Clearing the Mental Haze: Creative Strategies for Coping with Brain Fog in Everyday Life

In a crowd of people, a face beaming with a smile caught my eye and their hand rose in greeting, waving in my direction. My heart raced with the excitement, but as I searched my memory for their identity, my mind came up blank. The closer they came, the more my anxiety grew, as I realised that I couldn't place this friendly face that was waving so enthusiastically at me. The anguish of not being able to remember this person, of not being able to reciprocate their greeting, was almost unbearable. It was like a wave of embarrassment and frustration crashing over me, leaving me feeling exposed and vulnerable. I wished I could disappear into the crowd, to escape the awkwardness and discomfort of this situation.

Imagine yourself in such a situation, your mind is completely blank yet this person who is approaching you seems to know you and is so excited to meet you, but you can’t remember their name nor do they look familiar! To make matters heavy, this person is from your circle of friends. So what do you do? It is a tough question because one can’t even begin to imagine why the mind would display an error 404 message in the first place?!

In this feed I will lift another veil off of autoimmune and chronic diseases. As autoimmune and chronic warriors, our bodies are working so hard to fight the disease which affects our brain's ability to think and remember things. Higher levels of inflammation in the body have been linked to lower levels of cognitive functions, which means higher levels of brain fog. Yes, there’s an actual term for the error message - Brain Fog. Some of the most common symptoms are difficulty in concentration, taking longer than usual time to complete routine tasks, forgetfulness, being easily distracted, cloudiness in judgment, frequent loss of train of thought, fatigue and lethargy.

It's possible that people might perceive me as rude or having an attitude problem, but the truth is far from it. I am all too familiar with the frustrating and overwhelming experience of brain fog. For me, it feels like a thick fog that clouds my thoughts and steals my clarity. It is something I can’t control or simply wish away. It's not just the embarrassment of not being able to remember a face or name, but the emotional toll it takes on me. It's a constant reminder that my illness has taken away a part of my memory and cognitive abilities and it's a struggle to feel like myself again and recollect myself in public. It's frustrating and disheartening, but I know I'm not alone in this struggle.

Some of the instances have been very funny and I am glad for the few kind hearted people who laugh it away with me and try to make me feel comfortable. Gosh. The best part is when I recall, which is usually ten thousand hours later, I laugh out loud all over again because - wait, what!!!!! To describe brain fog in the best way I would say it is feeling like you're in a mental haze, where your thoughts are fuzzy and slow. You know how a YouTube video loads on slow internet, where the video appears pixelated, blurry and takes longer to buffer than usual? It’s a mental buffering that slows down your thinking and makes everything appear less clear.

Learning about brain fog has been eye opening and I have found a few strategies to navigate through it, because there’s no snapping away from it, so I might as well work around it.

Firstly, and as is always with every situation in life, acceptance. I had to accept it and stop blaming myself for not being able to remember names or faces. I allowed the frustrations to flow(meaning ugly crying et al), consoled and then reassured myself that we can figure a way out of this too. I reminded myself occasionally that I am doing my best and taking care of myself is a non-negotiable. I take breaks as much as I want to and slow down when I have to. Being a creative you need to be able to flex your mental muscles like a weightlifter flexes their physical muscles. It takes practice and patience to build up that mental resilience and it's not always easy. Think of it as trying to do a difficult yoga pose or lift a heavy weight at the gym - you have to push yourself to your limits, but you also have to listen to your body and know when to take a break.

Secondly, I crafted some frameworks that worked for me in my creative process. I had to build a timetable for myself, a weekly task list, having a well laid out structure for every project and building a personal CRM template. All these look complex and you may wonder if I may confuse myself, but the amazing part is that I use ONE app for all these and find everything in one place. Notion is a note taking app but for me it’s my second brain. I use it for everything - literally everything, including managing MindFeed’s issues! It has made managing my projects, creative processes and most importantly keeping track of all my channels a breeze. It does take time to build templates that suit you and while there are free templates that get you started, I have always enjoyed building something for myself. (Not an AD)

Lastly, I had to incorporate a regular meditation routine in my days called - Me Time. Apt right? (Lol). But in all honesty, being still and just listening to your breath is incredible. I don’t think I have the words to describe it perfectly but it's like putting your mind on airplane mode - no distractions, no notifications, just you and your breath. I try to do it during the adhan (call to prayer) as we normally pause everything but in cases where I miss out, I make it a point to do it before I sleep. Developing a routine takes time and you never really see any changes soon but keeping at it is the real test.

Despite its challenges, I've found that learning to navigate life with brain fog has taught me some valuable lessons about resilience, self-care and the power of a positive attitude. I have learned that our minds are powerful and we can always change our situations if only we look at situations as a way to level up our mental muscles. Just like with physical exercise, the more you work at it, the stronger you will become, and the easier it will be to manage the effects of brain fog. I have learned the power of intentional practices that add value to my mind, body and soul. I have also learned of being mindful and cultivating a sense of gratitude and humility.

Brain fog is a real condition that affects many people, especially those with autoimmune and chronic diseases. It can be frustrating and emotionally draining to deal with, but it's important to remember that it's not a reflection of one's intelligence or character.

By embracing these practices, I manage to navigate through brain fog and continue to pursue my passions and dreams. As the saying goes, "life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." So let's react with kindness, compassion and resilience and let brain fog be just another hurdle that can be overcome with patience and perseverance.

Take care and keep being wonderful!

Until the next feed, please share this newsletter with your audience.

Enthusiastically,

Farah Khaleck