Brain fog or brain fatigue is caused by stress that occurs without our knowing it, due to the brain being used heavily for a long period of time, whether it’s work that requires sitting in front of a computer for a long time, rushing to finish work that needs to be done, or getting little rest for many days in a row, etc. Brain fatigue can happen to anyone, and it’s happening a lot right now among working people.
Have we ever woken up around 6 or 7 in the morning during the winter? Or have we ever imagined going up a mountain to a high place, when talking, smoke comes out of our mouths, our vision is obscured by thick fog, making the view in front of us blurry?
Then let’s switch from seeing to thinking instead. What if suddenly it’s not just our vision that’s blurry, but our brain or thoughts that suddenly become stagnant, can’t think of anything, can’t think of anything, can’t think of anything in time, think slowly, make decisions more slowly? If these symptoms occur, we would be quite irritated and would like to know how we can solve this problem? In this article, the admin will help us understand the causes and find ways to cope with this matter.
What is brain fog?
Brain fog is not a medical condition, but a term used to describe a feeling of sluggishness, dizziness, or a lack of clarity of thought. This condition can affect our ability to focus and remember.
“Brain fatigue can affect how we feel about ourselves because everyone who experiences it often feels like they are not themselves because they have lost their mental sharpness, which makes them feel strange to us.”
Sabrina Romanoff, PsyD , a professor and clinical psychologist in New York City, explains that brain fog can affect your ability to focus or remember things around you in their entirety. We’ve all experienced it at some point or another. Maybe we feel foggy because we’ve had a cold or other aches and pains. Maybe we feel sluggish because we haven’t gotten enough sleep. Or in some cases, our thoughts may just fade for a few hours. All we ever do is wait for things to go back to normal. But brain fog is different.
Causes of brain fatigue
There are many possible causes of brain fog, but if we can identify what is causing the brain fog we are experiencing, we can find the right solution. Here are 6 possible causes of brain fog.
- Stress : Chronic stress can raise blood pressure, weaken the immune system, and trigger depression. It can also cause mental fatigue, making it difficult to think, reason, and concentrate.
- Sleep deprivation: Sleep quality affects brain function. Therefore, if we have poor sleep quality, our brain may become fatigued. And too little sleep can make our thoughts cloudy. Therefore, we should have quality sleep, which should be 8-9 hours per night.
- Hormonal changes: Progesterone and estrogen levels increase during pregnancy. These changes can affect memory and cause short-term intellectual impairment. And the declining estrogen levels during menopause can also cause forgetfulness, poor concentration, and clouded thinking.
- Fasting: Food plays a major role in the brain. Vitamin B12 helps in keeping the brain healthy. So, people who fast and lack vitamin B12 may experience brain fog. Some foods can also trigger brain fog. These include aspartame (artificial sweetener), nuts, milk, etc. So, avoiding these foods can help prevent brain fog.
- Medications: If you find yourself experiencing brain fog while taking medications prescribed by your doctor, consult your doctor immediately. Studies have shown that reducing the dosage of a medication or switching to a different medication that helps improve symptoms can lead to brain fog.
- Medical conditions: Brain fatigue is caused by medical conditions such as inflammation, fatigue, or changes in blood sugar levels. These can cause mental fatigue. If the symptoms are severe, it is called chronic fatigue. This is a fatigue that continues over a long period of time and can also cause brain fatigue.
Symptoms of brain fog
Symptoms of brain fatigue are symptoms that we can easily observe ourselves. For example, normally we may be a fast, energetic person, always creative, have a good memory, can handle things easily. But suddenly we find that your brain is all cloudy, our head is heavy, as if something is pressing down. We can’t think of anything, have a short memory, have unstable emotions, are often moody, and may have frequent headaches. These changes are signs that we are entering the state of brain fatigue.
When brain fatigue meets Covid-19
COVID-19 has become an unavoidable disease. Even when we are at home, it can still ring the doorbell and cause us to encounter it. Studies have found that COVID-19 can damage the brain. Some people have suffered severe brain damage from COVID, such as encephalitis, cerebrovascular disease, and lack of oxygen to the brain. In addition to the direct impact on the brain, COVID-19 can also cause symptoms of mental fog and memory loss, which are symptoms of brain fatigue. It can be said that it is not just stress, anxiety, and loneliness that cause brain fatigue, but the threat of the COVID-19 crisis can also cause brain fatigue.
What should we do if we are suffering from COVID-19 and are experiencing brain fatigue?
The first and most important thing to do is to visit a doctor and tell him all the symptoms you are experiencing. These symptoms should include brain fog and other neurological symptoms such as weakness, numbness, loss of smell and taste, and other problems such as shortness of breath, palpitations, and abnormal urination or defecation, etc., in order to receive proper treatment under the advice of a doctor.
How to treat brain fatigue
Treatment of brain fatigue depends on the cause. For example, if we experience brain fatigue because we have anemia, we should take iron supplements, which help increase the production of red blood cells and reduce our brain fatigue symptoms. However, if our brain fatigue is caused by lifestyles that negatively affect our health, such as lack of sleep, unhealthy eating, problems in managing emotions, working under stress or anxiety, the way we should treat brain fatigue is to sleep 8-9 hours per night or manage stress by learning our own limitations. Avoid excessive alcohol or caffeine, increase strength through exercise, strengthen immunity in terms of thinking, find stress-relieving activities such as forest bathing, and consume food that is beneficial to the body, etc.
Conclusion
Brain fog is something we can avoid with targeted treatment. If there is a fog covering our brain, we need to find the cause of the fog and find a way to remove it. Imagine a window that is completely fogged up. If we wipe the window until it is clear again, we will be able to see through it completely.
So, our brain is the same. In order to eliminate brain fatigue, we must let our brain get enough quality rest. We must let our brain exercise by doing activities or training our brain to think creatively without exceeding our ability. We must eat nutritious food to build immunity for our brain. Then, the symptoms of brain fatigue will not be able to do anything to our brain.
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