Can anxiety cause brain fog?
Yes, anxiety can cause brain fog, forgetfulness and slow thinking. In alert mode, worry and threat-scanning take up your working memory.
Try the practice nowWhat happens to your thinking
Brain fog is an everyday name for trouble thinking clearly. You might lose your train of thought, forget words, read the same line twice, or think more slowly.
Working memory is the mental desk space you use to hold and juggle information right now. Worry takes up that desk space.
In alert mode, your attention keeps scanning for threats and gets pulled back to worries, so staying on one thing is harder. Over-breathing can also add lightheadedness and a spaced-out feeling.
Why the fog feels frightening
Many people fear the fog means something is wrong with their brain. When you notice yourself forgetting words or losing your train of thought, that fear becomes one more worry taking up your working memory. Attention on a pleasant sensation, like your feet on the floor, is the opposite of a panic spiral.
Brain fog from anxiety does not damage the brain, and it lifts as your anxiety and sleep improve.
Why it lingers on calm days
After weeks of anxiety, the body can stop switching between rest mode and alert mode and stay in alert mode. Because the body holds that state, the fog can show up on days you do not feel anxious.
Long stretches in alert mode are tiring, and the tiredness feeds the fog. Anxiety also often disrupts sleep, and poor sleep is one of the most reliable causes of foggy thinking.
This state is trainable with daily practice. Doing one thing at a time, writing things down, taking short breaks, and moving your body all lighten the load.
Try Five by Five right now
- Stand or sit comfortably, and put your hands on either side of your ribcage if you like.
- Take five deep breaths: in through the nose for a count of four, a brief hold at the top, then let it go easily.
- Do five slow neck turns: turn your head to the left as far as is comfortable, letting your eyes lead, and come back to center, then to the right, keeping your shoulders still.
- If you feel lightheaded or anything feels uncomfortable, sit down and make the breaths and turns smaller.
When to check with a doctor
- You suddenly become confused, have trouble speaking, or your face droops or one side is weak (call emergency services).
- It started after a head injury.
- It is getting steadily worse, you get lost in familiar places, or other people notice memory problems.
- It comes with extreme tiredness, feeling cold, weight change or other new symptoms.
- It started after COVID or another illness, or around menopause.
- It started with a new medicine, or you drink alcohol or use drugs most days.
- You feel low or have lost interest in things (if you have thoughts of harming yourself, in the US call or text 988, in the UK and Ireland call Samaritans on 116 123).
Practice with the Stateshift app
Common questions
Why does anxiety make me forget words?
Speaking and finding words rely on working memory to hold your place in a sentence. When worry and threat-scanning take up that mental desk space, everyday words can sit just out of reach until your attention settles.