When people begin to experience this
symptom
they usually describe at least one or
all
of the following. Feeling an overall lack
of mental clarity;
finding it difficult to concentrate on
anything even
for short periods of time; feeling
confused;
feeling like they are stupid; feeling
disorientated; spaced out or unreal;
being forgetful; and sometimes even
feeling
like your head is going to explode.
Today, I want to explore what causes
anxiety related brain fog.
The short answer is stress, but there is
a lot more to it than just that. First of
all,
what usually happens is, we engage in a
fearful behavior.
Fearful behavior can involve imagining a
bad
outcome or worst case scenario in an
upcoming
situation or event. These kinds of
behavior
trigger the release of stress hormones
into the body
and we are left feeling anxiety.
The feeling of anxiety makes us feel
uncomfortable
and we try our best to get the anxious
feelings
to go away, which only serves to create
more stress. We then either nervously
perform in the situation
or avoid it altogether. The stress
hormones in our body
then creates symptoms, in this case,
your brain fog. This is basically a
result
of the fear center of our brain
overriding
the rational thinking part of our brain.
If we were about to be attacked by a
bear it would not serve any useful
purpose
to be able to think clearly, standing
there trying to logically deduct
whether this bear was a threat or not.
At this time the amygdala, aka the
emotion and fear center of your brain
will instinctively kick in and override
the pre-frontal cortex,
the logical and rational part of your
brain,
and also the hippocampus, the area of the
brain responsible for learning
and memory. The more imminent the threat
the quicker
this entire process happens. If our
amygdala
did not suppress our prefrontal cortex
and hippocampus
we would continue to logically weigh up
the situation
and instead of reacting quickly we would
continue to stand there
subsequently resulting in us getting
seriously injured or killed
by the bear. This is one situation
where you need your instincts to kick in
at lightning speed
so you can get out of there as quickly
as possible.
Assuming you want to live, thinking
clearly at this point
will not be in your best interest.
Brain fog can also be exacerbated by
ingesting
sugar, at least it did for me.
I am sure you have often experienced
feeling brain fog
after a long and stressful day but you
still need to keep yourself
going, and in order to get more energy
you instinctively go to the fridge for a
soda, some chocolate,
or some other high sugar source.
While this temporary spike in your blood
sugar makes you feel more alert in the
moment,
it will inevitably lead to your blood
sugar dropping,
resulting in more brain fog. If we reach
for the sugar again
when we experience this drop in our
blood sugar we are creating a vicious
and repetitive
cycle of our blood sugar going up and
down and up and down.
The more we do this the more we will
experience
inconsistent moods, mood swings, and of
course
more brain fog. Okay, so what can I do to
eliminate
brain fog, you might ask? As our anxiety
and elevated stress
is the primary cause of our brain fog, we
need to first reduce
our anxiety and stress. We need to do
this by telling ourselves that the event
or situation we are fearful of
will go well and that if it doesn't that
we can handle
any possible outcomes. we can even have
an attitude of welcoming
the anxiety. I personally like to use the
mantra,
"Come on, bring it on!" Fearing your anxiety
is the same
as feeding it. If you welcome it you are
in fact
helping to disarm the anxiety's power
over you.
Reducing our fearful behavior over time
will reduce the amount of stress
hormones
we are releasing into our body. Because
we have reduced the amount of stress
hormones being released into our body
the frequency and intensity of our
symptoms, in this case, the brain fog
will also reduce and eventually fade
away.
Okay, back to the sugar. On top of this
what can really help is to reduce our
sugar intake as much as possible
we also need to reduce the amount of
times we spike
our blood sugar. The less times we spike
our blood sugar
the less we will experience the
inevitable blood
sugar crash, resulting in more even
blood sugar levels. The more even our
blood sugar is
the less stress we are placing on our
body, which will subsequently help to
improve our
overall stress and reduce the frequency
and intensity of our brain fog.
It will also help to reduce and perhaps
eliminate stimulants such as caffeine,
alcohol, and tobacco. Believe it or not
but all these stimulants
create significant stress for our body.
You will probably feel a withdrawal
resulting in more anxiety temporarily
but over time reducing or eliminating
them
will ultimately result in a more relaxed
body and mind.
I found it helpful to reduce one at a
time and I personally no longer drink
alcohol or smoke tobacco.
However, I do still enjoy the occasional
cappuccino.
At the end of the day though, it's about
discovering what
works best for you. The more we reduce
our anxiety and stress levels
in any area of our life, it will have a
positive impact
on how we feel, eventually leading to a
low
level of stress with brain fog no longer
being an issue in our life.
If you want to take things a step
further, you can really start practicing
thinking logically about even very small
areas in your life.
The more you can practice this the more
your prefrontal cortex will suppress the
amygdala,
resulting in feeling calmer, feeling more
assured,
with an increased ability to be more
logical, and
overall less stress. The less stress,
the less brain fog. If you would like to
share what has helped you with your
brain fog
please feel free to leave a comment and
don't forget to subscribe.
Thanks for watching.
you