Brain fog is a state of decreased cognitive functioning that typically makes a person’s thinking feel “fuzzy.” It can be a symptom of anxiety, as well as other underlying mental health or medical conditions. Brain fog can often be managed with lifestyle changes and stress management, but may require mental health or medical treatment of the root cause.
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Understanding Brain Fog
Brain fog is a general term that includes many symptom experiences, including decreased cognitive functioning, memory struggles, concentration issues, and difficulty with multitasking or task switching. Depending on the cause of the brain fog, symptoms can last anywhere from a few hours to months. Brain fog has been described as feeling mentally “fuzzy,” scatterbrained, or even disconnected from what is happening around you.
Common symptoms associated with brain fog include:
- Decreased concentration/easily distracted
- Trouble focusing
- Confusion
- Fatigue
- Decreased thought organization
- Sluggish or hazy thinking
- Forgetfulness
- Trouble with word recollection
- Memory impairment (both short and long-term)
- Decreased ability to multitask
- Trouble with decision-making
- Difficulty learning new skills
- Slowed response time
- Decrease in mental clarity and alertness
Is Brain Fog The Same As Mental Fatigue?
Brain fog can be a result of mental fatigue, but it does not necessarily always come from it. Mental fatigue refers to a state of cognitive exhaustion that results from ongoing stress,1 which can result in brain fog. However, sometimes brain fog can also be caused by an underlying mental health condition or medical condition.
Possible Causes of Brain Fog
Brain fog can be the result of a variety of mental health conditions and underlying physical medical conditions. Because brain fog is often a result of fatigue (both mental and physical) and neuroinflammation,2 there are many conditions that include brain fog as a possible symptom.
Some possible causes of brain fog include:
- Lack of sleep3,4
- Diet5
- Hormonal changes6,7
- Medications8
- COVID & Long COVID9
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome11
- Fibromyalgia11
- Dementia
- Sleep apnea
- Autoimmune disorders
- Depression
- Anxiety
Can Anxiety Cause Brain Fog?
Anxiety demands a ton of mental resources. Using extra mental energy to try to focus on a task in addition to anxious thoughts, self-doubt and second-guessing, and the impact on your nervous system when stressful thoughts intrude without warning are all anxiety-based things that can lead to mental fatigue that ultimately leads to brain fog. To add to the mental fatigue, anxiety has also been shown to directly impair a person’s working memory.10
The hormones that are produced because of anxiety also play a role in developing anxiety-induced brain fog. Anxiety is based on fear, which triggers your fight-or-flight survival mode. When this happens, your body produces adrenaline, cortisol, and norepinephrine in order to be able to respond to the threat. If these hormones are happening too often and/or in excess amounts, they can exhaust the brain and lead to brain fog.
Anxiety Coexisting Conditions & Brain Fog
While brain fog can be a symptom that stems from anxiety, they can also coexist with other disorders. Anxiety and brain fog are symptoms that often trouble people who have chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.11 It has also been shown that anxiety and brain fog are often the long-term effects of a COVID-19 infection.12
There are also other conditions that can coexist with anxiety and contribute to brain fog. Depression often coexists with anxiety and can cause depression-induced brain fog through fatigue and low mood and motivation. Insomnia regularly co-occurs with an anxiety disorder and can contribute to brain fog because of lack of sleep. Managing co-occurring disorders is also important in reducing brain fog’s impact.
Options For Anxiety Treatment
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How to Cope With Anxiety Brain Fog
Anxiety-induced brain fog can be an exhausting and disruptive symptom to deal with in your day-to-day functioning, but there are things that you can do to manage your anxiety and your brain fog. Focusing on managing your overall anxiety and stress levels is important, as is managing any specific contributing factors that are exacerbating your brain fog.
Here are 10 ways to cope with anxiety brain fog:
1. Find The Source Of The Anxiety Brain Fog
Dealing with managing the brain fog itself can be helpful, but if you aren’t identifying and addressing the root cause of the brain fog, then you may just be creating more work for yourself over the long run. Address your concerns with your medical doctor, any mental health professionals you may be working with, and remain open to any of the possibilities of potential underlying causes for your anxiety-induced brain fog until you have definitively ruled them out.
2. Get More Sleep
Not getting enough sleep impacts thinking, concentration, attention, ability to retain information, and reaction time. Prioritize getting enough sleep and improving the quality of your sleep. Make sure that you are keeping your sleep hygiene in mind as well. Developing a wind-down routine, sticking to a sleep schedule, improving your sleep environment, managing stress around bedtime, and managing any underlying medical sleep conditions could help manage or reduce your brain fog during the day.
3. Spend Time Doing Things You Enjoy
While it’s important to focus on reducing or eliminating things that could be causing stress and anxiety, it’s also important to pay attention to adding things to increase enjoyment in your life. Engaging with hobbies that you enjoy has been shown to reduce stress and cortisol levels, as well as an overall sense of improved well-being.13 This could include creative outlets of painting and writing, physical things like a walking club or team sport, or solo things such as reading and baking.
4. Meditate
Meditation is the practice of mental mindfulness that focuses attention on a particular thought or activity to induce an emotionally calm and stable state. There is research evidence that suggests regular meditation practice can reduce a person’s experience of anxiety,14 which means that it can also help reduce anxiety-based brain fog. The key for meditation to be helpful in reducing symptoms is consistent daily practice.
5. Get Some Exercise
Exercise can directly help your mental health. Getting regular exercise has been shown to improve overall brain functioning, but to also manage possible anxiety and/or depression as well.15 The CDC recommends 150 minutes of movement a week and 2 days of muscle-strengthening activities per week, but ultimately, getting any level of movement is better than none.16 Walking, swimming, biking, and yoga are all viable options, and your options are virtually limitless.
6. Develop A Stress Management Plan
Stress is a normal part of life and cannot be avoided altogether, but having a stress management plan to deal with stress regularly and in moments of high stress can help manage anxiety and the brain fog that may come with it. Identifying your stress triggers, focusing on things within your control, regularly engaging in stress-releasing and relaxing activities, nourishing your body and relationships, and doing things you enjoy are all helpful things to include in your stress management plan.
7. Rule out Medical Issues
While brain fog can be a symptom of underlying anxiety, it is important to ensure that you rule out other underlying medical issues. Speaking with a medical provider about differential diagnosis can help to rule out other medical conditions that may be causing brain fog, such as dementia, sleep apnea, or autoimmune disease, among others.17
8. Take A Break
Focusing on tasks for extended periods without taking breaks can result in fatigue and increased stress that may trigger or worsen brain fog. Planning regular breaks throughout your day – even if they are microbreaks – can make a huge difference in managing anxiety and brain fog. Use your break to engage in something totally different than your task that feels soothing. In addition to a regular frequency of breaks, try to listen to your body and also take breaks when you are feeling anxiety spike.
9. Moderate Substances (Such as Caffeine and Alcohol)
While caffeine may temporarily increase focus, and alcohol may temporarily reduce feelings of anxiety, these substances can actually end up increasing brain fog – particularly if you are drinking consistently and/or in large amounts. If you are experiencing brain fog, working to reduce your intake of mood-altering substances over time can help you reduce or target treatment of your anxiety-based brain fog.
10. Get Social
Although anxiety and brain fog can make it feel difficult to engage in and stay present when you’re around others, maintaining contact with safe social contacts is incredibly important. Being around trusted support people can help reduce a person’s feelings of isolation and lack of support, which can help to reduce anxiety and the brain fog that may accompany it.
When to Seek Professional Help
If you have managed or eliminated residual factors that could be causing your brain fog and it is still negatively impacting your ability to function every day, it may be time to work with a professional on the anxiety that may be causing your brain fog.
If you are ready and open to begin addressing your anxiety, finding the right mental health professional(s) is key. To begin searching for a therapist, using an online therapist directory or online therapy platform could be a beneficial place to start. It’s possible that medication could also be helpful in managing your anxiety, and there are many online psychiatrist options to help you in your search.
In My Experience
Additional Resources
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