Brain fog and anxiety

If you notice that the stress in your life is causing not only anxiety but also brain fog, it can be unsettling.  Brain fog and anxiety are commonly associated with each other but there is something you can do to help both.  I cured my OCD naturally.

What is brain fog

You might be questioning whether you’ve ever experienced brain fog.  It is basically what it sounds like.  Common symptoms are:

• Fatigue
• Bad short-term memory
• Inability to learn new things

Any one of these symptoms are unsettling and that’s why brain fog and anxiety are commonly associated with each other.  As time goes on, the continued fog contributes to more of these symptoms, causing further anxiety.  It’s a vicious loop that feeds the anxiety.    So, if you’ve ever wondered, ‘Does anxiety cause brain fog?’, you can be assured that it can.

Why does this happen?

When we become stressed, our bodies produce extra cortisol.  Cortisol is a hormone that is produced by the adrenal glands and it helps us when we are in a dangerous situation.  If you are being chased by a predator, the cortisol hormone that floods your body will help you to run (and hopefully stay alive).  When the stressor is gone, our cortisol levels should decrease.  The problem is that our current busy lives don’t allow this.  Common current stressors:

• An overdemanding boss that is constantly on you.
• Family pressures – just keeping the family going while you’re dealing with:
  • that overdemanding boss
  • an argument with a family member
  • the upcoming holidays
• Health concerns
• Financial concerns which sometimes stems from trying to keep up with the joneses.

All of these cause severe brain fog and fatigue.  Your body can’t stop the stress and so your cortisol levels remain high and you just get tired.  You feel like your brain just isn’t working right.

The hormone connection

If you want to read more about the connection between the stress hormones, cortisol and insulin, read an earlier post about it here:  Hormone imbalance .  The imbalance can cause unusually heavy periods, among other issues so it’s worth a read.

What can you do?  Natural care anxiety relief

Many times, some of the ‘remedies’ for our ailments are very simple.  So simple, in fact, that we ignore those and continually search for a better cure for our brain fog and anxiety.  We think it can’t be that simple just to reduce our stress.  And it’s not.  I’m sure you have tried to stop being so stressed – it doesn’t work.  So, I’ll tell you the brain fog anxiety cure.

If you follow these steps, you will start to reduce your brain fog and anxiety you are experiencing.  I know this because it helped me.

Steps to take:

1. Start becoming aware.  We all know when we’re stressed but we often let it overcome us and we really don’t think about it.  When you’re stressed or anxiety, stop and recognize it for what it is.  It may come in the form of physical symptoms like a pimple or a stiff neck.  Or, it may come in the form of a migraine.  Yes, this is simple to say you should start to become aware but it’s an important step in the process.
2. Analyze it.  When you’re at a point where you can think about it (this is different from ruminating), you can start to unpack the anxiety.  Ask yourself the following 2 questions:
   1. What caused my anxiety?
   2. Was it one thing or was it a culmination of things?
3. Start to think about if there was any point where you could have actively stopped?  For example, if your anxiety stemmed from a situation that finally blew up (be it a family argument or a work situation with your boss), was there a point in time that you could have done something differently?
4. Do something different.  By different, I mean any of the following:
   1. Walk away
   2. Take a break
   3. Remove yourself from a toxic situation.
   4. Build boundaries – you know where you need to set them so do it.

Stress and anxiety brain fog

It’s real and the only reason it’s hard to overcome is because it does overtake us.  But, I am here to tell you that you can do it.  I did overcome my stress by becoming aware of it, unpacking it, and slowly making those changes.  It took time and of course, it will take time for you.

I believe that you can do it because I did.  I knew when it was time to walk away from a toxic work situation and I knew when it was time to step back and take care of myself during other stressful situations.  You know, deep down, when you’ve reached that tipping point – the point where you know the situation isn’t healthy.  Stop it before it turns into a much more critical problem.

Please feel free to leave a comment if you’ve overcome a stressor or if you’re still struggling.  You may be able to help other people with their stress and anxiety brain fog.  Brain fog and anxiety doesn’t have to take over your life.