With over 200 million confirmed cases worldwide, COVID-19 has impacted many lives. Unfortunately, even those who experienced mild symptoms or were asymptomatic continued to elude full recovery past the initial point of infection. While this phenomenon originally left health officials miffed, it’s now been estimated that between 10 to 25 percent of infected individuals experience something called Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome (PACS) – more commonly known as “Long-COVID”.
The effects of Long-COVID vary between patients, and can last weeks to years after the initial infection of COVID-19. Although many of these symptoms directly impact the body, many include cognitive difficulties like brain fog. While not considered a medical condition, brain fog is a very real symptom that can impact your daily life, ability to think, and your cognitive function.
Learn more about what brain fog is, how it impacts brain functionality, and how to recover from Long COVID-19 brain fog below.
What is Brain Fog?
Brain fog is a term used to describe the symptoms and feelings associated with sluggish thinking. People with brain fog may also experience “slow moving thoughts” or even feelings of drowsiness. It can occur under a wide variety of circumstances. Some of these include, but are not limited to sleep deprivation, medication side effects, cold or flu side effects, ADHD, chemotherapy, concussions and traumatic brain injuries, and now Long COVID-19.
Although it has yet to be determined how long brain fog symptoms truly last from the effects of Long COVID-19, doctors recognize the effect that brain fog has on the different aspects of brain cognition and function.
We use specific parts of the brain to form thoughts, learn new things, remember short- and long-term memories, and more. These processes are referred to as cognition – and brain fog directly impairs the way our brains perform these functions.
Long COVID-19 brain fog has shown an increase in cognitive impairment, which leads to difficulties in attention, processing, memory, and executive function.
Recovering from Long COVID-19 Brain Fog
Early research shows that implementing certain lifestyle changes along with specialized cognitive remediation therapy encourages cognitive function in similar brain fog cases caused by concussion and traumatic and acquired brain injury.
If you are suffering from Long COVID-19 brain fog or cognitive impairment due to brain injury, cognitive remediation could help. This evidence-based platform helps the brain heal through a four-pronged approach. From cognitive brain training exercises to mindfulness methods, this model of care helps you track your progress so you can maximize your potential to recover from brain fog and cognitive dysfunction.
- Cognitive Training: Uses the tested BrainEx cognitive rehabilitation methodology to help reinstate higher-order cognitive function. Helps improve memory, attention, concentration, reasoning, response inhibition, and logic.
- Aerobic Exercise: Helps increase neuroplasticity by improving blood flow to the brain and naturally releases dopamine, serotonin, and Brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Also helps decrease inflammation in the brain and improve other areas of health.
- Mindfulness Methods: Personalized guided meditations help regulate emotions while instilling self-awareness, attentional capacity, and improved emotional and self-control.
- Progress Tracking: Real-time software tracking helps you understand your brain and progress better, all while giving you better quality of life and personable check-ins with experienced care.
If your memory, processing speed, attention, or function have been seriously impacted by Long COVID-19 brain fog, consider a unique cognitive brain training platform tailored to your needs. Contact The Hartman Center for more information on how to get started.