Brain Fog: What is it?
photo credit: goossmurf
What is Brain Fog? Brain fog is a condition were you basically feel confused, forgetful, detached from your surroundings and you simply cannot concentrate. It is similar to depersonalization, but with a feeling of slow thinking. Don’t worry if you have experienced this mental cloud machine, your not dumb or slow. It is your fatigued mind slogging through the motions. Today I had a particularly nasty case of brain fog. I felt a dull ache around my head, I felt like I was thinking slowly, and I had a severe feeling of depersonalization. I sat down for work with this feeling and thought, “right, and I am supposed to sit here for eight hours”?
Well I did, and I began to feel better a few hours after starting work. I usually take 1200 mg fish oil tablets with a little bite to eat every morning ( I prefer the natural route) before I do anything. I had missed my fish oil supplement two days in a row. Was this why I felt mentally sluggish? Maybe, but what I do know is that I was very tired from the night before and coming off an awful anxiety episode from the previous weekend. Brain fog can affect you if you are fatigued, stressed, and lack a balanced diet or exercise. The first two are examples of what all anxiety disorders produce in people, so it isn’t surprising that I had a monumental brain freeze come Monday morning. Brain fog is disturbing and annoying at the same time. It’s like your trapped in your slow moving mind and are just waiting for the clouds to clear themselves so you can get on with your day. A couple of times during the day I was on the verge of an anxiety attack, but after all I am the Guru. I slowed my breathing and thought about pleasant things. I told myself that I was fine and that it would pass. This is exactly what I do with my more ‘typical’ anxiety symptoms. I just try to slow myself down and look for a calm spot in my mind and take deep breaths (through the nose out the mouth). Even when I don’t feel good at all, I can manage to keep myself calm enough to do what I need to do.
Remember that is the key to anxiety management and elimination. When you feel it coming on don’t start pacing around and agitating yourself. Take notice and accept that you don’t feel good and know that even though you feel bad anxiety itself will not harm you. Be as relaxed as you can be and let the anxiety run its course. If you do this you will gradually learn how to deal with it enough so that you can be in the middle of a nightclub (really) and not freak out. You of course will notice your discomfort, but you won’t have to stop your life while you cope.
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I re-read this particular article about once a week right now. For the past few months, I’ve been dealing with some terrific migraines, anxiety, and brain fog. Since migraines can cause brain fog, and anxiety can cause brain fog, and anxiety can cause migraines, and migraines can cause anxiety…and on…I’ve been on a nasty merry-go-round ride between the three. But I’m REALLY focusing on calming myself, improving my eating and exercising, and thinking positively. You’ve helped tremendously with this, and my good days are getting more frequent.
It’s usually my blood sugar that causes me the most problems with brain fog. If I manage that (and I mean long term), it helps immensely!
I have a question… is it possible for anxiety (excessive anxiety lasting for months) to cause a state of brain fog that is pretty much 24/7?
For example, I’ve been dealing with my anxiety for the past 6 months now, and every day since it started I’ve felt “slow” and bogged down. Almost like I can’t process information like I normally could. In general, I have trouble comprehending large amounts of information and even paying attention is a chore. I feel stupid, in short.
It’s a vicious circle of depersonalization -> brain fog -> migraines -> brain fog -> confusion… it just never ends; I constantly feel this way. It’s not as bad as it was when it started (because I learned enough about it to calm myself), and I’ve learned to manage it better, but it’s still such a pain to deal with.
Is this possible/normal with anxiety?
Im dealing with brain fog for a very long time and i tried a lot of things and all i can say is that not even coffee helps at some point, but i take b12 vitamins + ginKo biloba + denubil with the coffee and that really boosts the morning and help me a lot to deal with the worst days, when i feel that its unbearable i cant even think i eat that elixyr and there i go.. at But that doesnt deal with the root of the problem.. its all i got i keep looking for a real fix..
@William, I would say it is possible, I have been dealing with anxiety for EVER and I am in a constant state of brain fog. You described it exactly how it feels for me too. I can’t retain info and I can’t pay attention. I feel really self centered actually because I just can’t focus on other people. Their words just fly in one ear and out the other. I am not a doctor obviously, but I can empathise with you.