BRAIN FAG

Brain fag is a term to describe a temporary state of inability to think clearly, confusion of mind, forgetfulness and lack of focus and concentration. It is not a disease, disorder or any medical condition in .It can have an impact on a person’s day to day life and interfere with ability to work, attend job from concentration difficulty. It can lead to irritability, anxiety, frustration.

It is characterized by irritability followed by exhaustion of the brain and nerve centers. It is a pure neurosis expressing an abnormal irritability in response to stimuli.

CAUSATIVE FACTORS:

 Mental - Long term stress, Depression, Lack of sleep

Hormonal - pregnancy, menopause, hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s disease, iron deficiency anaemia, deficiency of vitamin B12, and obesity

Certain medications-   sleeping pills, some pain relieving medicines, corticosteroid, chemotherapy drugs, anxiety treating drugs.

Medical condition: multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, Fibromyalgia etc

SYMPTOMS: 

•  Difficulty with executive functioning. 
•  Your reaction time is affected. 
• Inability to think clearly or have sharp thoughts in mind,
• Short-term memory problems
• Lack of concentration,
•  short attention span
• Taking much longer to complete any task even the routine ones.
• He feels as if his brain is not absorbing or understanding what other people are talking about.
•  He may loose the train of thought mid way while talking or have problems putting thoughts into words.

HOMOEOPATHIC MANAGEMENT:

Magnesia Phos – indicated in neurasthenia when there are neuralgic pains in the body. It is useful for trembling and general weakness.

Kali Phos –after great mental strain. Men engaged in the literary work should take kali Phosphorus If they suffer from brainfag, kali phos restores nervous energy and covers the whole field of neurasthenia.

Natrum Mur – exhaustion after talking calls for this drug, there is sleeplessness and embarrassment of the brain.

Kali Phos  - It is attended with marked mental fatigue. Low energy levels are also prominent with this. It mostly suits when the brain fog arises from over work, over exertion of mind, over study or some worries. The mind feels dull and sluggish with this. In some cases depression, sadness, much weeping and crying are present. Sometimes anxiety is also there. It is one of the best medicines to manage mental stress and complaints arising from it. Kali Phos is also a prominent medicine for chronic fatigue syndrome.

Phosphoric Acid – This medicine is beneficial for persons who are unable to collect thoughts. They are unable to find the right word when talking. Their thoughts vanish on reading. While reading they could not comprehend it. After reading, they forget everything. They also have loss of ideas and are unable to do any intellectual work. While thinking they feel dizzy. Other than this they have weak memory, dullness of mind and lack of imagination. 

Gelsemium - Persons needing it are unable to think properly or fix attention. With this they have marked dullness of mind. Confusion of mind is also there with mental exhaustion. They are unable to do anything that requires thought. While doing any mental exertion they have vanishing thoughts. They also have problems in connecting ideas and cannot follow an idea for long. They can be highly irritable along with above symptoms. 

Picric Acid – This medicine is indicated for cases of brain fog from over studying. Its use is also indicated for brain fog in people doing excessive literary work. The symptoms that are present include inability to collect thoughts and quick mental exhaustion from using mind, reading / writing a while or doing least intellectual work. With this there is aversion to do any mental work. There is also an inability to exert mind to think or talk. Along with this headache may be present that is triggered from any mental exertion. This headache is better by sleeping at night.

Anacardium –  This medicine is prepared from a layer of nuts between the shell and kernel  of plant Anacardium Orientale commonly known as marking nut. This plant belongs to family anacardiaceae. It is considered in cases of brain fog attended with forgetfulness. Persons needing it have marked forgetfulness and forgets what has happened recently or what they have seen recently. They retain nothing in his memory. They also have a deficient flow of ideas in the brain. With this dullness of mind and problems in thinking are there. They have marked brain fatigue. It is also a top listed medicine for Alzheimer’s disease.

Cannabis Indica – It helps cases having poor concentration. In such cases there is an inability to fix thoughts on one subject. The mind appears foggy. In some persons needing it there is forgetfulness while talking. They forget last words or ideas and begin a sentence but are unable to finish it because they forget what they were about to speak. They also cannot recall thoughts or events.

Lycopodium – It is useful when there are confused thoughts in mind. There appears confusion about everything. There is also difficulty concentrating during conversation. Other than this it is indicated when a person is unable to express oneself correctly he may use wrong words for correct ideas. Sometimes there is difficulty to find the right fitted words. Along with above symptoms the memory is weak, the brain power seems failing. Its use is also made when a person makes mistakes in writing. He makes mistakes in spelling or mixes up letters. Lastly it is well indicated for mental fatigue from intellectual exertion with inability to do mental labor.

Argentum Nitricum - It is prominent medicine when a person complains of poor focus and concentration. He is unable to fix his thoughts on anything and if attempted he gets darkness before his eyes along with a headache. There is weakness of the mind, mental confusion, and forgetfulness in conversation. There may be frequent attacks of anxiety along with impulsiveness and a desire to do things in a hurry. 

Calcarea Carb – This medicine is valuable to treat cases in which the brain fog is attended with headache. The other symptoms that appear are forgetfulness, difficult thinking, confusion of mind, inability to understand anything read or heard. With this a person often misplaces words. There can be anxiety about the present and future along with above symptoms.