In large part, the treatment for brain fog depends on the cause. But your doctor would need to see other symptoms, besides brain fog, to suspect some of these. Other health conditionsĪ handful of other health conditions, including stroke, brain tumor, hypothyroidism, and some nutritional deficiencies, come with fuzzy thinking as a symptom. And you should feel focused again on the other side. But, as is the case with “baby brain,” brain fog in menopause is rarely noticeable to anyone but you. That suggests that hormone changes alone play a key part in mental sharpness, too. Sleep troubles and mood changes, including stress, anxiety, and depression, can certainly play a part, but some women who don’t have these complaints during menopause still have trouble thinking straight. What’s more, not only will you bounce back on the other side, but studies show that the female brain undergoes long-lasting positive changes during pregnancy that help prepare a woman for motherhood.Īt the end of the reproductive years, up to 60% of menopausal women report memory loss and other thinking difficulties during this transition. So don’t worry too much about what your boss and coworkers might think. Most research, however, shows that changes in thinking skills at this time are usually noticeable only to the pregnant woman herself. Stress, anxiety, and even depression can also accompany pregnancy and make it hard to think straight, too. Pregnant women often have trouble sleeping, which can kill your focus. Many women feel foggy during a couple of major life milestones: pregnancy and menopause. Ongoing heavy drinking can have a lasting impact on your brain and affect you even when you’re sober. And booze doesn’t just impair your ability to think when you’re under its influence. These worries can keep you up night after night, and sleep loss is yet another enemy of brain function.ĭepression, stress, and anxiety can drive a person to drink, too. When you’re anxious or under a lot of stress, it can be hard to focus on anything else but the cause of your stress. Most people have felt the effects of that at one point or another. With or without depression, stress and anxiety can cause brain changes that impact thinking skills, too.
With treatment for depression, you can regain your focus and judgment.ĭepression, stress, and anxiety often come as a package deal. But your brain is what neuroscientists call “plastic.” That is, it can change-for the better, for the worse, and back to better again. Many of these changes happen in areas related to clear thinking and executive function. This may not be so surprising when you understand that depression causes physical changes in your brain that doctors can see on an MRI. “These are issues that we’ve seen a lot more since the onset of the pandemic,” Stewart says.Īs many as 60% of people with depression-that’s three in five of them – have cognitive problems, including slow response time and trouble with attention, planning, decision-making, reasoning, and multitasking.
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