15. Fatigue and Sleep Disorders Post Acquired Brain Injury

Fatigue has been and remains one of the more common symptoms associated with and reported on by those who have sustained a brain injury (Elovic et al. 2005). Over the years, researchers, physicians and psychologists have all tried to define fatigue: What is it? How do we measure it? How do we treat it? It is believed that fatigue is a subjective experience and thus not easily assessed by objective measures [Lewis and Wessely 1992]. It is also believed that because fatigue is common with all who sustain a brain injury, it is therefore not related to damage within a specific area of the brain (Lezak 1978).