Anxiety
Anxiety is a common emotion caused by inner turmoil regarding something (usually an event) that has yet to happen, where the person pre-anticipates a non-desirable outcome (usually negative) before the event that would have that outcome even starts. Most people will experience anxiety in their lifetime.
Anxiety can persist after the situation causing it has passed. If the anxiety was severe enough and the cause of the anxiety hangs around long enough, it can lead to a panic attack, even a day after the cause of the anxiety has passed.
Anxiety can be caused by an isolated, uncommon life event, or can occur regularly where it would then be categorised as an anxiety disorder.
Symptoms
Anxiety can cause a wide range of symptoms and has a huge scale in terms of how severe it can be in one person from the next. You may feel some minor discomfort and some hand trembling, or be completely debiltated by the thought of anything. The following is some symptoms you may experience if you have anxiety, but you might have difficulties with anxiety that aren't recognised here
- Common Symptoms
- A churning feeling in your stomach
- Feeling light-headed or dizzy
- Pins and needles
- Feeling restless or unable to sit still
- Faster breathing, with a irregular or thumping heartbeat
- Sleep bruxism
- Sweating or hot flushes
- Nausea
- Panic Attacks
.. and many more.
Role in Brainfog
Symptom of Brainfog
Anxiety can be a symptom of brainfog due to the effects it has on a persons mental abilities, making them feel like they will be unable to socialise or will "screw up" due to their memory, thinking problems and other complications caused by brainfog.
Causing Brainfog
Anxiety is a known cause of brainfog and this is thought to be due to the stress effects it has on the body.
Treatment of anxiety will be different for everybody. Some people will require prescribed medication, whilst others may only just need talking therapy. It is extremely important that medication used for the treatment of anxiety is issued by your doctor, and that you maintain regular contact with them to report changes on how you feel. It is usual for a patient to need to be on the medication for some time before the medications positive effects kick in, and it is also usual for dosage changes as the doctor tries to work out what exactly works for your body.
Because we live in a mental health aware time, there are many services and types of services, making it very likely that you will find something suitable for you. Amongst others, there are: workshops, group therapy, 1:1 CBT, text therapy and more. Some of these will only be accessible via a referral from your doctor, however there may also be some you can self refer yourself to.
You may find that some services are region locked, even if they are not in person, so make sure to use local search terms when looking for a talking service.
If you feel like anxiety is causing your brainfog, be rest assured that you are in the best of times to seek support, and there are plenty of options these days. It may be challenging, but a brainfog free life could await.
Misdiagnosis
Anxiety (as well as Depression) is commonly what a brainfogged individual is told is causing all their symptoms after they have finished their doctors appointment. This leads to a great deal of frustration for patients with doctors in general, as the brainfogged individual may not have anxiety, or they do but are convinced that the cause of their brainfog causes anxiety, and not the other way around, and in most instances this is true.
This problem stems from the fact that the doctor detects anxiety in the patient, and so to keep ontop of patient cases, deduce the anxiety (and depression in most cases) as the most probable cause.
It is very easy at this stage to become incredibly frustrated with doctors and give up with them altogether, but all this takes is a mental reframing of the situation.
The best way to solve this situation is to do your absolute best to address the anxiety (and depression) by following the treatment path for it as suggested by your doctor. Although you are not there to address the anxiety, the doctor will be unable to look past it until it is treated, and treating anxiety will help you stand up for yourself in future appointments and improve your overall mental health, making the real battle easier.
If your doctor is completely stumped and is unable to suggest anything new after clear mental improvement, this gives you perfect space to steer the direction of the investigation using your own findings. If the doctor is both completely clueless as to where to proceed yet is not willing to hear you out, this is the perfect time to find a new doctor.
