Hello
Belinda Davidson here. I am a registered Nurse and Bio/Neurofeedback Clinician. I think, along with everyone, that the last year has been very tough on everyone. Not only financially but especially emotionally. The two commonest problems people are approaching me for help with is Brain fog and cognitive fallout post Covid as well as Anxiety and post traumatic stress. Any client who has been in an intensive care unit with people dying all around them were hugely traumatized
There are a lot of theories as to the reasons behind the brain fog. These range from the cytokinin storm leading to tiny blood clots in the brain and this leading to tiny “silent” mini strokes, inflammation with encephalitis, oxygen deprivation cellular damage to name a few. The important thing is what can we do to help ameliorate the symptoms.
Start doing some physical exercise as this will increase the blood flow to the brain and help with healing.
Eat a healthy diet as nutrition is good nutrition is vital in cellular regeneration
Ensuring you get enough sleep ( 7 to 8 hours a night)
Eating fish rich in Omega 3 oils or take a supplement
Get help in stress reduction and management techniques. Biofeedback and Heart rate variability can be super helpful
Learn ways to relax and still the mind like meditation
Learn something new to stimulate the brain e.g. write with your non dominant hand, get a balance board
Neurofeedback: This is a technique using a computer interface with feedback to train your brain. It helps to improve cerebral blood flow and to create new pathways in the brain.
Vielight: Using near infra-red light to enhance blood flow in the brain. It also “recharges” the mitochondria. https://www.vielight.com/photobiomodulation-science/
Neuro and Biofeedback are tools that can be useful in treating anxiety and post traumatic stress. I don’t think many people realize the power we have over controlling our physiology. Some incredible human feats are listed below:
The longest any human ever went without breathing took place in 2012, when Danish free diver Stig Severinsen held his breath underwater for 22 minutes.
In 1979, Andreas Mihavecz — then 18 — was left, forgotten, in a basement prison cell until he was accidentally discovered 18 days later. This was not a stunt, but an act of negligence on the authorities’ part. It took Mihavecz several weeks to recover.
In 1965, then 17-year-old Randy Gardner set the world record by staying awake for 264.4 hours, or 11 days and 24 minutes.
Wim Hof, more known as the Iceman, is a Dutch daredevil, adventurer and world record holder. He is well-known for his ability to withstand extreme cold. He is considered a master of Tummo meditation, a form of yoga, and is the first person to have scientific validity for the practice. He holds 18 world records, one of those a record for the longest ice bath. In 2008, Wim Hof broke his own Guinness World Record when he immersed himself in ice for an hour, 13 minutes and 48 seconds.
David Blaine is probably best known as a street magician and illusionist, but he is also an endurance artist. He has performed high profile feats of endurance and has broken and set several world records. His feats include being entombed in a plastic box for seven days, being encased in a block of ice for over 64 hours, and standing on a 100-foot high pillar for 35 hours. He is also well known for his Above the Below stunt where he was sealed inside a transparent plexiglass case suspended 9 metres in the air next to Potters Fields Park on the south bank of the River Thames in London. David Blaine went for 44 days without food or nutrients and just had 4.5 litres of water per day.
These are just everyday people who trained themselves to be able to do extraordinary things. If we only took the time to realize that the first answer is not necessarily going straight for medication but looking at other ways we can learn to cope
