17 September 2014

Brain Fog

The brain is the crowning organ of the human being.  Therefore, dysfunctions involving it are always important.  Brain fog is one of the most important symptoms today, even though I have not seen it listed as a diagnosis or recognized health condition in most medical or psychological texts.

A clinical definition of brain fog.  Brain fog may be described as feelings of mental confusion or lack of mental clarity.  It is called brain fog because it can feel like a cloud that reduces your ability to think clearly.  It can cause a person to become forgetful, detached and often discouraged and depressed.  It usually is present most of the time, meaning it does not come and go, although it may become better or worse depending on what a person eats, or one’s state of rest and hydration.

Brain fog is not recognized as a clinical diagnosis because it is not easy to test for it.  It is quite subjective, in other words.  The person just knows that they do not function well, and the mind often seems foggy or cloudy.  This is not the same as dementia, mental retardation, anxiety, depression or other common mental symptoms.  I hope that medical doctors will soon expand their diagnostic ability to assess brain fog, but for now it is a subjective condition, though it is very real.
            Brain fog is quite common.  It affects thousands of people, including children as well as adults.  It contributes to school and work problems, low self-esteem, accidents, unhappy relationships and often is a factor in crime and delinquency because it can cause intense frustration and inability to function well in society. Read more