Brain Fog: Causes and Cures
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the multifaceted nature of brain fog, a subjective experience ranging from mental fatigue to cognitive sluggishness. It delves into potential causes like psychological overwhelm, inflammation, and metabolic dysfunction, and highlights six evidence-based strategies to mitigate its effects. These include a thorough medical evaluation, regular exercise, improved sleep quality, addressing trauma, stabilizing metabolic health, and cognitive rehabilitation. The video underscores the importance of self-compassion and the role of a multidisciplinary approach in managing brain fog.
Takeaways
- 🧠 Brain fog is a subjective experience of cognitive impairment that can range from mental fatigue to full dissociation.
- 🌐 The term 'brain fog' has been used since the 1850s but gained prominence in the 1980s with conditions like chemo brain and chronic fatigue syndrome.
- 🔍 There's no specific diagnostic criteria for brain fog, but it's generally defined as a subjective cognitive phenomenon of perceived dysfunction.
- 🔎 The core issue of brain fog is disordered attention, leading to lack of concentration, forgetfulness, and memory complaints.
- 🏥 Brain fog can be caused by various factors including decreased blood flow to the brain, inflammation, trauma, metabolic deficiency, sleep issues, and medications.
- 🏋️♀️ Exercise is recommended to alleviate brain fog as it increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor and supports blood flow to the brain.
- 🌙 Improving sleep quality is crucial as sleep deprivation contributes to brain fog by disrupting the waste clearance process from brain cells.
- 🌱 Addressing trauma and grief can help reduce brain fog by freeing up cognitive resources and organizing the internal mental space.
- 🍽 Stabilizing metabolic health, including blood sugar levels and dietary habits, can improve brain fog symptoms.
- 💡 Cognitive rehabilitation by professionals like neuropsychologists can help manage cognitive symptoms by teaching compensation and coping strategies.
- 🙏 Practicing self-compassion and advocating for oneself with the medical team is important for individuals experiencing brain fog.
Q & A
What is brain fog and what does it involve?
-Brain fog is a subjective cognitive phenomenon characterized by perceived dysfunction such as mental fatigue, slow thinking, difficulty focusing, confusion, and haziness in the thought process. It can range from mild cognitive sluggishness to full dissociation, and it's essentially a clouding of consciousness that results in limited cognitive function.
When did the term 'brain fog' first appear, and how has its association evolved over time?
-The term 'brain fog' dates back to the 1850s, but it gained more attention in the 1980s and 1990s when it became associated with specific medical conditions like chemo brain, mommy brain, autoimmune conditions, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Recently, it has been increasingly linked to long COVID.
What are the six most common causes of brain fog as discussed in the script?
-The six most common causes of brain fog discussed are: 1) decreased blood flow to the brain, 2) inflammation and overactive immune response, 3) trauma and PTSD, 4) metabolic deficiency, 5) sleep deprivation, and 6) the effects of medications.
How is trauma related to brain fog, and why is it considered central to the condition for many people?
-Trauma is related to brain fog because it can lead to chronic inflammation and a constant state of fight or flight response, which can trigger a cognitive retreat from reality. Up to 90% of people with a trauma history report experiencing brain fog daily, making it central to the condition for many.
What role does metabolic deficiency play in causing brain fog?
-Metabolic deficiency, such as imbalances in blood sugar, hormones like thyroid, estrogen, and progesterone, can contribute to brain fog. Glucose is essential for brain cells, and imbalances can lead to symptoms of confusion and lack of concentration.
Why is sleep important in relation to brain fog, and what can disrupt sleep continuity?
-Sleep is crucial for clearing waste from brain cells and maintaining optimal cognitive function. Disruptions in continuous sleep, such as sleep apnea, anxiety, or other sleep disorders, can prevent the brain from going through all the necessary sleep stages, leading to cognitive impairments like brain fog.
How can medications contribute to brain fog, and what are some examples of medications that might cause it?
-Medications can contribute to brain fog by depressing signals in the brain, which can inhibit cognitive function. Examples include benzodiazepines, beta-blockers, painkillers, anti-seizure drugs, and certain antihistamines.
What are the top six evidence-based recommendations to address brain fog?
-The top six recommendations are: 1) a thorough medical workup, 2) regular exercise, 3) improving sleep quality, 4) addressing trauma and mental clutter, 5) stabilizing metabolic health, and 6) cognitive rehabilitation.
Why is addressing trauma and mental clutter important in treating brain fog?
-Addressing trauma and mental clutter is important because unresolved traumatic experiences can take up cognitive space, leading to a disorganized mental state. Processing these experiences with a trauma-informed therapist can free up cognitive resources and improve focus.
How can cognitive rehabilitation help with brain fog?
-Cognitive rehabilitation, provided by specialists like neuropsychologists, can help by identifying cognitive deficits and offering targeted interventions. This can teach individuals how to compensate, cope, set realistic goals, and manage expectations, ultimately improving cognitive function.
Outlines
🧠 Understanding Brain Fog
The paragraph introduces brain fog as a subjective experience with psychological, physiological, and metabolic roots. It ranges from mental fatigue to dissociation and is likened to a clouding of consciousness affecting cognitive function. The term's history is traced back to the 1850s, with increased attention in recent decades due to associations with conditions like chemo brain and chronic fatigue syndrome. The paragraph emphasizes the lack of diagnostic criteria and the recent scientific focus on brain fog, especially in relation to long COVID.
🩺 Exploring the Causes of Brain Fog
This paragraph delves into the potential causes of brain fog, which can vary greatly among individuals. It discusses how factors like chronic fatigue syndrome, inflammation, trauma, and metabolic deficiencies can contribute to the experience of brain fog. The paragraph also highlights the role of sleep and medication as potential contributors, emphasizing the complexity and subjectivity of brain fog's etiology.
🛑 Addressing Trauma and Its Impact on Brain Fog
The focus here is on trauma as a significant factor in brain fog, with a high percentage of individuals with trauma histories reporting daily brain fog. It discusses how trauma can lead to a constant state of fight or flight, resulting in chronic inflammation and cognitive issues. The paragraph also touches on the concept of learned coping mechanisms and how they can become automatic responses to stress, affecting cognitive clarity.
💊 Medications and Metabolic Health in Brain Fog
This paragraph explores how certain medications can inhibit brain signals and contribute to brain fog. It also addresses the importance of metabolic health, including blood sugar regulation, hormonal balance, and the impact of nutrition on cognitive function. The paragraph underscores the need to consider both medications and metabolic factors when addressing brain fog.
🌱 Strategies for Improving Brain Fog
The paragraph outlines evidence-based recommendations for alleviating brain fog. It emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive medical evaluation to identify underlying conditions, the benefits of regular exercise for brain health, and the significance of quality sleep for cognitive clarity. The paragraph also suggests the need for trauma-informed therapy to address unresolved issues and the role of cognitive rehabilitation in managing symptoms.
🌟 Encouragement and Community Support
In the concluding paragraph, the speaker encourages listeners to communicate their experiences with medical teams and to be advocates for their own health. There's an emphasis on self-compassion and the importance of rest, as well as an invitation for the community to share their experiences and strategies for managing brain fog. The speaker also invites viewers to subscribe to the channel for more brain health content.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Brain Fog
💡Cognitive Dysfunction
💡Orthostatic Intolerance
💡Inflammation
💡Trauma
💡Metabolic Deficiency
💡Sleep Deprivation
💡Medication Side Effects
💡Cognitive Rehabilitation
💡Self-Compassion
Highlights
Brain fog is a subjective experience with roots in psychological overwhelm, inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, nutrition, and sleep.
The term 'brain fog' dates back to the 1850s and became associated with medical conditions like chemo brain and chronic fatigue syndrome in the 1980s and 1990s.
Brain fog is now in the spotlight due to its association with long COVID, prompting increased scientific attention.
There's no diagnostic criteria for brain fog, but it is generally defined as a subjective cognitive phenomenon of perceived dysfunction.
At its core, brain fog is characterized by disordered attention and a decrease in working memory.
Brain fog can last for weeks, months, or even years, and its causes can vary widely among individuals.
Decreased blood flow to the brain, often associated with chronic fatigue syndrome, is a potential cause of brain fog.
Inflammation due to an overactive immune response can lead to brain fog by causing mild neural damage.
Trauma, including PTSD, is linked to chronic inflammation and can result in daily brain fog experiences.
Metabolic deficiencies, such as blood sugar imbalances, can contribute to brain fog by affecting brain cell function.
Sleep deprivation and disruption of sleep stages can lead to the slow and foggy feelings associated with brain fog.
Certain medications, including benzodiazepines and painkillers, can cause brain fog by depressing signals in the brain.
A multidisciplinary approach and optimal treatment of underlying medical conditions can improve brain fog.
Exercise, specifically in green spaces, has been shown to improve cognitive function and reduce brain fog.
Improving sleep quality through continuous sleep and addressing sleep disorders can alleviate brain fog.
Addressing the impact of trauma and grief through therapy can help clear mental clutter and reduce brain fog.
Stabilizing metabolic health, including blood sugar and hormone levels, is crucial for managing brain fog.
Cognitive rehab, provided by specialists, can help individuals with significant cognitive symptoms compensate and cope.
Self-compassion and recognizing the need for rest are essential for managing and treating brain fog.
Transcripts
[Music]
[Applause]
well hello there welcome back to another
ey care for your brain with board
certified neuroschistosomiasis
something else that is going on it's an
umbrella term for a group of
heterogeneous experiences that have
several
Roots psychological overwhelm
inflammation metabolic dysfunction
nutrition and sleep are what we're going
to focus on today the experience has a
spectrum so we can go from mental
fatigue all the way up to full
dissociation not really being present in
the here and now it's a feeling of the
gears grinding not enough room at the in
mental mud cognitively sluggish fuzzy
everybody seems to have their own
adjectives trying to make meaning of
this very subjective experience we can
see it after both extremes of a lot of
mental overstimulation but also times of
mental under stimulation it's
essentially a clouding of Consciousness
which results in limited cognitive
function not necessarily cognitive
impairment but it's almost like a
feeling a temporary inability to get
through to the information that you want
to sink your teeth into the term brain
fog actually goes back to the 1850s but
really we started to think about it in
the 188 1980s 1990s when it became
associated with some very specific
medical conditions like chemo brain
mommy brain autoimmune conditions but
really for a long time it was associated
with chronic fatigue syndrome presently
I'm hearing ing a lot about it as it
relates to long covid and in fact there
is a Dr Brennan a neuroscientist at
Trinity College in Dublin who said that
the best thing to come out of covid-19
for people with brain fog is that we now
have a spotlight on it and the
scientific Community is paying much more
attention to it so brain fog is a term
that means a little something different
to every person who's experiencing it
there's actually no diagnostic criteria
which has made it a poorly research
phenomenon until pretty recently but
there is an agreed upon General umbrella
definition which is subjective cognitive
phenomenon uh of perceived dysfunction
so that's kind of a a long- winded way
of talking about mental fatigue slow
thinking difficulty focusing confusion
and a haziness in the thought process
but at the core of brain frog is
disordered attention that is really the
issue it's a lack of concentration
that leads to the forgetfulness to the
memory complaints this is not a memory
disorder for the vast majority of people
this is a decrease in working memory
this is our ability to hold on to
information long enough to act on it to
manipulate it and to ultimately put it
into memory storage so if we are not
able to really focus on the here and now
we can get behind the eightball of
information and not get it all in so
when we go to recall it as a memory it
was never learned in the first place
brain fog can last for weeks months and
sometimes even years the good news is
that we have definitely made progress in
the scientific community and that's what
this lecture is all about so I'm going
to help you understand what we think are
the six most common causes and the six
most helpful things that science tells
us that you can do about it so let's
start with the causes well that's up for
debate and it's probably different for
different people in October 2021 a group
of researchers stud studied one week's
worth of Reddit posts about brain fog
they came up with
1,663 and the causes or the attributions
of the medical conditions related to
brain fog were just all over the map 50%
of them talked about different illnesses
different diseases most commonly long
covid depression autism autoimmune
conditions the effective medications
drug use discontinuation so most experts
believe this is actually right on target
that there's probably a dozen or so
different factors that can result in the
experience of brain fog so the the ask
of you as someone if you're experiencing
it or cares about someone who's
experiencing it is you are going to have
to go on a personal journey of figuring
out which one of these factors most
likely relates to you and the truth of
the matter is it's almost always going
to be more than one it's kind of a
perfect storm that has come together to
result and this very disabling it
doesn't you know get as much kind of um
acknowledgement or validation from
doctors because it's very subjective and
you can't measure it there's no blood
test for it even though there is one I'm
going to tell you about later that might
be helpful to infer uh as it relates to
inflammation but let's summarize what
scientist thinks are the six most common
causes so the first one has been related
to the chronic fatigue syndrome and this
is decreased blood flow to the brain so
what we used to think of as CFS chronic
fatigue syndrome we think about it a
little bit different now and we think
that it is caused by orthostatic
intolerance so orthostatic intolerance
is an inability to remain upright
without having some pretty strong
physiological changes specifically
cardiovascular symptom so a decrease in
blood pressure orthostatic hypotension
is the most common and often times this
is tied back to something called pots
postural tacac cardia syndrome when you
put these people into brain scanners
about 80% of them have a decreased blood
flow in frontal temporal parietal
occipital regions and some subcortical
areas which is basically the whole brain
compared to other people who do not have
these syndromes and in fact 85% of
people with this condition report
experiencing cognitive symptoms and many
studies show that the brain fog is
actually the most debilitating
disability inducing part of having
chronic fatigue or pots so that is
potentially one cause number two is
related to inflammation so brain fog can
be due to an overactive immune response
so this has me led many researchers to
thinking that inflammation has something
to do with it there is a heightened
immune reaction that kind of gums up the
neural works so to speak and leads to
kind of a a very mild type of brain
damage and and cell damage that in
interferes with the ability of brain
cells to send signals and communicate
back and forth to each other so this is
thought to be likely because we know
that after someone has any type of viral
infection or when someone has an
autoimmune condition they often have
this subjective experience of things
being hazy mentally or having that brain
fog experience so the immune system can
really go into overdrive and when the
body especially in autoimmune conditions
uh attacks healthy cells that that's
that's the essence of what it is this
can trigger a chronic inflammatory
response and that is um what many people
think it's tied back to now not only
autoimmune conditions or viral exposure
but also food sensitivities a lot of
people do have gluten sensitivity but
don't necessarily know it so some of the
scientific evidence we have for this is
if you track levels of inflammation in
the body they're very highly correlated
to higher complaints of brain fog so
specifically within our brain thinking
of
neuroinflammation this can be caused by
the constant activation of the
hypothalmus pituitary adrenal pathway
which is essentially our fight ORF
flight response if we're staying in a
constant state of activation at the
ready our immune system is ready to
fight anything comes in and go on the
attack and get the Invader this is going
to lead to a constant state of
inflammation now for some people it is a
physical enemy that is being targeted so
a bacteria um but for some of us it's
actually a psychic enemy which gets us
to number three and this is trauma and
this is what I think is at the heart of
brain fog for a lot of people 90% of
people with a trauma history report
having brain fog every single day so
trauma is essentially when more is
required of you from the environment
then you have the capacity to give it's
a very broad definition but it often
comes along with feelings of
helplessness a feeling like you're being
trapped in some way either physically
being trapped by a situation or also
mentally trapped with nowhere to go no
one to trust no one to give you a safe
environment to let you let your guard
down so PTSD in addition to being a
trauma based disorder that has a lot of
anxiety with characteristic symptoms of
avoidance reexperiencing
hypervigilance negative mood and
cognition also relates to chronic
inflammation this can be kind of like a
hardwired state of always being prepared
always being ready to get into that
fight or flight response which means
your stress hormones like cortisol are
going to stay very very high even one
dose of cortisol given to an animal or a
human in a laboratory study lowers the
person's attention their ability to
attend to their immediate environment
this can also be due to kind of a
learned Co opening skill which is the
conscious ability to remove yourself
from an environment so this can be when
a situation was overwhelming at some
point in our development we had to learn
the ability to retreat from reality into
ourselves this can first happen under
conscious control but decades and
Decades of doing it what I often see is
people coming to me in their 50s and 60s
who are saying this is now happening
beyond my control and it feels like a
cognitive disorder it feels like a
memory problem but really it's just that
we've lost the flexibility of the system
and now it doesn't take very much to
retreat into that response and so we we
have limits there is a limit for how
much human beings can absorb in terms of
maltreatment and uh neglect and Trauma
and and Trauma is cumulative so
sometimes the thing that winds up
pushing you over the edge and makes
these coping skills come back with a
vengeance and not under your control
isn't the wor wor thing that ever
happened to you sometime it's it just is
symbolic of something that happened in
the past or it just is like a final
straw and and there's a certain psychic
breaking point that people have which
then is our opportunity to more deeply
heal number four is metabolic deficiency
so we can think about this like uh blood
sugar we can think about this as
hormones we can think about this like
things like thyroid estrogen
progesterone but for most people blood
sugar actually has a lot to do with
brain fog so glucose is essential for
brain cells to be able to do their job
but we have no ability to store glucose
in neurons for anything more than about
10 minutes so we need a constant Supply
and for brain cells to optim optimally
function there's a range of glucose that
it wants and when it's too low there's
symptoms and when it's too high there's
symptoms so anytime we're outside of
this range we are going to have the
subjective experience of not being fully
aware and cognizant and being able to
concentrate we also know that this can
be nutritional right low levels of iron
have been something that is associated
with long covid this can be hormonal
about 46% of people who came into a
clinic saying they had brain fog did
have clinically diagnosable
hypothyroidism and 10 to 15% of them
continued to report those symptoms even
when they were optimally treated with
levo thyroid
we also know if estrogen or progesterone
is too low or too high this can also
lead to cloudy thinking the fifth one is
sleep sleep deprivation in all its
different flavors contributes to these
slow and foggy feelings sleep promotes
the clearance of waste from brain cells
removing the debris that can hamper
neuros signaling and many things can
disrupt continuous sleep we don't have a
set amount of time that is prop sleep
for the brain but most people are going
to require about 8 hours and what we're
really looking for is continuous sleep
where you can go through all the stages
and have completion and graduate to the
next level but many things interrupt
that unfolding of the sleep stages and
what happens is if you get to go back to
sleep you have to start at the front of
the line you don't get to go back into
the deep sleep that maybe you were in
when you woke up many things happen in
the sleep even if we're not in a deep
sleep it's like a super super stage one
sleep you might not have any idea what's
actually getting in the way of sleep
it's very commonly can be anxiety we do
a great job of avoiding things during
the day but at night when our head hits
the pillow it's like gosh it's so vivid
it's so real and our coping skills are
at their worst because we're tired from
the day many people have sleep apnea and
have no idea that when they get into
deep REM sleep they actually stop
breathing and and have an alarm system
go off in their brain and they're all
night long dozens if not hundreds of
times waking up from that deep
restorative sleep many many things can
interfere with sleep it's always a
really important thing to look at and
the sixth one is medications this is
something neuropsychologists always take
a good look at because many common
medications the way they work is through
inhibition by depressing signals in the
brain so when I see a patient I'm always
looking at their medication list if they
have complaints of brain fog for
benzodiazapines beta lockers painkillers
the most common ones that would cause me
to pause are Gabapentin Xanax clopin
Valium ambian amitryptiline
nortryptiline and also anti-seizure
drugs so lamal kepra lria Topamax
especially over 100 milligrams and
finally pain medications I've been
seeing a significant increase in
patients on morphine recently and they
come in saying they can't think clearly
in their memory stinks and it's related
to the drugs it's not an easy fix though
because chronic pain guess what also can
cause brain fog so it's just a matter of
being aware so you can advocate for your
very best care and the final one is
antihistamines this tends to be more of
the first generation so badril Vil
things like clariden zertek they don't
have the same risks to cognition but the
early antihistamines really inhibit the
action of something called acetycholine
in the brain which is essential for for
Activation and the ability to learn new
information now here's the thing it
might not just be one medication that is
the culprit it can be the cumulative
effect of multiple medications this
becomes more of a concern as we get
older and older so if you are over the
age of 65 and you take more than five
medications you are at high risk for
poly Pharmacy and medication related
cognitive changes in part this is
because we get prescribed more
medications as we get older but also our
liver and our kidneys undergo
significant aging and they're not as
optimally functioning as they once were
and we also tend to lose muscle mass
which means that the the medications
we're at our core a little bit more
dehydrated and they just become more
potent so a lot of times when people are
lucky enough to see a geriatrician they
wind up going down in their milligrams
of medications because as we age we know
that they just become more powerful less
become more so now we're going to
transition into the top six
evidence-based recommendations that are
thought to be cures for brain fog there
is actually not a lot of data my job is
to go through a large amount of
scientific information synthesize it and
repeat it back to you in a way that I
think is helpful and understandable and
there's really two strategies that I see
in the literature the first one is a
multidisciplinary approach that
increases overall wellness and I'm going
to tell tell you exactly what that is
and
simultaneously researching and optimally
treating any underlying medical
conditions that I had talked about at
the beginning of the lecture when people
do these two things combined it can take
about three months for people to see
Improvement but I definitely think brain
fog in the vast majority of people is
treatable it's certainly improvable so
the first one is a great medical workup
you have to do your job of communicating
to a receptive respectful medical
provider what's going on with you and
detailing your symptoms and we want them
to do a very good laboratory panel for
vitamin deficiencies autoimmune
conditions thyroid issues other hormone
issues and infection the thing that you
can request that will give us kind of an
indirect understanding to answer the
inflammation question is a c reactive
protein test which is non-specific in a
sense but it will at least give you and
your doctor a little bit of objective
information to work on the number two
recommendation is exercise it just comes
back time and time again in the very
best research studies and in part we
think this is beneficial because it
increases brain derived neurotrophic
Factor AKA brain fertilizer exercise
also supports the increased blood flow
to the brain it helps repair and enhance
the performance of those connections
between the cells so 30 minutes every
day for at least 5 days a week is the
recommendation for brain fog and there
seems to be an additional benefit if you
do your physical movement in green
spaces I read some really nice research
that talked about when you combine being
outdoors uh with exercise that you
actually get a little bit of a boost in
addition to just doing exercise alone
inside or in a gym number three is to
really try to improve the quality of
your sleep like I said before there's no
set amount of hours for us it's very
personal it probably has something to do
with the genetics of something called
adenosine in the brain which is how well
efficiently we break down the byproduct
of neurons working all day um some of us
are slow clearer outers and others are
very very efficient we all know those
people who swear they get by on four to
five hours of sleep um most people
though need about 8 hours if not longer
if you feel like you're sleep may be one
of the culprits a very very easy thing
to do is request a sleep study from your
primary care physician one night of
commitment either going into a sleep lab
or nowadays you can actually do them at
home pretty easily is well worth getting
an objective insight into what is
actually going on with your stages of
sleep I mean we have so many Sleep
Disorders sleep apnea being very common
we have restless leg syndrome there's
insomnia there's REM sleep disorder
uh there's so many different things that
can go wrong that once we know what the
target is then we're actually able to
offer you more personal care number four
gets back to what I think is at the
heart of this for a lot of us is the
cumulative impact of trauma and grief
and loss like I said before we can spend
a lot of time suppressing because we
don't have the ability to handle
thoughts memories emotions images anger
guilt grudges that we don't have the
bandwidth to process directly uh and we
might not even be aware of how much of
our Vital cognitive energy is going to
keeping these things status quo on the
inside we may not have any room in our
brain to process anything else there is
this new concept of mental clutter that
I think is very very helpful as a
metaphor for kind of poorly processed
unresolved traumatic life experiences
they build up and they take up space and
they are cloaked we may not really know
what they're all about but they are
existing and needing some attention to
stay calm and it takes up very important
cognitive real estate so talking about
what's happened to you in a safe place
with a trauma informed therapist can
release that energy to open you up to
have more space to focus on the here and
now when you do that your internal world
becomes more organized and that's really
at the heart of what I think brain fog
is for a lot of us is a disorganized
mental space so when we become more
integrated with our trauma and our
current life we become more organized
less chaotic internally and we're freed
up to actually have more Focus number
five is stabilizing our metabolic Health
focusing on blood sugar so reactive
hypoglycemia is a drop in blood sugar
that happens about 4 hours after we eat
and it's very much associated in
laboratory studies with confusion and
light headedness we also want to make
sure we're really uh getting our brain
vitamins so all of the B vitamins when
they're even just a little bit low have
been shown to contribute to brain fog
and even a little bit a modest amount of
pro-inflammatory foods in our diet and
these subtle hormonal changes can also
cause The Chronic mental fatigue in the
bra Rin fog we're talking about so you
want to try to move to eating Foods in
their closest to original form that they
come into from nature anything that is
shelf stable really try to work on
getting that out of your diet you want
to eat foods that are as fresh as
possible and really focusing on gut
health because we know the gut and the
brain are connected through millions of
neurons via the Vegas nerve there is a
lot going on between your diet and the
clarity of your thoughts number six is
cognitive rehab this is actually an
underutilized treatment option for
people with significant cognitive
symptoms so this can be provided by a
neuropsychologist occupational therapist
or a speech and language pathologist it
starts off with an assessment that
identifies exactly where the cognitive
deficit is happening and then targeted
interventions can go into helping you
learn how to compensate learn how to
cope how to set realistic goals how to
help manage expectations
many of us may also have a disconnect
between what we think is a productive
day and what we're actually capable of
many of us tend to go go go go go uh
until the point where we actually
exhaust ourselves and then we need kind
of a catch-up period of restoration
which creates this really bad cycle of
never being fully present you're either
like hyperfocusing and burning yourself
out or you're totally
so what we recommend is for every 2
hours of intense work you take at least
a 20 minute break to do the opposite
action so if you're sitting we want you
up if you're at a screen we want you
looking at a big Vista if you're
stressed we want you doing some deep
breathing you want to try to do the
opposite physiological
reaction in closing I want you to do
your part in communicating to your
medical team what's going on with you
you are absolutely worth it the more you
know from science-based lectures like
this the more you can go in on an even
playing field and advocate for yourself
to get the work up and the treatment
that you need finally I want to say
please be easy on yourself if this is
something that you're going through this
is a
extremely challenging uh Modern Life
that we're living it's a challenging
time of year and brain frog requires a
lot of self-compassion we are a society
of doers accomplishers there is a place
for that but at the end of the day we
are also human beings you probably heard
that before uh and there really is a
time and a place to truly rest and some
of us we're resisting or unable to get
that actual deep rest that we need that
is required to be productive we have to
have both you can't go too long without
one or the other without having some
cognitive consequences so I would love
to know in the comments what has worked
for you remember we are a community of
Learners and brain health supporters
here so if you have Lear learn something
positive that is been beneficial for
your brain fog let me know so I can
share it with my patients this is the
very best that I have to offer you as a
neuropsychologist but I am very open to
learning from your experiences if you
haven't subscribed to our Channel please
do that we're up to about 880,000
International Learners which is
phenomenal I have been doing this for
almost six years now and I try to get in
here once a week and offer you a free
high quality in-depth evidence-based
brain health lecture if you appreciate
that just let me know that that's the
only thanks that we need take care
everybody and I'll see you next time
bye
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