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Short-term memory loss, confusion, difficulty with focus and concentration, and an overall feeling that routine tasks seem harder to do—are all symptoms of “brain fog.” Brain fog has gotten a lot of attention recently as it is one of the major symptoms of long COVID. But is it a form of dissociation?
In fact, a 2023 study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry revealed that the terms “brain fog” and “dissociation” are often used synonymously. But they are not the same.
Dissociative symptoms include brain fog, out of body experience, watching self from a distance, emotional numbness, delayed reactions, difficulty making decisions, and bad memory.
Here’s what you need to know about brain fog and dissociative disorders in order to discern the differences and ensure proper treatment.
Surprisingly, brain fog is not a medical diagnosis. Rather, it’s a term given to a number of cognitive health symptoms.
There are many brain fog causes, including:
Brain fog can also result from a number of mental health conditions, such as dissociative disorders, PTSD, ADD/ADHD, depression, anxiety, and more.
What’s difficult to pinpoint about brain fog is that each individual experiences it in a unique way. Still, there are common brain fog symptoms such as:
When someone has brain fog, they simply cannot perceive, understand, or think clearly. They feel “dissociated” or disconnected from reality, which makes it challenging to respond to external events.
Brain fog’s effect can be profound and severely impact normal day-to-day functioning. An individual with brain fog may not hear when someone speaks to them, or they may not notice traffic when crossing a street. When momentary clarity comes, an individual may not remember what happened during a period of “cloudy” thinking.
We are all forgetful at times, but memory lapses with brain fog are frequent and sometimes disconcerting. Forgetting to blow out a candle, leaving the oven on, or forgetting where you’re driving can be scary.
The confusion that comes with brain fog makes focusing and decision-making difficult. Concentration can be nearly impossible. You may feel disoriented, lost, or unable to track time. You might also have trouble finding words for your thoughts, causing long pauses in mid-speech.
Taking a close look at dissociation and dissociative disorders, you’ll see just how many similarities there are with brain fog, as well as some clear distinctions.
Let’s start with dissociation. The word “dissociation” means to be disconnected from others, from the world around you, or from yourself.
There are everyday experiences of dissociation that almost everyone has from time to time. Examples of common dissociation not related to trauma are when you might get so absorbed in a book or movie, you lose awareness of your surroundings. Or when you take a familiar route when driving, say on your morning commute, you may have no recollection of how you got there when you arrive.
During a traumatic experience—such as a natural disaster, accident, physical or sexual abuse, or assault—dissociation serves to allow a person to tolerate what might otherwise be too difficult to bear. Dissociation acts as a mind-coping mechanism that is triggered in overwhelming situations where there’s too much stress.
Dissociative symptoms include:
Symptoms may clear up following a trauma, but sometimes they persist. These types of brain fog symptoms can potentially mask dissociative disorder and delay proper diagnosis.
While many of us may experience some dissociative symptoms at some point in our lives, about 2% meet the criteria for dissociative disorder
