How important is sleep to someone with a brain injury?!
Question:
How important is sleep to someone with a brain injury?
Additional Details
5 days ago
my fiance was in a car accident in sept 2006 is now home after 10 month sin hospital . he will not go to bed he is obviously tired . he can not tell if he is tired or hungry or full .. how should i deal with it and is it harmful if he doesnt get the rest and food he needs?
God bless
Answers:
As I understand it, most people who suffer brain damage continue to need sleep about as much as everyone else.
If he's tired, he needs sleep. If he can't get it, he'll probably crash at some point, and sleep for quite a while. Some people believe that we die if we can't sleep, but there haven't been many cases to prove that either way.
Most every case of brain damage is quite unique, and if at all possible, you should try to set him up with some sort of medical attention. If he doesn't sleep for more than a week, you should definitely be asking about sleeping pills, and not leaving until you get some.
Medical expenses can get troublesome, and because most of us don't know a lot about dealing with brain damage, there are a lot of scams out there.
I would suggest that you try to get him hooked up with a few research doctors. Unusualy brain damage can be a valuable learning opportunity for those who are trying to map out the brain's "circuits." A research doctor might consider his condition to be a valuable learning opportunity, and might be willing to see him for free, or even pay you.
Reasearch doctors don't actually "treat" patients, meaning they are not out to cure him, but they tend to know a whole lot more than the nurses down at ER, and they are sworn to do no harm to the patient... So they will be able to let you know if your primary care doctor is screwing up. Also, a lot of the "experiments" are aimed at helping people with brain damage, even though they have not yet been approved. Move with caution there though... Some just need test cases to get approval, others just need test cases to get them banned. Be especially wary of new pills.