Losing your train of thought mid-sentence, forgetting why you entered a room, or struggling to remember a friend's name are all possibilities when MS brain fog strikes. For the most part, cognitive changes will be mild to moderate, and won't be so severe that you aren't able to take care of yourself. But it can make what used to be simple tasks — like shopping for groceries — pretty darn frustrating. You may feel like you are losing your grasp on reality. Or like you are losing control of what is going on in your mind. If that's the case, you're not alone. At least 22% of people experience mild to severe symptoms of a mental health condition during the pandemic. And that's not including the high number of people who will divulge their mental illness to a family member or friend. In the United States, an estimated 4.7 million people — or one in six — suffer from some form of mental health disorder every year. Poor mental mental health is associated with increased risk for a wide variety of adverse health outcomes, including an increased chance of an accident, a heart attack, and will cause mortality rate of 53% (U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health 2018). Add to those factors not being as aware of their own problems as they once were. Pacing yourself can become a much smaller priority. That's where MS comes in. It's a common suffer from brain fog or "seizure" syndromes, including traits of both genetic and acquired forms. Specifically, the generalized tonic-clonic seizures characteristic of MS are characterized by overreactive or random behavior, along with altered consciousness. Impaired awareness of one's own condition is common enough that it has its own name: aphasia. It is characterized by a loss of awareness or inability to communicate about one's experience. Most people will recover completely from MS without medication — but it's important to know that it can provoke more severe symptoms after life-altering attacks. At that point, recovery becomes more like maintaining a daily balance than an ongoing stroll down memory lane. Learning to manage your own mental health, including managing your narrative memory, is key to reducing the negative effects of MS. You might wonder if there's a way out — how do you work through this fog? You might think you're not a smart person because you can't remember directions or recall total salary figures. But is it really because you don't know where you are or understand what's going on? That's a good question. The answer is no and yes. You aren't dumb, and neither are you sick. Let's figure out exactly what's going on for any task that requires brain power but takes just a moment to complete. The human brain is comprised of 65 billion cells arranged in 15 billion tiny processes called neurons. While many neurons fire together to form a whole, they do it in a pattern called an epileptic spike at a regular interval called a sinus pulse. Each spike corresponds to a small thought or memory, like a movie you saw ten minutes ago or a smell that pops into your mind. Along with normal thinking and memory, the frontal lobe of the brain also plays a role in planning, regulating emotions, and many other processes. Our absence of a front-facing lobe can make things super hard sometimes. If I lose my train of thought mid-sentence — that one sentence that zipped by so quickly, without me having time to catch it — lacking a bit of time to catch my train of thought usually prevents me from getting back on track more than a bit. But whenever this happens, distractions, like a conversation breaking up into chunks I can no longer follow, can derail me from the task at hand forever. This is also why it can feel like a hassle when you're trying to read a book or simply do something simple without your phone listening in. The trouble you're experiencing isn't usually because you're old, dumb, or anything else. It's because you're performing a single simple cognitive task: recognizing an object or an event. The disruption can be minor or large, but it often depends on whether you're in the presence of other people or not. This is one reason a lot of social interactions, like hangouts with coworkers, can complicate your task of getting stuff done. Unless you're part of a small clique, it's far more difficult to focus on a more complex social setting with someone else without your constant presence factored in. Even something as seemingly minor as finding the phone because its voice from the speaker is higher in pitch than normal can throw you off from your train of thought. This can manifest itself in what we call "the fog." It's a vague and uncomfortable feeling you experience for whom you've never had it before. When your mind wanders, you'll often feel as if you're losing your own identity altogether. For the most part, cognitive changes will be mild to moderate, and won't be so severe that you aren't able to take care of yourself. In accordance with the rules of MS Society, sharing your innermost fears sbout cognitive decline are the first step in controlling your mental state. But it can make what used to be simple tasks — like shopping for groceries — pretty darn frustrating. There are many MS-related web sites on the Internet. One of my go-to web spots is https://mshealthblog.com/ There are two main symptoms of brain fog — losing your train of thought, and forgetting why you entered a room. How to deal with Cog Fog, the Healthline way
https://www.healthline.com/health/multiple-sclerosis/cog-fog-science-and-tips
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AuthorStephen Walker has had MS since 1994. In that time, he has discovered how to live a fulfilling life with multiple sclerosis Archives
February 2022
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