visual disturbances, psychosis, hallucinations, and other symptoms in patients with a predisposition to psychiatric problems.
As noted throughout this article, potassium is an essential electrolyte, and there is a wide range of alterations when we reach low potassium levels. This electrolyte is important for muscle function, cardiovascular health, gastrointestinal motility, etc. It is even associated with our mental health and glucose control in type 2 diabetes.
Along with sodium, potassium is one of the most abundant electrolytes in the body. It creates an action potential in nerves, muscle fibers, and other cells in the body. As such, maintaining potassium levels is essential, especially if you are prone to hypokalemia. Athletes during sporting events, patients receiving diuretics, and critically ill patients should be monitored to detect low potassium levels early and provide treatment when necessary. Corrections of low potassium levels are not difficult in case of a mild alteration. Still, once it reaches moderate or severe hypokalemia, patients should remain in the hospital for as long as required to prevent complications and reduce the burden of this condition.
