Between the fear of contracting COVID-19, being in quarantine, ongoing social isolation along with changes in the way we work, and financial fears, it is no wonder our brains are challenged. Fear and daily threats have been commonplace during this pandemic. How does this affect your brain?
An important article for all of us to read is titled, "Brain Fog: how trauma, uncertainty, and isolation have affected our minds and memory": https://bit.ly/3uPM5iP. To summarize some of the takeaways, neuroscientists and behavioral experts have looked at what has happened to many during the pandemic. They speak about a “sense of debilitation, of losing ordinary facility with everyday life; a forgetfulness and kind of deskilling”. Further, they speak about that lockdown has caused “a contraction of life, an almost parallel contraction of mental capacity”. It is presented as brain fog to many.
The experts discussed the contributing factors related to this brain fog phenomenon. One interesting factor is that "everything is so samey”. Our brains are used to being more stimulated and we have stopped paying attention, have had a total blending of one day into the next with no commute to change it up. It was noted that “our brains wake up in the presence of other people”.
It was also highlighted that all of the uncertainty, deaths, and trauma was just too much to bear for some, and rather than face it, some unconsciously chose brain fog to cope. Studies are being done to further investigate all of this.
In the meantime, the experts spoke of the need to “get out into the world, to have rich and varied experiences and interactions. The more we do, the more the brain fog should clear.