It is not psychological; it is physiological and requires a nuanced treatment approach. Depending on the cause of your brain fog, you may experience other symptoms in addition to the general clouding of consciousness. Brain fog may be mild with minimal impact on your ability to work or interact. However, in some, can be pronounced, interfering with speech, performance, and quality of life. For example, if you have anemia, iron supplements may increase your production of red blood cells and reduce your brain fog. You should let a doctor know about other symptoms you might have.
Why Brain Fog Happens and Tips to Stop It
Lowering your dosage or switching to another drug may improve your symptoms. With your FREE subscription, you get immediate access to our exclusive articles as well as product offers and opportunities that let you stay ahead of the curve. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to get my brain working to the way it did before so I could start living a productive lifestyle, but I’ve been having a lot of trouble regaining my mental focus. I’ve seen some improvement after months of meditation and fixing my daily routine, but my focus is still not coming back to a degree that I want.
What are the causes of brain fog?
Furthermore, it weakens the brain’s default mode network, which is essential for introspection and long-term planning. Pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-alpha, and CRP can cross the blood-brain barrier and activate microglial cells, the brain’s immune defenders. When microglia are constantly activated, they begin to damage neurons, disrupt neurotransmitter balance, and inhibit synaptic plasticity. This creates a neurological environment where it is difficult for the brain to focus, remember, or recover from stress. By Michelle PugleMichelle Pugle writes health articles for award-winning websites, as seen in Healthline, Verywell, Everyday Health, and Psych Central. For personalized guidance, consult your healthcare provider, registered dietitian nutritionist (RD or RDN), or pharmacist.
Brain Rest After Concussion: Essential Recovery Strategies for Optimal Healing
They can help identify any underlying issues and guide you toward more effective treatments. The sensation of your brain turning to mush is not just a colorful expression—it’s a legitimate physiological and psychological experience. Understanding the brain is mush meaning helps validate the challenges faced by millions and provides a roadmap for healing. Whether your cognitive fog stems from stress, sleep deprivation, inflammation, poor diet, or underlying illness, there are actionable steps you can take to regain clarity and strength. One of the most common symptoms of burnout mind is mush is cognitive fatigue—feeling mentally drained, forgetful, or emotionally numb.
Dietary changes may increase a person’s energy levels and improve mental focus. Some people experience an increase in heart rate and Sobriety lower blood pressure when standing up. This is a condition doctors call postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
Causes of Overthinking
It’s like upgrading your brain’s operating system – everything just works better. Chronic inflammation is increasingly recognized as a key driver of neurodegeneration and cognitive dysfunction. When people describe their brain as feeling mushy or turning to mush, systemic inflammation may be part of the picture.
- People often refer to these thought patterns as racing thoughts, and the most common cause is anxiety, says Fairlee Fabrett, PhD, a psychologist at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital.
- But you can take steps to improve your mental and physical health to reduce your risk of symptoms becoming bothersome.
- This can be a tiring and overwhelming feeling, especially if you have a lot of obligations on your plate.
Ben did not have a brain tumor, a migrating blood clot or stroke. This possibility didn’t occur to me since I didn’t know that migraines can mimic serious neurological symptoms. Ben’s migraines were indeed from hell, but this diagnosis was a huge relief. You’ve probably observed that when you feel anxious, your thinking center may shrink to the size of a pinto bean. Often we can identify a high level of anxiety as the culprit responsible for a temporary brain glitch. We conclude that we’re frightened and anxious rather than the victim of a plummeting I.Q.
Join 10,000+ biohackers who get the latest research, exclusive offers, and brain-boosting tips—every week. Always remember that every one of us is larger and more complex than the mischief of anxiety, fear, and shame may have us believe. I headed toward the school sick to my stomach, searching unsuccessfully for any medical explanation less disastrous than the ones I had come up with.
The Hidden Cause of Your Brain Fog
Assuming the worst and jumping to incorrect conclusions can lead to arguments and conflicts with other people. Obsessing about every little thing other people do and say can also mean that you misunderstand what they are trying to convey. This form of overthinking happens when you base a rule or expectation for the future on a single or random event from the past. Instead of accepting that different outcomes are possible, you might assume that certain things will “always” or “never” happen. In this case, overgeneralizing one event from the past to every event in the future often leads to overthinking and worrying about things that might never occur.
- One of the ways inflammation manifests is through fatigue and fogginess.
- You might lose your train of thought in the middle of a conversation.
- There are also different types of overthinking that a person might engage in.
- Your brain needs uninterrupted time to think, integrate, and create.
- Regular workouts increase blood flow to the brain, promote the growth of new neurons, and release feel-good chemicals that can help clear away the mental cobwebs.
- Instead of looking at both the good and the bad, you might analyze an event only in terms of it being a total success or a total failure.
- The hospital was only a couple of minutes away, but I doubted my ability to find my way there, locate the emergency entrance, park, and sign my name.
- Many of these are caused by cognitive distortions, which are negative or distorted ways of thinking.
- In this case, overgeneralizing one event from the past to every event in the future often leads to overthinking and worrying about things that might never occur.
- After all, a clear and focused mind is one of our greatest assets in tackling life’s challenges and seizing its opportunities.
It also differs from delirium, which causes extreme confusion and disorientation. A key feature of brain fog is that a person feels like they should be able to think more clearly, and can be quite subtle. Electrolytes are obtained through food and beverages, and imbalances can occur due to dehydration, excessive sweating, certain medical conditions, or a diet lacking in these minerals. If you’re dealing with a chronic illness, brain fog might be more than an occasional inconvenience.