Sleep Disorders

Many people who have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI)—as many as 40 to 65 percent—experience some form of sleep disorder. Most of these sleep disorders fall under the category of circadian rhythm sleep disorders, which are defined as problems associated with the timing of sleep. These problems can include:

  • Delayed sleep phase syndrome, including problems falling asleep and waking up
  • Irregular sleep patterns

Impact of Sleep Disorders

Sleep issues in those who have suffered from traumatic brain injury is concerning, as not only is sleep integral to the healing process, but lack of sleep aggravates other symptoms of TBI including headache, moodiness and emotional distress, and cognitive impairment. Correct treatment of sleep disorders may actually improve other symptoms of traumatic brain injury.

Treatment of Sleep Disorders

While prescription medications are frequently prescribed to people with sleep disorders, doctors prefer not to prescribe these medications to people with traumatic brain injury. Instead, treatment is focused on normalizing the sleep-wake cycle.

Complications Brain Injury

Complications Brain Injury

Language Difficulties

Language-related difficulties are a common effect of traumatic brain injury. While some of these problems are short term and resolve over time, others are permanent. Problems can be the result of damage to areas that govern communication in the brain, or they can be the result of motor problems or weaknesses.

Aphasia

Aphasia is a language disorder that affects both comprehension and production of speech, as well as the ability to read and write. The most common types of aphasia experience by traumatic brain injury survivors include:

  • Global Aphasia - The patient can speak and understand very little, and can't read or write. In some cases, symptoms improve as the survivor recovers.
  • Broca's Aphasia - The patient can understand speech and the written word, but speaking and writing is limited and difficult. Because the patient is aware of his or her deficits, this aphasia can be extremely frustrating.
  • Wernicke's Aphasia - The patient speaks in gibberish, but isn't aware that he or she is doing so. The patient may also have trouble reading and writing.
  • Anomic Aphasia - The patient understands speech and can read, but has difficulty finding words in speech and writing.

Motor Problems

Language difficulties relating to motor problems include:

  • Apraxia - The patient has difficulty coordinating mouth and speech movements.
  • Dysarthria - The patient can think of the right words to use, but neurological damage prevents him or her from using the muscles needed to form the words.

Treatment of Language Difficulties

A speech pathologist will design a

rehabilitation program

designed to attend to the patient's particular language difficulties.

When will I get better? Recovering from TBI

Traumatic brain injury can have a wide range of potentially permanent complications that may affect any part of a person's cognitive, emotional or physical functioning. Consequently, the amount of time it takes for TBI patients to recover, if, in fact, recovery is possible, will vary according to a number of factors.

Some of the factors affecting the degree to which traumatic brain injury patients will recover include:

Emotional Stages of Recovery for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Traumatic brain injury can inflict significant, permanent disabilities on people, impairing anything from motor skills to their verbal and visual abilities. While TBI patients may be confused and disoriented immediately after their injury, once they understand the extent and severity of their condition, they will likely feel a tremendous sense of loss and depression.

Special Education for TBI

Special education refers to the instruction of those with mental impairment, learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities. However, while most people associate special education with some kind of impairment, special education also applies to those who are exceptionally gifted or intellectually advanced.

Dizziness

Traumatic brain injury is one of the most common causes of post-traumatic dizziness. There are several different kinds of dizziness, depending upon the pattern of dizziness and what brings it on.

Positional Vertigo

This common type of severe dizziness is frequently associated with head injury. This type of dizziness is characterized by dizziness that occurs only when the head is placed in certain positions.

Meniere's Syndrome

These are episodes of dizziness followed by a feeling of fullness in the ear, noises in the ear, or changes in hearing. Meniere's Syndrome can show up immediately following an injury, or it can present itself up to a year following the injury.

Post-traumatic Migraine

This is a severe migraine headache combined with dizziness, both of which are very common after head injuries.

Diffuse Axonal Injury

This type of deceleration injury causes bleeding in the brain and axonal damage, which can lead to dizziness.

Postconcussion Syndrome

Postconcussion syndrome is the combination of dizziness, headache, and mental disturbances that frequently follow a traumatic brain injury.

Treatment of Dizziness

Treatment varies depending upon the cause, but may include medication, lifestyle changes, physical therapy, or surgery.

Brain Injury Complications

What Caregivers Need to Know about TBI

Although TBI is obviously challenging for the patient suffering from the condition, it can also present difficulties to caregivers treating and otherwise helping those with traumatic brain injury.

Caregivers for TBI typically include some combination of:

  • family members
  • friends
  • physical therapists
  • psychotherapists
  • social workers

Factors Affecting Care for TBI

Care for traumatic brain injury will vary depending on a number of factors, including:

Brain Injury Cost

While a price can’t be put on the cost of the emotional and physical issues that arise as a result of a brain injury, a price can be put on the financial burden that results from a brain injury. The monetary cost of brain injuries varies significantly — it’s estimated that a mild head injury costs $85,000, a moderate injury costs $941,000, and a severe injury costs $3 million.

Annual Costs of Brain Injury in the U.S.

Overall, it is estimated that the cost of traumatic brain injuries in the United States weighs in at $48.3 billion annually. About $31.7 billion of that is spent on hospitalization costs, while the additional $16.6 billions goes toward costs associated with fatalities.

According to the Center for Disease Control, acute care and rehabilitation of brain injury patients in the United States costs about $9 billion to $10 billion per year. This does not include indirect costs to society as well as to families, including costs associated with lost earnings, work time, and productivity, as well as the costs linked to providing social services.

Lifetime Cost of Brain Injury

While costs vary according to the extent of the injury and its specific long-term effects, it is estimated that the cost of caring for a survivor of severe traumatic brain injury is between $600,000 and $1,875,000 over a lifetime.