Has your mind ever felt fuzzy, dissociated or like you can’t think or make up sentences for what you want to convey? That can be a symptom of brain fog.
Brain Fog
Brain fog generally refers to cognitive dysfunction and sluggishness that impair a person’s memory, mental clarity and ability to focus. It’s called so because it actually feels like a barrier or fog between you and your thoughts. Brain fog makes you feel disconnected from everything and makes it difficult to focus. You might feel like your mind is muddled and your memory is distorted like you are unable to access your brain.
Symptoms of Brain Fog
Brain fog isn’t an official disorder, however, it can be a cluster of symptoms, which are as follows:
- - Physical and mental fatigue
- - Inability to focus
- - Confusion
- - Reduction in productivity
- - Feeling overwhelmed
- - Disorientation
- - Feeling disconnected from your environment and other people
- - Jumbled thoughts and ideas
- - Difficulty remembering
- - Feeling distracted
- - Moving slowly
- - Feeling unmotivated
- - Difficulty expressing yourself
- - Difficulty making decisions and completing tasks
- - Feeling like you are living in a cloud
Is brain fog a symptom of ADHD?
Brain fog isn’t necessarily a symptom of ADHD, however it can be. Brain fog isn’t exclusive to ADHD. People with anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc can also experience brain fog. Here, the experience of mental fatigue and delayed thinking is normal. It can be so disorienting that daily functioning is interrupted. It makes it difficult to think clearly and to stay focused. It’s a part of inattentive ADHD which can lead to exhaustion. Such individuals have difficulty organising things, and constantly feel restless and unproductive.
ADHD and Brain fog sometimes overlap in terms of forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, and difficulty organising and completing tasks. Besides the sharing of symptoms, ADHD also sometimes contribute to brain fog indirectly due to inflammation, sleep disruption and side effects of ADHD medications, which can in turn include exhaustion and drowsiness. It can become a loop where when the medications that are supposed to treat ADHD can in turn aggravate the symptoms. If this is the case, speak with your doctor about changing your doses. It’s important to note that brain fog isn’t necessarily caused by ADHD always. It can also be caused by lack of sleep, traumatic brain injury, poor diet, dehydration, allergies, cognitive decline or certain health conditions.
Brain Fog in ADHD
While there are a lot of similarities, ADHD brain fog is more continuous and persistent than other kinds of brain fog. It doesn’t have a sudden onset as the kind of brain fog experienced after a traumatic brain injury. Although both might be related to inflammation. With ADHD brain fog, there is a cyclical relationship, where the other symptoms of ADHD lead to brain fog while the brain fog makes other symptoms worse.
When people with ADHD experience brain fog, they may feel like they are actually living in a hazy fog. Such people react to people, situations and conversations more slowly. It also makes it difficult to understand or remember words or information when trying to respond to someone. Some people may come off as somewhat incoherent like they’re having difficulty putting words into sentences and speaking them. They may also have difficulty following a conversation. Some common issues faced by such individuals are frustration, anxiety, and difficulty at work and in school. Brain fog may also cause them to have trouble reading and comprehending the sentence. They may find themselves reading the same line again and again trying to understand it but failing. Adding to the distress, they may also have a hard time adopting and practising healthy habits that can help reduce brain fog.
How long does ADHD Brain Fog last?
There is no time frame for ADHD brain fog. As mentioned before, it is continuous and persistent if not taken enough measures. It can last a few hours to a whole day. Sometimes it can last for months to even years.
How to clear ADHD Brain Fog
1. Physical Movement
Yes, physical movement sounds a lot but it’s not the kind you probably hate. Going for a walk or even removing yourself from your physical environment helps tremendously in clearing brain fog. When we’re in the same environment for longer periods of time, we start to feel burned out and our brain screams at us for a change in scenery. Going to a different environment opens our mind up and we start to notice the details and it feels refreshing that it stimulates our brain enough to clear the fog. Even normal exercising or going to daily work releases serotonin which reduces stress. It helps you feel more energised and improve your ability to focus on work. This technique can help when you’ve been working on a task for a longer period and it feels like you’re unable to finish it.
2. Nutrition
Our body needs good food and nutrients to have the energy to function. Incorporating omega-3 fatty acids (like fish and flaxseeds), antioxidants (like fruits and vegetables), and B vitamins (like whole grains and legumes) can help with brain health. It will enhance cognitive function and reduce brain fog.
3. Talking to someone
Talking to someone and having them be patient while we formulate our thoughts and stimulate our minds can help clear the fog. We all need support in hard times. You can also talk to our very own AI mental health coach Healo at https://healo.infiheal.com/. When things get overwhelming, Healo proves to be a helpful companion.
4. Sleeping
Lack of sleep can cause ADHD cognitive fog to develop or worsen. It can cause gaps in your memory because your brain cells’ ability to communicate with each other is impaired. Getting a good 7-8 hours of deep sleep every night can help reduce the symptoms of brain fog by making the mind more active and less tired. Try to avoid using screens at night so as to give yourself a good sleep. Also, make sure your blinds are open so no light is disturbing you.
5. Try to keep focus
Trying to multi-task and doing too many things at a time can make it difficult to complete even one task. For example, trying to talk while watching a movie will result in you not paying attention to either. It’s especially hard to focus when someone has ADHD, so it’s better to work on one task at a time.
6. Small goals
Having such a big task to do can create unnecessary pressure on our brains. Breaking that task into smaller, reasonable tasks can trick our brains into completing everything faster. Incorporating breaks in these smaller tasks gives you time to refresh your brain and start anew at the next task.
7. Plan your days
For people with ADHD brain fog, it gets difficult to wake up every day and not have any idea what to do. Planning your days in advance gives you a general blueprint of things to get done on that day. It also helps reduce the mental load so you can apply the brain capacity to other important things.
Medications for ADHD Brain Fog
Medications are also found to be extremely helpful for ADHD Brain Fog. But be mindful and do not take these medications without consulting a psychiatrist. There are majorly two types of medications for ADHD brain fog: Stimulants and Non-Stimulants.
Stimulant Medication
Central Nervous System (CNS) Stimulants are most commonly prescribed for ADHD brain fog, which increases the level of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain, chemicals responsible for brain functions. These medications induce calmness in the brain, reduce hyperactivity and help improve attention span. Thus, these are particularly effective for improving concentration and focus.
Non-stimulant Medication
In the case of stimulant medications not working, non-stimulants are prescribed, which sometimes can include antidepressants.
Conclusion
It can be pretty overwhelming to deal with ADHD Brain Fog, feeling hazy and trying to make sense of it all. Try to be calm and patient with yourself through this time and don’t hesitate to ask for help. It goes a long way. If you feel like behavioural techniques aren’t helping you through this hard time, consult a doctor so you can find a specific cure.
