Brain Fog

Brain fog is one of the most frustrating parts of grief.

You might forget words mid-sentence.
Walk into rooms and not remember why.
Struggle to concentrate, follow conversations, or make simple decisions.
Feel like your brain just… isn’t working the way it used to.

This isn’t a failure.
It’s a nervous system response.

When something overwhelming happens, especially a sudden or traumatic loss, your brain shifts into survival mode. The parts of the brain responsible for memory, planning, and focus temporarily step back, while the parts focused on keeping you alive take over.

Your body is prioritising safety over clarity.

Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline stay elevated in grief. They’re useful in emergencies, but exhausting when they hang around too long. Over time, they interfere with attention, memory, and mental flexibility.

So your thinking slows.
Your recall falters.
Your mind feels foggy.

That fog is protective.
It limits how much you have to process at once.

You’re not broken.
You’re buffered.

Brain fog often comes and goes. Some days you might feel almost normal. Other days, everything feels heavy and hard to think through. Both are normal.

If you can, reduce decisions.
Write things down.
Rest your brain when it asks for it.

And if all you can manage today is the basics, that is enough.

Clarity will return - not all at once, and not on a timetable - but for now, your body is doing exactly what it knows how to do.