Who hasn’t experienced this? After a long evening with friends or a wonderful night of dancing — on nights like these you might feel completely wiped out the next day, making it hard to think clearly. But you quickly recover.
Not so with Brain Fog. The brain fog permanently envelops your thoughts like an impenetrable cloud. It’s a state where mental clarity and concentration are particularly impaired. Imagine you’re the captain of your thinking ship, but you can no longer see where you’re steering! It’s as if the little thought clouds in your head decide to form a blockade.
Various symptoms of Brain Fog include:
Difficulty concentrating
Memory problems
Slowed thinking processes
Mental exhaustion
Fatigue
Lack of motivation
Confusion
Irritability
Disorientation
Word-finding difficulties
Brain Fog — the slow-motion, foggy rollercoaster for your brain — feels like trying to navigate through a thought supernova fog. You realize you’re not functioning at 100%, but you don’t know why. Those affected describe the feeling as living unintentionally with the handbrake on. Even routine tasks like shopping or cleaning become difficult. Memory becomes unreliable, consciousness is disrupted, and quality of life is diminished. This often leads to severe emotional distress.
How can Brain Fog be diagnosed?
Despite the symptoms described above, diagnosing Brain Fog isn’t easy, as many of its characteristics are also common in other illnesses.
Moreover, the exact cause of Brain Fog is still the subject of scientific research and debate. Possible reasons might include inflammation in the brain, narrowed blood vessels, and the resulting insufficient supply of oxygen and nutrients to affected brain areas. This clouding of consciousness can also occur in the context of or as a consequence of illness — for example, after a COVID-19 infection.
Other possible causes of Brain Fog include:
Lack of sleep: Insufficient or restless sleep impairs cognitive functions, leading to memory problems, reduced thinking ability, and poor concentration.
An unbalanced diet, especially a lack of important nutrients like vitamin B12, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids, can also lead to brain fog. A healthy diet is crucial for optimal brain function.
Chronic stress: It can overwhelm the brain and trigger cognitive impairments. Stress hormones like cortisol can affect brain activity and cause Brain Fog.
Even mild dehydration can inhibit brain activity. Water is crucial for maintaining cell function in the brain, and a lack can lead to problems.
In addition to an unhealthy lifestyle, viral infections, hormonal changes such as pregnancy or menopause, alcohol or drug abuse, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, or depression can also cause brain fog.
A specialist can make a diagnosis
A study supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Cancer Institute found that in cases of Brain Fog, the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter known as the happiness hormone, is reduced (Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services https://covid19.nih.gov/news-and-stories/shining-light-long-covid-brain-fog). Serotonin helps transmit messages to nerve connections in the brain and supports, among other things, memory storage. Researchers found that those who recovered from a SARS-CoV-2 infection but suffered from Brain Fog had much lower serotonin levels than other people after the illness. They concluded that COVID-19 apparently attacks serotonin production, which can lead to Brain Fog. This insight could help doctors better identify and treat the condition by testing important biomarkers.
The American psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Mike Dow wrote about Brain Fog and possible treatments long before the coronavirus pandemic. As early as 2015, he talked about “scatterbrain” or brain fog and even called Brain Fog a new epidemic. He believes that our brain doesn’t get the support it needs due to an unhealthy lifestyle to produce the essential brain chemicals — serotonin, dopamine, and cortisol — that keep us energized and focused. In his view, balance could be restored naturally without medication so that brain chemistry reaches optimal levels again.
Strategies for coping and prevention
In any case, it is important to determine whether the cause is psychological stress or a physical illness. Brain checks or vascular checks using various imaging techniques can help detect possible reduced blood flow to the brain or a reduced brain metabolism. In addition to brain function tests, neurological examinations with cognitive function tests and lab diagnostics can also support the diagnosis.
However, research is still often conducted in the fog, so to speak. The good news: Brain Fog is reversible in most cases and does not cause any permanent structural brain damage or severe inflammation. However, there is no medication yet that can quickly eliminate this nebulous state.
To clear the fog and regain clarity, energy, and joy of life, it is recommended to alleviate the symptoms with various measures. These mainly focus on lifestyle changes, including a balanced and nutrient-rich diet, sufficient hydration, and moderate physical activity adapted to the current condition of the body.
Changes don’t happen overnight. Sometimes it helps to note the new behaviors in a calendar: How much sleep did I get today? How many steps or minutes did I move? How much did I drink? How did I feel after more sleep, more exercise, adequate hydration? Then, after a few weeks, you can read whether the changes have led to an improvement, like in a self-conducted study.
In addition to a vitamin-rich diet, exercise, a good sleep routine, and limited alcohol (since it can affect brain function and thinking ability), it’s also important to check the side effects of any medication you’re taking.
Brain Fog is a complex phenomenon. If symptoms persist or are severe, it is always advisable to see a doctor to rule out or identify possible underlying psychological or physical conditions.
Important note:
Our articles only provide general information and advice. They are not intended for self-diagnosis, self-treatment, or self-medication and do not replace a visit to the doctor.