“Can lack of sleep cause confusion in a person?”
My father is 74 years old and is complaining of sleeplessness. As a result, he is usually confused in the morning. Is confusion a common side effect of sleeplessness?
6 Answers
Yes, lack of sleep causes confusion and cognitive impairment.
Yes, lack of sleep causes several neurobehavioral symptoms such as confusion, lack of focus, poor decision making, emotionally flat, tiredness, weakness, depression, aggression, irritablity.
Yes. This common, especially in the elderly whose memory is beginning to fade. If this is the case, refer your dad to a neuropsychologist for determining the nature and seriousness of his memory in wakefulness.
Best wishes,
Roger Broughton, MD
Best wishes,
Roger Broughton, MD
Yes.
Lack of sleep can definitely cause some memory and concentration problems. Confusion such as with regards to name, place, time, is usually not associated with poor sleep unless it is very severe. At BlueSleep, we provide online sleep consultations and ship a home sleep test to rule out serious sleep disorders. This may be a good first step to evaluate your father's problem.
It is hard to know without more information but someone complaining of sleeplessness has a high possibility of taking sleeping medication, and every single one of those, including the over-the-counter ones using antihistamines such as Benadryl and scopolamine can be associated with increased confusion especially in older patients. If there is medication, try stopping it.
If there is no medication involved a careful neurologic evaluation is appropriate as sleeplessness and confusion can be early signs of serious neurologic illness.
If there is no medication involved a careful neurologic evaluation is appropriate as sleeplessness and confusion can be early signs of serious neurologic illness.
