It’s common for people with a traumatic brain injury to have trouble sleeping. This comic includes information about sleep problems after TBI and how to improve your sleep.

Sleep wake cycles may be affected by damage to certain parts of the brain. Because of this, people with TBI may have trouble falling asleep or getting a good night’s sleep. This comic explains:

  • Why sleep problems occur
  • Sleep apnea and other sleep disorders
  • How sleep medicine can help
  • Ways to change your behavior and environment to help you get better sleep

TBI and Sleep

Sleep is complex and involves many parts of the brain.

Javier has a hard time falling asleep and his lack of sleep made his anxiety worse.

Not Getting enough sleep can also lead to poor performance or accidents at work.

A TBI can change the way that these chemicals affect us.

He can't fall asleep.

I couldn’t sleep so I got up to watch a movie and have a beer or two to help me relax.

More than half of people with brain injuries have sleep problems.

not being able to fall asleep is called insomnia, it typically becomes less of a problem with recovery from TBI.

There are medications that will help with sleep, but many aren’t recommended for people with TBI.

Some other common side effects are trouble learning new things, dry mouth, constipation, retention of urine, or nighttime falls.

Some medications can make sleep more difficult.

Often this can be addressed by working with your doctor to adjust when you take your medication or possibly changing your prescription.

what can I do?

your Dr will talk to you about your medications and how long you’ve been having sleep problems.

TBI can also change your brain’s control of breathing.

Sleep apnea causes your brain to get less oxygen, and that can lead to headaches and fatigue.

SLEEP APNEA

Other Sleep Disorders

Delayed sleep phase syndrome

Narcolepsy

Post-Traumatic Hypersomnia

Sleepwalking

Restless leg Syndrome.

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness

Bruxism

Periodic Limb Movement Disorder

Your insomnia is being caused by your anxiety

The goal of counseling for anxiety is to either examine the sources of your anxiety and come to terms with them or to train your body to calm down when you’re feeling anxious.

I guess I could give it a shot.

Great! I’ll get you some names on the way out.

I’d like to refer you for a sleep lab to make sure that there isn’t anything else going on.

What’s a sleep lab?

You’ll stay overnight in a clinic where they will monitor your sleep cycles.

It will help me put together a treatment plan.

WHAT CAN I DO?

Mary read that some people find THAT natural remedies help them sleep

Begin to Improve your sleep by changing your behavior and environment

remove distractions, cut noise, keep the temperature regular, and block light from my sleeping area.

I have a bedtime routine that I do every night before bed.

I used to have a couple of beers before bed every night so now I avoid drinking too much before bed.

I’ve cut down on the TV I watch, and I never watch it in bed anymore.

I try to do meaningful things every day.

I get outside for some sun everyday, and when it’s cloudy, I use a light box.

I don’t have caffeine or nicotine less than five hours before bed because they are both stimulants that interfere with my sleep.

I made all the changes Dr C suggested and Mary did some research and found some other things that I’ve tried.

I’m so glad we talked to Dr. Cushing.

ASK YOUR DR ABOUT THESE OTHER TREATMENTS.

Authorship and Illustration

Information source of TBI and Sleep Infocomic

The TBI and Sleep infocomic is based on the factsheet Sleep and TBI. This factsheet was developed by Brian Greenwald, MD, and Kathleen Bell, MD, in collaboration with the Model System Knowledge Translation Center.

Related Resources for TBI and Sleep

To learn more, check out our page devoted to sleep and TBI.

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